Our little Niall is FOUR (not so little anymore)!
He is 28 lbs (2%), 38 inches (9%), and wears size 2T-3T tops and 2T pants and size 7 shoes. He's partial to skinny pants/jeans and zip-up hooded sweaters, particularly a "bear" one that is really beat up at this point and getting to be too small, as well as a five-shirt rotation that features his favorite characters! He attends preschool with many three- and four-year-olds. He wears his mask like a champ and has for two years, with half of his life taken up by a pandemic. He still has a winning, dimpled smile and an incredibly cute giggle. He can get upset but is pretty redirectable and flexible.
He is our little "vegetarian that doesn't love vegetables." He can detect tiny pieces of hidden chicken in quesadillas ("I TASTE MEAT IN HERE!") and rarely eats regular meat (however, he does love pepperoni, bacon and sausage, and Impossible meat, all "fake"), but loves cheese and (strangely) raw tofu right out of the package (!) as well as egg whites. He'll eat cucumbers, carrots, green beans, broccoli, peas, and black olives. He likes noodles, especially in soup, as well as rice. His favorite fruits are blackberries and mango. He adores chocolate and peanut butter and sucking on ice cubes (not sure if this represents iron deficiency pica or other, as he did require iron supplements as an infant).
He has stopped napping at home on the weekends, but during the week (when he rests at school), he's not tired until close to 9 pm. He then likes to sleep in (!) until ~6:30 or even later (we joke we have to drag him out of bed like a teenager some days), which is quite different from our #1 (who was a 4:45 am riser as a toddler).
He loves reading books on our laps, and even flipping through books on his own or "reading along" to audiobooks. He loves all comic book characters (particularly Batman and Spiderman) as well as Thomas the Train and all things Paw Patrol, and gets to watch cartoons during the early afternoon on weekends (formerly his naptime, still Kelvin's naptime). He loves listening to music and singing along to varied artists including John Denver and Pitbull as well as KLove radio. His vocabulary (even when he was three) is incredible; he'll tell us things like, "I'm frustrated!" or start sentences "Actually..." and talk about "replacing" parts "interrupting" or "allowing" things. He love his preschool job as, some days, the "lunch dismisser." Recently, he was telling us about turbulence. He often asks about words' meanings when we're reading.
He likes riding on his push trike, but doesn't love walking on his own and still likes to be "held" and carried around at home and on hikes. He doesn't like to separate to get anything from a different room when home with you-- "Come with me!" is a common phrase we here in these parts! He started swimming lessons with his brother earlier this fall, but decided he wanted to "quit" for the time being.
He is great at coloring and tries to draw like big brother but also loves playing with his trucks or Spidey accessories, building with legos and magnets, and dressing up with capes and costumes. He loves stickers and tiny figurines including some Paw Patrol characters that came in some special surprise bath bombs.
Gifted art from big brother, Iver ("Niall" is in the lower left, with features of all the superheroes!)
He's pretty compliant with requests (or at least polite... one time I asked him if he could to put away his clean laundry and he replied, "No, thank you."); however, he does sometimes like to mess with Iver's projects, forts, and plays a bit of the "destroyer" role at times. His large head inadvertently becomes a head-butting weapon and he can certainly physically fight his brother back now when he's provoked, even though he's still mostly the victim.
He asked if he could have an at-home birthday party this year, and unfortunately, we weren't comfortable... yet (with a Presidents' Week trip planned, we couldn't risk a COVID quarantine). However, he did get to celebrate with his friends and adored teacher Matt at preschool last week to which we sent brownies that he and I made together.
Guess who licked the bowl... "choco whiskers"!
with his big buddy, Matt
Cuddle bugs
Sporting some Paw Patrol apparel
Showing off his Spidey "web slinger," a gift from beloved teachers Matt & Angela
Playful
Like last year, I made individual instant pot lava cakes for dessert (Niall's had PB).
Gift time in the evening was a huge hit! We're so lucky to have generous aunts/uncles and grandparents-- we barely have to shop for these kids!
Batcopter from Vanessa/Marco
Lots of Spidey-themed toys from aunts Katherine, Theresa
New kicks!
Niall really is truly a sweet and very delightful human who we love so very much! We hope that the pandemic really is behind us by the time he's FIVE (at least then, he'll be vaccine-eligible if he's not sooner...) so we can really celebrate (and have his very first birthday party?)!
