Four Years Old

These four-year-old pics of Jaden and Cody were taken by my talented sister-in-law Sarah. I love her artistic eye for photography and her talent with editing to make our pictures the best they can be! Who could've guessed that these photos were taken when Jaden and Cody were in the midst of hand, foot, and mouth disease! At the time these photos were taken, my poor little boys were suffering with fevers and had itchy rashes on their bodies. What a bummer of an illness! Thankfully, the symptoms were fairly short-lived, and awesome Sarah was still able to get some wonderful pictures through it all!

Here are the pics, as well as some details about our boys at four. 

Jaden (L), Cody (R)

Jaden in green; Cody in blue

Favorite Pastimes: playing with matchbox car vehicles, building with Legos, coloring pictures, being read to, listening to "Sally" stories, building with MagnaTiles, assembling train tracks, doing puzzles (and even making a puzzle museum by putting together every puzzle we own!), wrestling, playing with their wheeled vehicles in the driveway

New Accomplishments: riding a bike (with training wheels), getting dressed independently, writing their name, skip counting to 100, saying their own prayers at family devotion time

JADEN MICHAEL

• Very inquisitive! He's always FULL of questions when we're reading stories and soaks this new info up like a little sponge. He wants to know why a character did something, what a certain word means, or why a character has a certain expression. After Mother's and Father's Day this year, he asked, "When do we get to have a kids' day?" :)

• A Rule-Follower! Jaden is careful to follow any direction to the letter... and he makes sure everyone around him follows the rules, too! He will often point out when a motorcyclist isn't wearing a helmet ("That isn't safe, Mommy!") or comments when a car is parked outside of the lines in a parking lot. We're still working on the issues of tact and tattling with our little duty-bound boy, but we're so proud that he has such a strong sense of right and wrong.

• Has a Sensitive Heart. Jaden is quick to pray for others and is bothered when others are sad or hurting. Jaden gets very bothered if someone says something unkind to him or if he feels like someone isn't listening to him.

• Loves His Routine. Jaden thrives on a structured, predictable schedule and loves to know what's coming in our day. He also can tend to get stuck on a particular favorite for months on end. We let the boys pick CDs to listen to at nighttime, and Jaden selected the exact same Christmas CD every single night for five months after Christmas!

We love our careful, purposeful, sensitive, and curious little boy!

CODY ANDREW

• Very imaginative. Cody loves "writing" books by drawing pictures and asking Mommy or Daddy to dictate the words for him. He also loves to make up his own songs and sing them at random moments. His lyrics often have a witnessing focus such as, "Jesus loves us always. He will never stop loving us." Cody also volunteers to tell us stories in the car and can spin fairly lengthy little tales.

• Easy-going in nature. Cody is quick to forgive others and to offer apologies for his mistakes too. He doesn't usually let small issues bother him. If he and his brother are having a disagreement or are trying to make a decision, Cody is regularly the one to back down and let his brother have his way. We love his sweet little disposition!

• Goofy! Cody takes after his Daddy in this sense! He is so great about getting smiles out of others. He loves doing and saying silly things or talking in his goofy monkey voice. A couple times at Sunday School this year, he has told the helpers that his name is Jaden! Thankfully, the wide smirk on his face still easily gives him away in these instances!

• Passionate and Physical. Cody often remarks enthusiastically, "I LOVE that!" about a certain kind of food or activity. He is also known to stick his finger right in someone's face when he has something important to say. He is also our little on-the-go boy who loves to wrestle. He is typically the one to initiate wrestling activities with his brother and often resorts to physical actions when he is over-tired. 

We love this creative, fun-loving, sweet, and goofy little boy!