Pomerleau Family Blog: Update on Brandon at 3 years 7 months

I am taking a moment to look back at photos a year ago when Olivia first arrived and I am amazed at how much Brandon has changed in just a year. He has physically gone from looking like a toddler, rounder and chubbier cheeks to looking and acting like a little boy. He is following his growth chart still, very tall for his age, the doctors stated about 41.5 when I had them measure him in May and about 42.5 lbs. He is a big boy about the size of most 4.5 year old but he is very proportionate and has been following his 95% growth chart that he has been in since 4 months. I realized that I did not put his height and weight down at his three year appointment. back in December. He was 39.5 inches and 39.5 pounds then. He is still wearing some 3T Gymboree shorts from last year that seem to run really big but mostly 4T in other shorts and pants with some 5T mixed in that are big. He is in 4T and 5T shirts and is wearing a size 10.5 shoe.

Brandon says the funniest things now as a 3 year old. He loves to ask "why?" and is naturally inquisitive. He also has learned how to manipulate a situation too. Just recently he loves to tell made up stories and has a very vivid imagination. He loves to read with us at bed time, especially his Disney Fairy Tale Collection book. He goes through phases of what he is interested on on TV. We try to limit his TV to 3-4 20 minute shows. Right now he is into Curious George and Transformer Rescue Bots. He loves his Heat Wave fire truck Rescue Bot that turns from a transformer to a fire truck. He loves to play and run outside, ride his bike, and play at the park. He is not really into anything with fine motor skills, like painting or drawing but I think that may also be due to the fact that he does a lot of that at school every day. He is currently doing swimming lessons on Saturday mornings and we are working at getting him to be more comfortable in the water and putting his head in. He is also doing Soccer Shots (beginning soccer classes for 3-5 year old) at his school once a week and Tumble Bus (beginning gymnastic and tumbling skills) at his school.

Brandon is enjoying school. He likes his teachers and his friends at school, especially Andrew and Rylan. Brandon is going to get to move into the Jr. Kindergarten room this fall which he is really excited about. He will have homework in Jr. K! He is getting to move to Jr. K early (usually its for 4 and 5 year old) because his teachers say that he listens and follows directions really well in school and is quick to learn. Depending on how he does, we may have him do Jr. K for two years or we may have him do the private Kindergarten they have at the school and then do Kindergarten again at our public school. Brandon is so tall that he is excited to move into the next class up with the "big kids." His preschool room has kids as young as 2.5 in there. I was told by Brandon's teachers that Brandon is a leader in his classroom. He is very confident and likable and generally makes friends wherever he goes. One of Brandon's best qualities I think is that he has shown to already have good emotional intelligence. He is empathetic and sweet and thinks about other's feelings and seems to know when someone is upset or hurting and tries to make it better.

Brandon is pretty good natured most of the time. He does have a stubborn streak about him at times and is persistent with things. This does sometimes leads to tantrums (usually when he is tired and hungry). He also has an excellent memory, which can be both good and bad because it is almost a guarantee that he will remember what you tell him. He has grown way more independent in the past six months. He has gone from having us dress him to picking out his own clothes and then putting them on himself. He loves wearing anything with a "superhero" on it so he has quite a few Superman, Spiderman, and Batman shirts. He is in love with his spiderman sweatshirt we got him. He also has been completely potty trained during the day and at night since February. Just in the last month, he has learned how to strap himself into his car seat by himself and loudly will protest if we do it for him. He has to do everything himself and be a "big boy." I love my little boy so much, can't believe he is growing up so fast! Only two more years and we will have a kindergartner! I know it will go by really fast.