My how this kid has grown and
changed this past year!!
He is no longer considered a toddler and now
officially is a big kid (cue the tears). It has been a very BIG year for him
from moving to his big boy room to getting his first set of stitches to
becoming the best big brother to about to start preschool and moving to his
schools daycare. Lots of changes.
Yearly Highlights
- Went to Hayek family reunion
- Officially moved into his big boy baseball room
- First circus experience with grandpa and grandma Dexter
- Took Big Brother/Big Sister class
- First dentist appointment
- Went to Boo at the Zoo and Trunk or Trick
- Went to a Halloween Parade, St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and Fourth of July Parade
- Became a BIG Brother!
- Mommy/Madden date to see The Good Dinosaur
- Went bowling for the first time with daddy
- Signed up for 4 year old preschool
- Sings Who Let the Dogs out; The Farmers Only jingle, Cake by the Ocean
- Visited great grandma Dorothy and went to the Children’s museum
- Went to the Mother-son formal
- Loved Easter egg hunting this year
- Learned to ride the tricycle really well
- Got his first set of stitches
- Went to two Bible Camps
- Took swimming lessons
- Watched the Quad City Air Show
- Helped papa catch a possum
- Loves giving the thumps up
Age: 4 years old
Height: 42 inches tall, 80%ile
Weight: 41 pounds 4 ounces, 85%ile
Health: Had his second
ER visit and first set of stitches from building a bridge out of couch cushions
and trying cross over it, he split his eyebrow open on the bottom corner of the
coffee table. He only was given two stitches because he wouldn’t sit still for
any more but did pretty darn good being in the ER for 2 plus hours. Other than
that he has been in great health and is one active little boy!
Sleeping: Typically Madden
is still a good sleeper. He usually goes to bed around 8-8:30pm. Some nights
are better than others during bedtime, he prefers mommy to come back in and
cuddle with him in bed until he’s close to falling asleep or asleep. Otherwise
he comes up with the usually 5 million excuses NOT to go to bed….it’s kinda
hard to get mad at a kid that says “I just want to kiss you” or “I want one
more hug” and “I want to cuddle you”. He recently has become scared of
thunderstorms and the sound of heavy rain so he will wake in the middle of the
night from that.
Favorite
Foods: Cheeseburgers, strawberries, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, corn on the cob, canned green beans, grapes, apples, cheese, bananas, macaroni and cheese, basically any pasta, toast with Nutella, chocolate
milk, ice cream, suckers, tootsie rolls.
Favorite TV
Shows: Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Pack Man Adventures (Netflix’s), Paw Patrol,
PJ Masks.
Favorite Things: Harassing our dog Waveland, he loves to put her
leash on her and attach it to a doorknob then leave her there. He still loves
his River Bandits hat. He only prefers to wear 5 different types of shirts
which include Chicago Cubs, Iowa Hawkeyes, Captain America, Paw Patrol, and
Avengers shirts. He will only wear athletic shorts or “cold” (athletic) pants. Building things, like forts, beds, towers, and castles. Pretending to be a puppy. Playing doctor. His two blankies. Swimming and slip n'slides or waterslides. Monkey Joes and Jungle Bungle.
Dislikes/Struggles: Wearing socks, particularly when not wearing shoes. Thunderstorms
and heavy rain at night. Loud noises such as fireworks or the airplanes at the airshow. Getting wet if he spills something on himself. Three
fourths of this wardrobe doesn’t get worn! Taking naps at home on the weekends.
Personality/Temperament: He loves giving the thumps up. He’s very curious and much smarter than we sometimes think. Dave is always trying to be hide snacks/treats from him but he has some sort of radar on him that knows when Dave is in the pantry or had something he doesn't want to share. Madden will say "What you got dad?" and then demand you to show it to him. He definitely has reached the Why stage and will continue to ask why until he gets an answer he likes or if you don't know the answer he says "yes you do, tell me why". He is still extremely animated, wears his emotions on his sleeve so to speak. He is observant, he notices when I get my hair done, or wear new clothes, or paint my toes a new color. He prefers to stand back and watch others do something before participating, especially in a new environment. He is shy and quiet when meeting someone new or a new place but will warm up and ask questions/play/etc. He is very good at playing independently and entertaining himself for stretches of time. He loved to show off have grandparents or mom/dad or a friend watch him and play with him. Even with the increase is meltdowns and attitude, Madden seriously is the sweetest boy. He gets so incredibly excited about things that you just cant help but smile and get excited about also. He loves fiercely. He is thankful and shows gratitude. He loves to cuddle and shows great affection for his sister. He's silly, funny, a little bit crazy, and one hex of a cheerleader for other people.
Funny Things
He Says:
- Calls the movie Beauty and the Beast “Booty and the Beast”; he pronounces pool as pahool, cutie as cootie, elevator as alemator, swimsuit as swimswoop, disgusting as dusting, back pack as pack pack, mustache as mushmash.
- Other phrases he says “That’s so cool”, “It’s gonna be so fun”, “I got a good dea (idea) mom”
- One morning Dave’s parents asked Madden and I to meet for brunch as Dave was working. During brunch Madden keeps standing up in the booth while eating his pancakes and just trying to mess around. Then he stands up and yells out at the restaurant “Look mom my penis growing, it get bigger!” Of course from my reaction to be quiet and not yell that in public made him repeat it over and over again. Thankfully my in-laws had chosen a restaurant with a much older crowd so the majority of people around us had a hard time hearing what in the world he was yelling but it was still equally embarrassing for me.
- He is always asking “What you got?” if someone is eating something or if you go to the pantry. Dave always tries to hide snacks from MJ and gets caught more times than not. Once he hide snack cakes and made himself a brownie sundae with Madden was in his bedroom. Madden later saw the bowl Dave was trying to hide and told him “put it on the table”, so he could see what was in it. Other times he’ll ask to smell your breath then ask “what you eating”.
- While driving in the car Madden saw a truck full of tree branches and yelled out "Look mom, that's beaver food."
- Easter weekend after having an East egg hunt at Dave's parents church, that night at bedtime we did our usual bedtime routine. As I cuddled him I told him I love you and responded with I love you too mom and I love candy today too.
- Liked to watch the movie Puss n Boots and for a while loved to "It's a gold pooper, we're taking it"
- Calls his stuffed animals and sometime his friends, his honey's. Will say "Hi honey", "We're are my honey's at?", "You're my honey's"
- Loves to be "cozy"
- At one of his friends birthday's he had to use the bathroom and was very noisy. So he said it sounded like a pig, then yelled "There's a pig in the toilet!"
- Daycare at Rachel's they were all practicing their full names, our daycare provider and her kids last names are Hay. Now when you ask Madden what his full name is he responds with Madden James Dexter Hay.
Proud Mommy
Moments:
- There are many times Madden seems to be very grateful for things, a really shows general gratitude for things he’s given or places we go that truly surprise me that I don’t expect for a kid his age. Madden and Dave came to visit me at work then we went out to lunch. We decided to go to Chick-fila since its fast and they have a small play area for children. He must not have remembered they had a play area when we pulled into the parking lot but once we walked into the restaurant and were waiting in line to order he turned around and saw it. He was so happy to see it that he wrapped his arms around both our legs and said “Oh thank you!!”
- One evening a Disney World commercial came on the TV and Madden yelled out "I want to go there!" Both Dave and I responded yeah us too buddy, we will go there some day. He wanted to go now so I told him it's kind of expensive so we have to save our money first. Madden then asked us for some "monies" then looked around the house and in mommy's purse for some monies. He ended up finding some coins in the couch and in my purse then said "I find monies can we go now". Awe buddy you not a LOT more monies than that!
- Madden ended up having 3 piggy banks in his room, a big baseball pig bank and a small baseball pig bank then he found a small plastic one we were given from the credit union and put it in his room also. He realized Harper didn't have a piggy bank in her room or on her dresser so he went into his room and got one of his banks and put it in her room all on his own. He even puts money in it on occasion for her.
Looking
Forward To:
- Starting preschool and his new daycare
- Trying out new sports and activities...first up soccer
- Making new friends
- Watching him grow and develop academically
- He's really getting into holidays now and understanding them, the holidays get so much more fun and we can't wait to see him help celebrate them all with his litter sister too.
- We hope to plan/take a family vacation or trip this next year.
