Trying to Keep Calm Through the Fours!

We have all heard the "terrible twos" some would say the "trying threes" well the fours are UNFORTUNATE! This little guy has been four for almost a month and seems to be pressing all of our buttons! In the past few weeks he has managed to rip apart books, take apart his train table, take apart his bookcase, climbed on top of his changing table, constantly not stay in bed till his clock turns green, and always grabs things that he shouldn't.

These aren't all new things, he has been doing them since he was three, but they are getting worse. I try time outs and taking away privileges, but this seems to amuse him.  From things I've read he just has so much energy that he just needs an outlet. We are starting soccer in the next couple of weeks, and then swimming starts the end of June. Hopefully this will help keep me calm during the summer. Then in September school starts and hopefully that will help to extinguish his energy level.

I have been told that raising a boy is very difficult and now I fully understand that statement. Also when the hubby was little apparently he was a handful. Guess the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!

Here's a little picture college of times when the little guy was behaving and listening to his Mommy! :) Enjoy!

Dentist

Today Braydon had his first real visit to the Dentist. The last time he visited he was only 1 1/2 years old. I know I have neglected taking him to the Dentist, but I was a little confused by our insurance. They sent an insurance card for me but not one for Braydon so I didn't know if he was covered. Then we changed insurance and I forgot. So finally I remembered and looked it up and found a Pediatric Dentist. The cleaning went really good, only a few times we had to bribe him! They gave him a token each time he was really good. Braydon even let them take x-rays and was a champ about it too. He left with three tokens which he got to use for prizes before we left. Let's hope he is this good when we go back in 6 months.

Braydon 4th Birthday

I still can't believe that my little man is now 4 years old. Last Saturday we celebrated Braydon's fourth b-day with a Jake and the Neverland Pirates birthday party.

 

The only family that was able to make it was Mimi & Poppa. He was a little upset about that but got over it quickly when he saw that Mimi & Poppa brought his Jeep and it was staying here! His Jeep was a huge hit with all his friends. Everyone wanted to either drive it or ride on it. He even managed to pick up some neighborhood kids who had just passed by and saw the Jeep!

His party was fun and he really enjoyed all the gifts that everyone gave him. I don't think I've every seen a kid get more excited each time he opened something. 

Circus and Dragons

Last Friday was another day off for Chris so we decided to go to the circus! We went last year and took Braydon to his first circus. He loved it, so when he saw commercials for it this year he begged to go again. This year the theme was Dragons!! It ended up costing $100 for three tickets which not even our baseball game cost that much! But in the end was worth it because he had a blast and our seats where awesome.

When we got there Braydon didn't want to go down on the floor because of the clowns. He finally got over his fear but by then the circus was getting ready to start. The ring master had a midget as a side kick and Braydon kept calling him a little boy! The stuff that boy says just makes me laugh!

The show kept his attention until they started having the acrobats come out. That seemed to bore him and he started to get antsy. The things he probably liked best where the clowns, the elephants, the motorcycles, the dragon, and the fact that he got cotton candy AND popcorn! Guess we will have to look at making this a yearly event. Next year the show is about construction!

Nationals Ball Game

Growing up in Chicago I have been to my share of Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox games. I am a die hard Cubs fan and love them even if they have a losing record. Not until last year had I ever been to another ball park outside of Chicago. Last year we went to a Baltimore Orioles game. This year we are going to the Cubs vs. Washington Nationals game, but that isn't until May. When Chris decided to take the day off of work on Thursday we looked and found awesome tickets to see the Nationals play the White Sox. It was a night game so we decided to make an afternoon out of it.

We headed down on the train and then had a late lunch/early dinner at Gordon Biersch. After lunch we went to the ball park when the gates opened, 2 1/2 hours before game time. The park is only 5 years old and is beautiful. They have a play area for kids to play on and you couldn't get Braydon off of it.

After awhile we dragged him away so that we could get to our seats. Our seats were awesome!!! We sat between first base and right field.

Braydon begged for a foam finger and I think it may have been the best $10 I ever spent! He is still playing with it. Every time he put it on he said "Go Nuts" instead of "Go Nats". Now he is finally saying it right.

When you ask Braydon who his favorite player is, he'll tell you Drew Harper. Well that person doesn't exist! He means Bryce Harper, and actually that is my favorite. Ian Desmond is his favorite because he has a mustache!

We decided to leave in the 7th inning because they were winning and we wanted to beat the rush at the train station. Well I didn't think we had that many people waiting for the train but Chris was miserable about the "crowd". Maybe for the next game we will drive since there are places to park down there.

Cherry Blossoms

 The Cherry Blossom Festival is a really big deal in Washington, D.C. Last year we had just moved to the area and were busy getting settled in our house. So this year I really wanted to go. Sunday the weather report said it would be in the 70's so I figured what a better day to go. We went with some of our friends and took the train in. The place was packed! We walked around for several hours and Braydon was such a trouper, he never complained.

The blossoms and the monument

Sitting by the reflecting pool

Never ask for him to say "cheese" this is what you get

Monsters!

Why are children afraid of monsters? Braydon has a nightly routine of things he has to do before he will attempt to go to sleep. Each night we read a book and then the checklist comes out. This checklist is something that I created because he kept repeating the same things over and over. I figured it would go quicker if we had a list so he didn't forget, sadly it didn't solve the being quicker issue. The checklist is two pages that I laminated and then we use a dry erase marker and check each one off.

Last night after our checklist was complete. Daddy decided to tell Braydon to say "don't let the monsters get me" and pointed to behind his headboard. This prompted Braydon to freak out that there were monsters behind his bed and his pillow pet was a monster. I had to change out his pillow and tell him there weren't any monsters. Hopefully tonight goes smoother and Daddy doesn't mention the monsters!!