Jon Henry at 3-and-a-Half

I've been wanting to write an update about each kid for a while now--and by "a while" I mean like 2 years. :) The thing is, Jon can be a difficult kid. And I know a lot of people tend to think I'm exaggerating when I say that, because they seem him at his best. But Jon cries A LOT. Like run to his room, screaming and crying fits, that last for quite a while. He's already done it 4 times this morning and it's not even 9am yet. And they are generally over the smallest things: the latest one is because I put his pretzels in a bowl and he didn't want them in a bowl, what was I thinking? So it's hard for me to write a post describing him when I'm not really sure what to say. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but I don't want to gloss over the hard stuff, either since I write these updates to remember life as it really was. So, since most of you probably won't even read through the whole thing anyway (which is totally okay--I probably wouldn't read it either, if it wasn't my kid!), here's the best that I can do when describing Jon at 3-and-a-half:

• Jon still has a speech delay, and is probably about a year behind in communication from a "typical" kid. He also has delays in cognitive ability and social skills, and has trouble generalizing concepts from one situation to the next. Some days I still struggle with this, as I am a person that has always valued intelligence. But most of the time I am used to it now and just know that is Jon and we will help him the best we can.

• He is making improvements in communication, though, and will finally do things like sing with me. For the longest time he refused to sing and didn't particularly like it when anyone else sang. He will still tell me to "Stop it!" quite often if I'm singing a song he doesn't like (which is most of them), but he will also sing along with me to Rock-a-bye Baby every night as part of our bedtime routine.

• He is such a boy in his behaviors and his likes. He is rough and strong and loves to wrestle with his daddy. He adores Thomas the Train and Cars and anything with wheels. 

• We are still working on potty training. Most days he will pee in the potty, but only if I help him, which means I have to drop everything 10 times a day whenever he yells, "I have to go potty!" And he generally just holds it if I'm not with him, which also means I can't be away from him for too long or he has an accident. And poop...well, let's not even talk about the poop.

• He is definitely better with people than he used to be. Before, he would be quite fearful around people he didn't know well, which generally resulted in hitting (me) and throwing things and tantrums. Now, thankfully, he is much better at being with others. Just yesterday, as we were driving out of the parking lot at preschool, a group of people were walking by and he randomly waved and yelled hello to them through his open car window. These are minor things to most parents, but remarkable improvement for us.

• He is also better with unknown situations. Anything out-of-the-ordinary or unfamiliar used to result in a lot of fear and again, bad behavior. But now (I think because he can understand more about what is going on) he is much better able to enjoy things. Our recent Thomas the Train outing proved that, as he was happier than I have seen him in a long time, and he was doing something completely new to him. (However, we do pay for it in the days that follow as his behavior gets even worse after a "big event" like that.)

• He is still ginormous. :) I get comments from other people on almost a daily basis about how tall he is--usually things like, "That is the tallest 3-year-old I have ever seen!" When we last measured him in March, he was about 43" but I think he just had another growth spurt. (To give you a reference, that puts him completely off the growth chart.) He is also at least 40 pounds now (perhaps more, as we don't have a scale at home) which is in the 90th percentile for his age. (Just an FYI, Lauren is currently in the 94th percentile for height. At least she is on the chart!)

• His preschool and speech classes are going well. He attends preschool at the Cuesta Childcare Center two mornings a week while I am at work, and he attends an hour-and-a-half language program at the elementary school another two mornings a week. He seems to enjoy both things and is generally well-behaved there. I am so thankful for that, and yet it is often why people don't seem to believe me when I talk about how difficult he is. He definitely saves his worst for mommy, which is both a good and a bad thing.

• He enjoys playing outside, especially on the new swing set. Our yard is small, but it is wonderful to have a place where I can safely send them both out to play!

• He knows his colors and most shapes, and he can actually identify many letters and numbers. I think this summer I will work more intentionally with him on teaching letters and pre-reading skills. He will already spell his name for you ("J-O-N") and is trying to write it.

• He fights with his sister A LOT these days. I struggle daily with how much to let them work things out on their own and how much to intervene when things escalate. 

• He is gradually giving up his afternoon nap (and my one daily break), and he is up by 6:30am every morning. It feels like he doesn't get enough sleep, but nothing we do seems to increase that. He is very affected by sleep (or a lack of it!) and gets grouchy quite easily.

• He eats well (which is evident in his size!) but he is a typical toddler in that he hates most veggies and refuses to eat anything green.

• As for the future, he will probably continue with his same preschool routines next year. The year after that, we are hoping he will qualify for "Transitional Kindergarten" which is a new public school program. It is basically like a pre-K program for kids with a fall birthday. And after that, he would do regular Kindergarten. It means Lauren will be in 4th grade by the time Jon is in Kindergarten, which seems so far apart to me, but we need to do what's best for each of our kiddos.

• And to end on a good note, Jon loves to snuggle. He gives great hugs and kisses, and he is adorable. :) He has taught me more about unconditional love than I ever thought I would learn!