Aiden's 4th Year Milestone Review

Just yesterday, I was browsing through my older blog entries and started to read Aiden's milestone reviews back when he was going through his first year of life - and I thought to myself, "Geez, I can barely remember any of these!"

It is true. By neglecting this blog, I have failed to document Aiden's spirited behaviours. Aiden went through his terrible twos and tantrum threes just like any other child, but erm, how convenient, I have no records of it anywhere. Guess I can't use those references to mentally prepare myself with Baby A!

So, is Aiden going through the fiendish four?

All I can say is, Aiden is definitely an easier child to manage as soon as he turned four. It was extremely noticeable during our recent holiday to the US. He understands what we say, comprehends reason and is able accept our word for something. For instance, when he was three, we took him into ToysR'Us (total no-no!) and he immediately wanted a particular toy and we just couldn't reason with him at all. We even tried explaining that we did not have any money and he cheekily replied "Daddy got money in his pocket!" (Excuse his grammar...). Now, it is easier to reason with him. It doesn't work all the time, but at least he will consider an alternative, such as "We need to go to the bank to get money", or "There is an even bigger toy shop outside, let's go check it out?"

Manja wise, he is still Mummy's boy. Constantly asks for hugs and very generous with random kisses on my cheek. He still insists on sleeping in between Mummy and Daddy, and gets extremely angry if Daddy takes his spot on the bed. We tried putting his single bed beside our bed, but that only worked the first few nights. He ended up crawling back in the middle on the third night, so there goes that attempt. He proclaims "Aiden's place is in the middle!" - I do not know where we are going to squeeze Baby A in the future.

Communication wise, he is still an extrovert. He talks non stop and socializes with friends easily - and especially looks up to older children. I am constantly amazed at his vocabulary. Just the other day he exclaimed "Mummy, that's ridiculous!" and "Oh, how adorable!" - I'm always impressed whenever he says four syllable words. His preference is English and we were always worried that he didn't understand Malay. But we then found out that he perfectly understands Malay but chooses to only speak English! Just last week, we were at a neighbour's house when she offered, "Nak bagi makan arnab ke? and I immediately replied "Eh, tak payah la..." Of course, Aiden heard the conversation and asked "Mummy, why can't I feed the rabbits?" *grin* He picks up new words all the time, especially through Disney Junior. When we were in Houston, he even picked up the slang! Imagine Aiden saying "automatic" and "butter" with an American slang... my sister in laws made him repeat it again and again until he finally lost the slang after two weeks.

Focus wise, Aiden does not like activities that will need him to focus for a long time, such as jigsaws or assembling Lego. Although he is perfectly content with playing with an assembled Lego and then running back to us to fix it whenever it breaks. He doesn't have a favourite toy, he plays with anything and everything. He gets excited over a new toy (who doesn't?) and resorts to sleeping with it the first few days, then loses interest. He loves it when I read him books, he keeps asking for a different book every time we finish one. On the contrary, he is not interested in reading. At all. I have even resorted to using flash cards with a sticker reward system to make sure he recognises alphabets. Letters like J and Q are a pain for him to remember, but I am not going to get excessively worried. A colleague told me, "Liz, I used to cry to my husband, I cannot have a stupid child. But then he woke up one morning and it all clicked. He started reading!" I guess Aiden is more of a talker rather than a reader.

Extremely picky with food. I can probably count with one hand what he likes to eat. Prefers egg over chicken, meat or fish. Hates vegetable - that one definitely came from me *sigh*. Loves kuey teow and "yellow mee with brown soup" - that's code for Maggi. I don't know why he loves that junk but he is strictly not allowed to have it, and on the occasions that I do have Maggi, I will have to do so quietly in the kitchen.

Definitely not a morning person. Enjoys sleeping late and waking up late. Nowadays we try to practice forcing him to bed by 1030pm (that means I have to lay beside him in the dark bedroom until he dozes off), but we don't get to do it religiously all the time. Since both Hubby and I are working, night time is the only time we really get to spend time with him. Just the other day, he said "Mummy, stay home with me!" *sigh* the joys of juggling your career and motherhood.

That's it for a start of a recap. Will try to write more!

Aiden painting the house during Ramadhan, in preparation for Eid. Instead of making a mess, he was quite helpful! Love you, Aiden!