In less than a week I will have a 4 year old in the house....

Forrest reeling in his first adult steelhead just 2 days ago...

This soon to be 4 year old is keeping us on our toes as usual in the Fulton household! He is really fully a little boy, (excuse me, a BIG boy!), an older brother and quite a good one at that, as well as an overall sweet kid with a VERY fiesty side that tends to pop out daily, if not hourly!

the ninja brothers

Forrest demonstrating his good big brother abilities :-) "Come on Talin, lets go to the trailer and chase bad guys...!"

As I write this both brothers are lying together on our recliner talking about which chair they like best, which blankie they like best, and giving each other the occasional brotherly kick or jab. Or now they've made a dog pile on the couch with Forrest on the bottom cracking up as his little brother jumps on him with all his 25 lb. strength :-)
4 years! It seems so long, but so quick as well. Forrest has come a long way and he is more a sponge now than I have ever seen him. He absorbs information like no other, loves to read, and at the moment is trying to read a book to his brother. We need to capitalize on this and read more to him, as it instantly makes for a calm focused Forrest. His other favs at the moment are the little legos that make amazing contraptions like helicopters, airplanes, etc. This is two-sided for me, as they are often all over the house, but he LOVES them and thankfully his Dad I think likes them as well and the other day they made all the helicopter and plane pieces into two new models for future boats for our family, (Alex wishes!). He has a very mechanical mind, has a great memory, and can count to 40 only skipping a few numbers. During our long car rides he'll just start counting and keep going and going until Alex and I go batty :-)
So the counting thing is great, counting objects, no problem, but I think this kid has a little trouble with colors. Or else he's pretending to not know his colors, I can't quite figure it out. But even something as simple as a red stop sign catches him? But yet he knows blue and yellow make green, (probably from memorization and the book Little Blue and Little Yellow though...) but this color thing confuses me? Color blindness? Just not catching the concept? I don't know.

He is still extremely active, ALWAYS on the move, and there is tons of imaginative play right now. He can occupy himself for quite a long time these days playing with his airplanes, boats, or anything really. Unfortunately a lot of his play has to do with "bad guys" and shoot guns, or squirt guns, slime guns,(what IS that??) but I think this is pretty normal for a kiddo this age. He does understand that we really don't want him to be the bad guy, shooting other things, so then he'll say, "Don't worry Mama, I'm a good bad guy...I don't get in jail"
Great... :-[
His activity can be quiet play too. He is more into arts and crafts though not nearly as much as other things. He has drawn a few pictures for us and loves a little instant erase drawing board with magnets my Grandma picked up for him. Other quiet play can be giving his Dad or myself rubs and massages. This is awesome. He is very into it and tells us he is doctoring us when they happen. These moments along with his frequent "I love you SO much Mama" make all those crazy times just drift out of our minds....or....at least make it all worth it! It really is amazing the love these little people can share. 
Pre-school is going well. We still have bad days where multiple time-outs happen but things overall are LOADS better for this intense kiddo. He still can be rough, and his rough play is triggered by low sleep, over stimulation, (too many kids,) and the rest, well, who knows? After a particularly rough day over a week ago His preschool teacher and I were trying to make sense at it all but really couldn't. Trying to put sense for our kids behavior I think makes us feel better but really, they are their own independent beings and really this is hard to do. There are so many variables...hunger?fatigue?sickness?growth-spurt?I don't like this blue shirt you made me wear?My breakfast made my tummy hurt? and on....and on.....
Whew.
So, it has been, and is always, a learning experience for us.
A super duper super hero birthday party is upcoming for this soon to be four year old Fulton boy.