May 4th was Matt's half-birthday, so he is halfway between 4 and 5 years old now. In fact, he will tell anyone who listens that he is four and a half, and his brother is one and a half but will be two by the end of the summer.
To celebrate Matt's half birthday, we had some friends over for a playdate, and then we had cake and ice cream after dinner.
Matt is a busy 4 1/2 year old. He still loves reading a variety of books. We have been listening to audio books in the car, which he is currently enjoying more than music. We've listened to chapter books like Winnie the Pooh, Paddington, The Mouse and the Motorcycle series, A Cricket in Time Square, and Stuart Little. Matt also loves building things, either kits or free form, and he's ready for "big kid" Legos. Matt can put together 60-piece puzzles easily and is able to do 100-piece puzzles as well.
Matt is back into dinosaurs and Curious George, but he still likes robots, vehicles (including Cars), Cat in the Hat, and Winnie the Pooh. He enjoys playing outdoors as well as inside, but he especially loves playing outside or on the playground with friends. He enjoyed his t ball experience and is looking forward to town soccer in the fall.
Matt's math skills have really picked up over the past few months. He can count - with a little prompting - past one hundred, and he can do some basic addition and subtraction. His sense of time is coming along; he can tell time on a digital clock and is working on analog clocks. Since Matt's half birthday, he has made some important leaps towards reading readiness. He is picking up the occasional word, but he still takes most of his cues from his memory and the pictures. But he still has plenty of time to conquer that skill!
(Note: Because Matt's birthday falls just after the school district's cutoff date of September 1, he will be starting kindergarten in the fall of 2019 rather than this coming fall.)
