Happy 4 year Birthday Ryan!

Here are some facts about Ryan:

• Height=42.5"  Weight=38.0 lbs
• A year ago, it was a struggle every time we tried getting Ryan to nap or sleep at night. Now it's a breeze. We think the improvement is a result of starting preschool which provides him a nice structured routine, something he lacked while under our care.
• Ryan won't or can't speak Cantonese anymore. His Mandarin is developing decently from his daily lessons in preschool, but it's probably at the expense of his Cantonese.
• Although Ryan enjoys listening to music, he doesn't cling to specific songs anymore. And to our disappointment, he doesn't sing along with songs as often either.
• Ryan's favorite foods are unchanged from a year ago. However, he doesn't seem to eat as much. We partly blame his preschool for filling him up with crackers and otherwise nutrition-less snacks in the late afternoon.
• Ryan eats greek yogurt with sliced bananas almost every morning.
• Ryan is extremely skinny, but has a big belly. He looks a bit like a malnourished kid in one of those adopt-a-child commercials.
• Ryan likes geography and maps. And when we're driving in the car, he wants to know the name of every lake and mountain he sees is. He is also constantly monitoring the compass to know which direction we're driving.
• Ryan still likes Thomas the Train, but right now, I think he prefers Dinosaur Train and Cars (although he's a bit scared of the villains in Cars2).
• Ryan still has a fear of water. We haven't gotten him to relax and have fun in a pool ever since the swim lesson incident.

Ryan has a new awareness of all the words and letters in the world around him. He can't pass a road sign, poster, or bumper sticker without asking "What does that say?" Ryan loves the Phonics Song. His entire preschool class sings it regularly…and I definitely think it's helped him learn to read. In the first half of video below, Ryan sings the Phonics Song. In the second half, Ryan reads from flash cards. Brooke purchased the cards a couple of weeks ago because he's been showing an interest in reading. She's been giving Ryan sets of twelve new words at a time and we've been surprised how quickly he's been learning them. The video shows Ryan reading his first two sets of words and then I introduce a new set....

Ryan's birthday celebration at his preschool...