Warm Adventures: Miles Turned 4

Way back in mid-May our little man turned 4! He may be pint sized but he has a big personality to say the least. First off, he is crazy smart. I know every parent thinks their kid is the smartest but Miles really is. He learned the days of the week on his own, quite a while ago Mainly because he likes to know what's for breakfast - Sunday is pancake day, Tuesday is cereal day and everything in between could be eggs or oatmeal. Wednesday he goes to Speilgruppe, Friday Alison has turnen/gym. Just try and give him oatmeal on Tuesday and see his world turn upside down. He also learned the months of the year somehow without my help.

Dress up with Ali

He loves to play games and would/could play for hours if you had the time and patience to play all day long with him. He has learned to do simple math by playing board games. My favorite is when it is just him and I, and he has to get a few other characters (stuffed animals or lego pieces) into the game playing also (it gets a bit confusing to say the least). He absolutely adores his big sister even if she does drive him up the wall most days He has an amazingly clever and mature since of humor. He gets jokes and sarcasm and has a laugh and smile that melts hearts. He is currently fascinated with all things Octonauts, Astronauts and Dinosaurs. And he is a sweetie pie who still hugs me tight and tells me I'm the best mommy (even if I feel far from it most days).

He has a frighteningly accurate memory and can recall things from a long time ago. A few months ago Erik moved offices at work and Alison was asking what happened to some pictures she drew for him. We were all sort of scratching our heads as we couldn't even remember what they were of, even Alison couldn't remember. Miles pipes in very matter of factly and announces "they were fish". And my goodness he was right.

Trying hard to blow out his one candle

His latest thing is wearing two pairs of underwear and two different socks. The underwear thing doesn't bother me, it actually helps keep his pants up but the sock thing drives me nuts as there are just a million pairs of mismatched socks floating around our apartment. Not good for my OCD personality.

This year we didn't throw the usual big birthday party celebration for him/us that we usually do. In our defense, we tried on several occasions but the weather was just not on our side. Luckily we had an impromptu get together on his actual birthday at one of his favorite indoor jumpy places and that suited him just fine.

Very proud moment!

Hard to believe but he is starting kindergarten in August. We just had a meet the teachers session and the verdict is still out. He was most proud of receiving his Luchzgi (orange reflector), that all the kindergarten kids wear when they walk to and from school. This is for safety reasons, so cars can see them if they cross the road but also so the community identifies him as a kindergartener in case he gets lost. Lucky for us we live close enough to the school that they don't cross any busy roads - well one very busy road but there is a tunnel under the road.

Don't ask

Since the kids go to kindergarten here for two years, technically Alison and Miles could have been together since Ali will start her second year of kindergarten in August. Apparently I was the only one that thought they should be together as everyone else encouraged me to separate them. Alison's teacher said she thought it was better for their language skills. Alison is speaking Swiss German very well and they were afraid if Miles and her were together that they would revert to English and Miles would never learn Swiss German. We will see how it goes. My biggest worry other than not having his big sister around to protect him, is the large amount of extra work for me. I already spend quite a bit of time translating the myriad of paperwork that comes home from kindergarten every week. That and trying to remember which one goes to the forest or gym or has an afternoon off or goes in at a different time. Oh well guess that is what I'll be doing with all my 3 hours of free time 4 days a week starting in August.

That about sums it up. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Miles birthday.