Four years old

Four years ago in a hot, dusty Chaco town, our little Jonathan was born. From the start his eyes have been wide open, taking everything in. From about two years ago, his mouth has also been wide open, bubbling forth with all his many, many, many observations.

At four Jonathan is, shall we say, exuberant. I just asked Ramont for a one word description and he said "enthusiastic." Jonathan's walk has a skip in it, and often an all-out jump or two. For someone who likes people so much, he spends a surprising amount of time in his head as well, often whispering narration of what he's playing.

He's still nuts about tractors, of course. Last year already he ordered a sprayer cake for this birthday (this is the best I could come up with).

And who would he be without his little sister? Though she's often adoring and remarkably accommodating of his constant elaborate scenarios, she also makes some strong demands on him and will increasingly let him have it if he oversteps.

At four Jonathan is fully fluent in Low German (I think still his preference, certainly at home) and English. At pre-school screening last week we learned about some things that he isn't much interested in: drawing, the alphabet and higher numbers, hopping four times on one foot, and playing little games with the given instructions.

He's moving up on the growth chart...from 5 or so % to fully 15% for height and almost that for weight.

:)

But while he can't hop on one foot, he's still very much into jumping.

There's so much to say about this little boy, but I'll stop bragging already and hope that you can come visit him/us soon!

On another note, winter continues. This week Ramont bravely took both kids to the Jackson sale barn to sell a few bales and pick up a trailer. While it makes for cute photos, it sounds like he won't be doing it again soon (or ever).

We took my folks to the airport on Tuesday for their trip to Bolivia and Paraguay. As we were leaving, we almost couldn't understand why we hadn't made arrangements to go along...it would have been soo good to visit while Willmar and Hannah are still there (for one more month). And then it started to snow on the way home. And snowed all night. And blew all the next day. And then again two days later.

Ramont's been blowing snow almost like a full-time job. So yes, why didn't we hop on the plane south?

Well, there will be more and hopefully better opportunities in the future. And honestly, I do like winter.