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The Best Things about Soren (at 4 years)

1. Soren makes me laugh.  A lot.
2. I really like it when he helps me do my chores.  Soren loves to sweep, fold clothes, dry dishes, mop floors, and (especially) scrub the toilet.
3. He also likes to cook.  He always wants to help make dinner.  He can dump, stir, and grate.
4. He can put on his own outdoor gear, which is a huge help.
5. And, now that he has a backpack, he can haul is own books to and from the library, his own scriptures to and from church, and his own sleeping gear to and from kid swap.
6. Sometimes I call him my little minion.  He will fetch and carry for me.
7. Soren loves babies.  Of all the neighborhood kids, his favorite is the youngest.  He is kind and gentle with very young children.
8. He is good at talking about his feelings.
9. Soren is very concerned with right and wrong.  He wants to follow the rules of a game, obey the rules of our house, or do a job in the correct steps.  He becomes very stressed when other children or characters in stories make wrong decisions.
10. Given a little time to think, he will enthusiastically make good choices for himself.
11. Soren loves to read.  I enjoy hearing about the things he reads.  Currently, he is deep in the Star Wars mythos and is always telling me the backstories of jedis I have never even heard of.
12. Soren also loves to write.  He writes lists, letters, and labels.
13. I enjoy his unique spellings.
14. Soren makes his own toys out of paper.
15. He also loves to build with legos and will do so for hours.
16. I really appreciate that he can entertain himself.
17. Soren is able to wait for what he wants.
18. He is also learning to be polite and friendly.  One thing we are working on is saying "hello" to people who greet him rather than bombarding them with a deluge of Megaman facts.  It makes me so happy when he remembers.  I like to hear him politely append "I'm pretending to be Megaman" to his greetings.
19. He loves carrots!  This stems from his continued interest in rabbits.
20. Soren really loves his dad and wants to be like him.  One thing I catch him doing all the time is trying to fix stuff around the apartment, just like his dad does every Saturday morning.
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