[TX Michelle]

Just checking to see if Jonathan is "normal"

[TX Michelle]

I'm back...finally to finish my post.

Jonathan is so full of testosterone. He can be so aggressive at times. Instead of just hugging me, he runs and just "attacks" me. KWIM? Of course, he is all about super heroes, cars, his Lego's, etc. I miss my sweet little boy who used to cuddle with me.

I guess its hard for me to compare [which I know I shouldn't] since he has a sister.

[joyful noise]

My 4yo is all about fighting. He loves spiderman, motorcycles, monster trucks, construction vehicles, race cars, robots, dinosaurs, football, soccer, hockey and anything his daddy likes. I was trying to put a stop to the play fighting, but I didn't want to repress him. So he is allowed to play "ninja turtle" far away from anyone so he won't hurt them an I let him play stick-swords with the trees outside. He lost alot of cuddly tenderness, but responds when I put on my sad face and say I need a hug. Plus I make a big deal out of "needing" some cuddle time w/ him before bed, so I lie down with him for a minute and we talk about the day. He constantly corrects me when I call him baby, or sweetie, but for some reason, I am allowed to call him darling He is very agressive while playing and possessive of his things. Also very bossy. I am constantly reminding him that he is only in charge of himself and cannot tell others how to behave. But If we teach him some social rule, like "say yes instead of yeah" he p[icks it up quickly and tries to enforce it on everyone else. I sometimes love his energy level, though. He is the highlight of the family. My dad was taking him for an afternoon every week while the twins were very small to give me a break, and the house just seemed lifeless, and dull. I was a bit worried that he was out of control, but I teach a sunday school class of kids a bit older that him and realized that all 4/5 yo are just "ACK" sometimes.

[Joanna G]

I am so thankful to read this thread. I thought maybe there was something wrong with my boys. Especially E. He also has a hard time giving gentle hugs. He's always trying to climb on me. It's as though he still wants the cuddling, but can't sit still for it. He also has been having horrible tantrums. He can actually get to a point where it seems he can't control himself sometimes. His feelings also get hurt very easy & this leads to more acting out.
I just recently put the behavior problems & hormones together. They must have a hormonal developmental change at this age.
I'm not seeing the same degree of behavior change in M, but he's always been a bit more feminine than E, so it makes sense.

[rissakaye]

Timothy still has a definite need for cuddling and just being held tight, but he also clearly values getting time with daddy and spending the day "helping" dh work on a car with no girls around. He is starting to get into Transformers, loves anything with an engine. He has recently discovered guns and can make a gun out of anything, even a piece of ice. I find the most helpful strategy for dealing with Timothy is that I need to make sure that every single day he finds someone way to release all the extra boy energy that he has. Whether it is spending the day making his walk around a museum and refusing to pick him up to make him walk or bundling him up and making him go ride his scooter like a crazy guy. We even sometimes make him run laps in the backyard for punishment when we fill his behaviour is because of too much energy.

Marissa

[TX Michelle]

My 4yo is all about fighting. He loves spiderman, motorcycles, monster trucks, construction vehicles, race cars, robots, dinosaurs, football, soccer, hockey and anything his daddy likes. I was trying to put a stop to the play fighting, but I didn't want to repress him. So he is allowed to play "ninja turtle" far away from anyone so he won't hurt them an I let him play stick-swords with the trees outside. He lost alot of cuddly tenderness, but responds when I put on my sad face and say I need a hug. Plus I make a big deal out of "needing" some cuddle time w/ him before bed, so I lie down with him for a minute and we talk about the day. He constantly corrects me when I call him baby, or sweetie, but for some reason, I am allowed to call him darling He is very agressive while playing and possessive of his things. Also very bossy. I am constantly reminding him that he is only in charge of himself and cannot tell others how to behave. But If we teach him some social rule, like "say yes instead of yeah" he p[icks it up quickly and tries to enforce it on everyone else. I sometimes love his energy level, though. He is the highlight of the family. My dad was taking him for an afternoon every week while the twins were very small to give me a break, and the house just seemed lifeless, and dull. I was a bit worried that he was out of control, but I teach a sunday school class of kids a bit older that him and realized that all 4/5 yo are just "ACK" sometimes.

Much of this sounds like Jonathan, too. Once again, its just nice to know that he is a normal 4 year old.

Michelle

[Amanda]

One of my boys is like this. . . he just came out different!

No really, he's actually VERY sweet and very affectionate, but such a fire ball.
He is rough and very physical. He is super active, we call him 'scrappy'.
He's also sort of difficult and moody sometimes, kind of sensitive - very passionate.

Of course we've raised all our kids the same, he's just programmed differently.

[jenn-]

We have recently started the play fighting phase of life . Nathan is typically more aggressive than William, but they take turns at time. I usually let them keep at it until they start getting out of control. Usually I can get them to stop before someone gets hurt.

[harryjacksmom]

I was just thinking the same thing about hormones - mine have both gotten a lot more rough-housey, both still love to snuggle, tho, for which I am thankful! This year has brought a lot of changes, but one has come out of his shell more than the other and there are a lotta changes in personality, physicality that I'm adjusting to ;-)