Ben & Shae Cecka's family in Gilbert, AZ

Johnathan is four and a quarter years old! It’s been one year exactly since we moved to our new Arizona home, and it seems like it was just yesterday. But when I look at Djai’s photos from a year ago it is evidence of how much he has matured into the energetic and creative preschooler he is today.

Our little chef has always been a very open minded eater, and has started playing scientist in the kitchen, finding new ways to eat his food. One morning I found him making himself a carrot sandwich which he devoured with enthusiasm. On other days he finds interest in preparing dishes of the invisible fare, or plastic in nature. Just this morning he handed me an ice cream cone and read the ingredient label after I reminded him of Joshua’s allergies. It contained: “Soy, milk, bean milk, mama’s milk, and sour bean.” Speaking of allergies, we met the wonderful Dr. Shimamoto here in Gilbert and will be taking both boys to be tested on the 25th. I’m crossing my fingers hoping he has outgrown some of the nut allergies. I’ve read that usually the ones that are still around by age five will most likely affect him for life.

The Djai-anator is really in to the super hero scene now. We still monitor what he sees on the screen, but there is enough in books and in his own imagination to fuel his super power fantasies. More often than not these days, when I call him by his name he’ll respond, “My name is not Johnathan. It is (enter random super-hero alias here.)” And he is really good at the naming thing too. At some point I finally realized that he wasn’t still babbling, but had his own little language. This silly creativity aides in naming his pets and plush toys very unique titles. He has a dragon named Argord, a monkey he calls Austie Gaustie, and the new member of our crabitat is now Melagee. I think we have a little Tolkien on our hands.

To give him a place to socialize and exercise the Left side of his brain, we take Johnathan to preschool classes through the city of Gilbert. They are usually under an hour one day a week, and are subject specific. Most parents layer them up so the child has a full week of classes. So far he has taken Phonics, Soccer, Spanish, Sports Introduction and Art History. He is currently in a math class and hip-hop dance. We try to get him into at least one athletic, and one academic course. Naturally, he is learning to read small words and preform simple math equations. He’s also quite proficient at monster drawing and some pretty hot booty shaking.

Along with all the nice things I can say about about Djaimonster, I also have to share that he can be a passionate and strong willed child. He’ll often take a less desirable consequence over and over again before he backs down, and turn on some water works that puts the Bellagio to shame. I always despised the term “terrible twos.” Not only because children are supposed to test their boundaries and are far from terrible for doing it, but also because the expression gives this idea that two is the most difficult age. I’ve found that each passing year has challenges that exceed the previous year requiring more complex discipline. I still need to do a little more preschool research, but what we’ve discovered so far is that we have far less drama in the home when he operates on a set schedule, has firm boundaries, limited screen time, and an early bedtime.

One of the best things about moving South has been getting to know some more of our family (on both sides) that we didn’t usually spend a whole lot of time with. For a while there Johnathan was spending time with his cousin Alyssa quite regularly, who he called his “princess.” They must have watched Sleeping Beauty a dozen times together. She would swoon for Aurora, and he would cheer for the dragon slaying prince. They both would scream “Maleficent! Maleficent!” when the villain appeared on the screen. So cute. This naturally spawned the idea for his Knight and Damsel party for his fourth birthday. We made candy armored castles and ate of the fire breathing dragon cake! He loved that cake, and still talks about it in his story telling time. I’m already making out the plans for his fifth cake. I’m going to have a hard time topping the last one. I hope he is still in to the super hero thing as I do have some ideas in that direction. Maybe he can help me with the next one, my little culinary artist. In the meantime, we are going to enjoy him at this age, and hope the next birthday doesn’t come too quickly!