Funtastic Four

Crazy but true, my Son. You are FOUR. And you are one cool Guy. I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend my days with.

Weight: 36 pounds (50%)

Height: 41 1/2 inches (80%)

You are a good, good Boy. You strive to please and keep the peace. Typical oldest child, I guess. You can't stand to hear Noah cry and will usually give him what he wants to make him stop. I sometimes worry about that. I want to make sure you get your way some of the time. But I love that you are so tender-hearted towards your little brother.

You are an obedient Boy (most of the time), but you really do dawdle with the best of them. You know you must obey the first time you are asked to do something, so you generally start cheerfully obeying right away. It just may take you awhile...a really long while...to get the job done. So much like your Mama, you are. I can trickle away time like nobody's business, so I totally understand. You and I are both working on it. You are also so good about encouraging Nosy to obey. I am not sure if that is because you are spurring him on towards good behavior or because you are trying to avoid the shrill cries that result from Noah's consequence. Either way, it really does help Noah make good choices to have you encouraging him. You are a great influence, O!

You are one smart cookie, Owie, and teaching you continues to be one of my greatest joys. You love to write your letters and numbers, work simple math problems, play with money and learn about new concepts. A couple of things you are most interested in are maps, atlases and geography. We are constantly searching for interesting information about new places in our books and on the Internet. You soak it all up and beg for more!

Reading is a bit of a different story though. You can sound out words and read easy books, but you don't seem to enjoy it very much. You get very impatient and frustrated when you do not recognize a word right away. Sometimes you would rather not even try. I don't push you too much about it right now because I want you to love reading eventually, but we do work on it several days a week. Once you have read ten books, you get a super-duper surprise. The incentive is helping you reach your goal. Only two more books to go!

Lately, you have been very intent on inventing new things. Crazy, un-heard of, but surely very valuable things. Pictured above is your "train finder," and that face is your "I am explaining something super important" face. I love that face, and the jumbled up, coming-out-too-fast words that accompany it. A stick with a piece of styrofoam smooshed on top. It somehow fantastically alerts us that the train is coming.

You are happy and goofy and sing and dance your days away. In a big crowd of people, even if you know them all, you are still reserved at first, but you warm up quickly. Especially around your cousins, you are your own funny self. I am so glad you are letting others see how wonderful you are!

You are becoming so much more independent in your play. Your favorite things to play with are Tinker Toys, pretend food, Play Do, Marble Madness, and your stuffed friends. You only nap about half the time now. When you do not nap, I can hear you playing with your guys or making up songs in your room...very loud, enthusiastic songs. Songs so loud that you sometimes wake up Noah. But I love to hear your little voice raised in song. Often your lyrics have portions of Bible verses we have learned in them but in very mixed up context.

As wonderful as four is, you can be a bit squirrelly. For example, I have caught you running around our kitchen island, licking around the entire edge. You wanted to know how it tastes. You like to talk in nonsense words, loudly and repetitively, until I want to pull my hair out. Whining seems to be your preferred method of communication lately. That, too, can lead to much parental hair pulling. You are experimenting with talking back. It's not working out well for you, and since you are a quick learner, I think the experiment will be short lived. Sometimes when you need somewhere to sit, you decide on top of Noah might be comfortable. Also, not working out so well for you. It's crazy that as I sit here typing, these are the only misbehaviors that come to mind. As you can see, O, you are an amazingly good Boy almost all of the time.

I love that we can chat on a much deeper level lately, Owie. No longer do we just brainstorm about lunch options or the weather. I can actually talk to you about stuff, real stuff. Like the future or God's expectations of us or why certain things happen. I love to hear your thoughts about how things work and get your perspective on life. I love to listen to your heart.

Four. It seems like just yesterday, but even the thought of life without you in it brings me to immediate tears. Your are my Sunshine, Kiddo, and you'll never know how much I love, love YOU.