Today you are four years old.
When you were a baby, four seemed like an
impossibly grown-up number. And it still
kind of does. Four year olds choose
their own clothes, they dress themselves, they put on their own shoes and
jackets. Four year olds have astounding
and fascinating perspectives about their world.
Four year olds can clean up after themselves, they can climb the biggest
stuff at the playground, and they are starting to learn to read and write. Four year olds are SO BIG! And now, you’re one of them.
This past month, as usual, has been full of
adventure. We went to a Family Skate
Night with your preschool class and I was really proud and impressed to see how
confident you were on the ice – I guess those Boots to Blades classes last year
stuck with you somewhat. Similarly, I
took you swimming one afternoon at the local pool and you blew my mind with how
comfortable you were in the water. By
the end of our time there, you were jumping in with great enthusiasm, over and
over, and asking me not to catch you!
It’s amazing to me how fast you learn, grow, and change. When you finished your last set of swimming
lessons, about ten months ago, I noticed that the next series for you would be
a parent-free class – and at the time, I couldn’t even imagine how that
scenario could be successful. Now, I
can, and I am looking forward to enrolling you in lessons again this
summer/fall.
On the same theme of not needing me as much
anymore, I have pledged that this is the summer when I will take you to the
playground and sit on the bench to watch you play (rather than following you
around the playground). You get to burn
energy, I get to conserve it – everyone is happy.
You had a lot of fun over Easter. We went to a fairy-themed birthday party,
where you got to dress up as a fairy, make your own wings, choose a fairy name,
and even go on a fairy treasure hunt.
Your enthusiasm and over-the-top joy really tickled one of the moms who
threw the party, I think. The next
day, after you participated in the
Easter pageant at church, we went on a long-anticipated Easter Egg Hunt put on
by a local organization. The Easter
Bunny was there, and you loved dancing with her after all the eggs were found! It was really fun to watch.
You got several great gifts for Easter, but
the one I was most excited about were the two tickets to see Richard Scarry’s
“Busytown” at the local theatre. You
have been obsessed with the Busytown book for the past couple of months, and
recently your dad downloaded several episodes of “Busytown Mysteries” which I
think you would watch all day if you could.
(In fact – one day I was too sick to parent properly, and that’s exactly
what you did; watch Busytown Mysteries all darn day.) Dad took you to the show and you both had a
great time. “How busy are you? Busytown busy!”
And then it was time to get ready for your
birthday party. I think this is the
first year that you could really anticipate the coming party, and help me plan
it. And you really were a big help! You decided who to invite, helped me make the
invitations (your passion for crafts continues unabated), helped me with the
goodie bags, and even told me what kind of cake you wanted: “pink with purple
on top and then Tinkerbell on top of that.”
Thanks to my amazing and gifted friend Tami, who has taken professional
cake decorating classes, your cake was just as you’d requested. The only thing you weren’t so helpful with
was suggesting what kind of food we’d have at the party. I even got out all your “Kids Cook” recipe
books so we could choose some good snack/lunch foods. Your list of requests went something like
this: “cake, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, smoothies, and blueberries.” I tried to get you interested in something
NON-sugary, but you wouldn’t have it!
Fortunately, I decided to create the menu myself, and I think it all
worked out. Rest assured, though, the
sugar camp was still well-represented!
A snapshot of who you are at four years
old: you are joyful, passionate, willful, determined, dramatic, hilarious, fun,
silly, dawdly, distractible, clever, creative, loving, and bold. You are a strange and unpredictable mix
between independent (you want to pick out your own clothes) and dependent (you
ask for help washing your hands). It
seems like my day to day interactions with you are so focused on chores,
grooming, maintenance, and transitioning you from one thing to the next (get
ready for school, get out the door, get home, put things away, eat dinner, get
ready for bed, go to sleep … repeat!) that it’s hard to get a perspective on
you as a person, but every once in a while I catch a glimpse of you, and it
always takes my breath away. You are an
amazing child and I am so glad I get to watch that amazingness take shape. I love you a million, billion, kajillion and
FOUR.
Love,
Mama
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