4

Jack,

Is four the final door to close on toddlerhood? I have a definite opinion that it is.

Look at you!

Baby curls lengthening into thicker boyish strandsYou don’t own a single pair of pants where the knee on at least one side isn’t ripped to shreds

• You go through a pair of shoes every two weeks, but we only replace them every four
• You seem to have a catalog of back-talk that grows every day – due to an uncanny ability to notice comebacks in shows or movies that we see and you fire them off at me and I’m never ready. It’s getting SO hard not to laugh sometimes except my Mom internal imaging allows me to see the bigger picture like IMMEDIATELY and I can imagine where you saying that at school won’t fly at all. Laughter suppressed if only for the greater good of humanity. (although my eyes still twinkle at Daddy while I sternly repeat what you just said and he has to turn and walk away so you can’t see the laughing although I can see the shoulder shaking and know what it means.)
• You fly along on your scooter like you’re Tony Hawk on a skateboard and have dinged up your helmet enough times to make me religious…
• You tell jokes that are improving greatly over time. Last night, I put you to sleep in my body pillow which you always ask for by saying “Mommy, can I sleep in your pregnancy?” How can one resist that? You look like a little bird curled up in a nest in that thing and I’ve taken to saying “goodnight Little Bird”. Last night you answered “hey, Mommy! Hey, Mommy! …… TWEET DREAMS!” and you were so proud and I was so flabbergasted that I had to applaud – wow! That was a good one, Buddy! Great job!
• You create rules to fit what you want to take place “Mommy – little boys HAVE to call their Mommy’s when they are too hot and Mommy’s have to come and change their shirts!” Oooooooooh! I wasn’t aware of that one. Well, I’ll be right there!
• You walk around listening to music on an iPod Nanno sometimes and I haven’t even figured the thing out yet…
• You talk about movies you want to watch when you get older: Ghostbusters, Men In Black, and other scary, dark features. They are something you are very interested in and you are counting down the days till they are within your grasp.
• You get pretty excited about picking out which shirt you want to wear in the morning, although you still never want to go to school. You want to stay home in your favorite shirt with your two favorite people. Thank GOD we are still your two favorite people! :)
  
• You ask to go on vacation
• You’ve told me it’s time for a new car because the Orange Juice car is getting too old.
• We planted some plants which we are going to put in the ground shortly and you check on them regularly and remark on how big they are getting!

This new period has it’s more positive side and the way more challenging sides, too. The positive being that you are clearly easier to communicate with. I can explain how something works and you are fascinated and you can point out things you notice and we can discuss them.

The challenging side is that you are way harder to communicate with, too. You understand that we are the Rule Makers, but you also see that you can do so much of the same things we can and you are striving for more independence. More control over decisions or at least being included in them. We give you choices which help in a lot of scenarios but there are other times when you declare “Those are NOT the choices!”

I understand being frustrated and needing an outlet so I’ve been working on figuring out what a creative and harmless outlet might be. Call that a work in progress because I need one for myself, too.

And, finally, you speak about how you can’t wait to go to Kindergarten. Wow. That’s only a year away. That’s definitely a rite to childhood. Some of our earliest memories come from Kindergarten and that’s the beginning of your education. I hope you’ll know that you are always my little baby even as you dash ahead towards your future!

Love,

Mommy