My precious big boy,

I cannot believe that we are already at four – it just sounds so old. You just keep speeding up here, kid, and I’m SO ready for life to slow down a little bit.

What a year you have had!!

This year has been filled to the brim with everything under the sun and so many changes. You have grown and matured and gotten easier and harder all at the same time. You are still amazingly fun!

You are still my little social butterfly. Every single person we pass on walks, in the grocery store, in the post office, wherever we are, we have to stop and say hi to. Every. Single. Person. We have met so many random strangers, I can’t even keep track anymore. You have the friendliest heart, but oh how it worries me. I feel like I am constantly praying for protection for you!

You talk all the time. And when you aren’t talking, you’re singing a song you know or a made up song. The absolutely only time you are quiet is when you are asleep and even then you mumble. 😉 So so so much to say! You are a great conversationalist. You can talk to anyone about anything at any time. You are very good at listening to adult conversation and learning from it. Sometimes too good. 😉

Seeing a firefighter or a policeman or a man wearing a cowboy hat is the absolute highlight of your entire week! You LOVE firefighters especially and you often tell me that when you grow up, you are going to be a firefighter. Or Spider-Man. I need to figure out how to make a nice, quiet, safe desk job sound exciting. 😉

This year has been a year of educational explosion. You are starting to recognize letters and words and it is just SO exciting to watch! You still love, love, love to read. You would pick reading over almost everything else except maybe playing outside or working in the yard with Dad. You are super into rhyming right now or changing the first letter of a word and seeing how many different words you can come up with.

 You LOVE to work with Dad. Love it. There is nothing that you love better than a big project in the yard.You will work from sun up to sun down with us and I love your hard work ethic!

You had so many things this year that were firsts – you went to Cubbies for the first time, you went to BSF for the first time, you were the ring bearer in both of your uncles’ weddings and you finally got your little sibling that you had wanted for so long. Such a packed full year! God has blessed you so much, my sweet baby!

You are one zillion percent BOY. You love running and jumping and rarely do you ever just walk anywhere. You love to pretend you are Dash from The Incredibles and race us wherever we go. You love to play with your buddies (your stuffed animals) and you love to create these amazing stories for your action figures. You love movie and pizza night, swimming, playing with friends, eating popsicles on the porch and you can get excited about pretty much anything. And I love that about you. 🙂

You adore your brother. Adore your brother. I am constantly telling you to be gentle with Parker because you cannot stay away from him. And Parker loves you with all his heart. It makes me so very happy to watch you two love each other!

You are just the happiest, craziest, smiley-est, most exhausting and incredibly smart little four-year-old boy I know. And Dad and I can’t even put into words how much we absolutely, one zillion million percent love you to pieces. We pray for you constantly. You are one of the best blessings in our life, bean, and I just can’t wait to see what God has planned for you!

I love you so so sooo so sooo much! Happy fourth birthday, my sweet boy!

Mama