On turning 4

Dear jellybean,

Another year has passed us by.  You are 4.  It’s been a wonderful crazy year.

You are fully potty trained for day time.  It’s been quite a while now, and it’s awesome.  You still wear a pull up at night because you are such a sound sleeper and your bladder just doesn’t have the lungs to yell at you to get up to use the potty.  But that’s OK.  It’ll come.

You are now getting yourself dressed in the mornings.  Picking your clothes and eveything.  Can I get a Woot! Woot! for that?   And you have started to wash your hands all by yourself too.  Awe.some.

You started using scissors.  You are really good at cutting and like to grab random pieces of paper and just cut them into confetti.  While it makes a huge mess, it’s fun to let you loose.

You started to write you name.  Oh the melting of my heart when you came home one day and wrote your name on a piece of paper.  There is was.  No scribble.  Just three perfect letters.  Now you like to write your name every chance you get, especially on the sidewalk.

While you haven’t started to read, you are sounding out letters more and more and frequently ask us what different words say.  I love this and really hope it’s the beginning of a lifetime love affair with books for you.

You got to part take in lots of activities this year.  Gymnastics was lots of fun for you and was a first try at getting you to listen to an instructor.  You weren’t always successful, but you were trying.  Next was swimming.  Oh how much you love the water.  You are still a little apprehensive about floating on your back, but you love kicking around with the pool noodle under your arms.  This summer is going to be fun.  And finally you have started tae-kwon-do.  You seem to really like it.  The instructor is a little strict, but I think it will help getting you to focus.

Your love of all things Lego and superhero hasn't deminished much.  Add onto that a love of any sort of pretend play.  Blanky is ever present, though you seem to show your devotion to a few different stuffies, depending on... well I don't really know what your criteria are for that.

You still like to eat pretty much anything, though if you have your druthers, pb&j sandwiches would be the only thing on the menu.  Ever.  You are starting to use a fork more often (thank you!).

Your love of talking hasn’t diminished one bit this past year.  And as you get more and more vocabulary, it’s honestly hard to get a word in edgewise some times.  Though now you are showing more attitude, which I am a little worried about.  I mean, you are only four.  You have all of your teen years to do that to us.  And the whining.  Oh the whining! Seriously, can you out grow that now?  We’re pretty much fed up with it.  And the crying.  Dear lord the crying.  That can go too.  Oh, and the screaming.  Thanks.

Four is going to be a huge year.  You start school in September.  You won’t be at daycare anymore, and you won’t be seeing your best buddy every week day anymore.  That will be tough one, but we will make sure to have lots of play dates with him (which by the way, you have started having this past year and love them!).

I could wax on and on, but will leave it at this.  Daddy and I love you to the sky and moon and sky and moon and sky and moon and sky.  And back.

I love you jellybean.

Mommy