Letter to Jack on His 4th Birthday

To Jack on his 4th birthday,
Jack, you have grown so much this past year. We moved you all the way across the country and you had a little bit of trouble adjusting. You started to become afraid of the dark, so you would sneak into our room and night and crawl in to bed with us. Some nights I would take you back to your room and tuck you in and others we didn’t even notice until morning that you were there. You adapted well to your new surroundings and seem to love your new home and backyard. You almost always have a smile on your face and are at most times a very happy child. This is not to say you haven’t had your fair share of discipline problems though. You still test Mommy at every turn and serve a great deal of time outs. You have improved leaps and bounds over the year and rarely ever have to serve time outs anymore.
You tried swim lessons this summer and did well until they wanted you to put your face in the water and then you bailed. Mommy decided not to force the issue and try again next year. You LOVED going to the pool! We are lucky enough to live in a neighborhood that has three of them available to us. Most days we were the only ones there but whenever there was someone else in the pool you quickly made friends with them and played. You are very outgoing and people young and old really seem to like you. You say the funniest things and have learned to intentionally make jokes to make Mommy and Daddy laugh.
You have started to learn to write your letters and can do a decent job of spelling your own name. You seem to remember every detail of everything, something Mommy is herself very jealous of. Your favorite shows this year have been Wow Wow Wubbzy, Little Bear, Yo Gabba Gabba, Little Einsteins and more recently Spiderman and His Amazing Friends, Batman and Scooby-Doo.
You have become much more self-sufficient and take it upon yourself to clean your own room, undress and dress yourself, drink from a regular cup and even set the table for dinner. You can buckle yourself into your car seat and open and close the door by yourself as well. Now that you have a booster seat you can even buckle yourself in with no help at all from Mommy or Daddy.
You love and get along most days with your little brother and always try to protect him from hurting himself, unless it’s you doing the hurting. You still push, hit and kick him at times but he’s starting to give back as good as he gets. You still love your trucks and have passed on this love to Drew. You love your playgroup friends and enjoy going to new places and doing new things. You started preschool this year and seem to love every minute of it. The teacher says that you are very popular in class and everyone wants to play and sit next to you. If only you could keep your hands and feet to yourself. You tell me of all the “bad” stuff you do in class and always tell me that you will behave better next time. It seems you have already improved as your teacher called to tell me how good you were being in class these days.
It has been fun to watch you turn into a tall skinny kid this year. I can’t believe how fast you’ve grown. I’m enjoying every minute of being a stay-at-home mom with you and Drew. I’m very thankful for the opportunity to do so because it is so fun to see the world through your eyes. We have a lot of fun together and enjoy many of the same things. When I leave the house, even if it’s only for a few hours, I’m greeted with such enthusiasm and a big bear hug around my legs. I’m looking forward to all of the fun we are going to have the next 14 years my little man.
Love,
Mommy