Little Man, Today you are Four

Oh Little Man,

Happy Birthday my sweet little boy. How you are four already I will never quite understand, those months and years have gone by so fast although I have made sure I have held onto each day as much as I can.

You light up our life. Actually, you light up everyone’s life. You are a joy to be around and your personality is amazing – you are funny, clever and you just love to make people happy. You are a pretty wonderful little boy.

You are in your last term of nursery, having started there last September and it has been your favourite place from the very start. You have always gone in happily, embracing your new surroundings and making so many friends. You love to learn and you already have a vocabulary that I am in awe of.

The only thing that frustrates you is your speech but you are slowly but surely getting there. We are going to speech therapy sessions soon but you have already mastered a few new sounds – the b in Rubble, your favourite Paw Patrol character who goes everywhere with you and the t in water – that you now pronounce so beautifully. Literally hearing you say water makes my heart swell as I know how hard you worked to make that t sound.

Your sister is, without a doubt, your favourite person. You go and see her first thing in the morning, you are like her shadow whenever you are together and you cannot wait to go and pick her up with us at the end of her school day. You have learnt to say her name, spending most of your life so far calling her sister as you couldn’t pronounce the th in her name. We’ve settled on A-feena for now and you say her name often, always wanting her attention, to show her something or just to talk to her.

You have size eight feet, nearly a nine and you are the same size as your sister – the same height and sharing her jeans. You even weigh exactly the same as her – 35lb 4 the last time we checked. You are the perfect size and in the right size clothes for your age.

You absolutely love food and people have commented that little boys eat their parents out of house and home. If the last few months are anything to go by then you are living up to this stereotype. You love pasta, mashed potatoes and fruit and you would eat cheese sandwiches all day every day if we let you – occasionally having cheese and ham to add some variety. You’re not keen on meat though – you love processed meat and would eat sausages and chicken nuggets all day but any real meat – a roast dinner or a chicken breast – you won’t touch at all, declaring that you don’t like meat.

Over the last few months you have become so brave, happy to explore and go on little adventures – climbing and running everywhere. It feels like yesterday you wouldn’t stray far from my hand but now you just want to do everything just as fast as you can.

Just after your last Birthday you stopped wearing nappies both day and night. Something just clicked and you aced potty training – there actually wasn’t much training involved, you just did it. A couple of months ago your bed guard came off your bed and aside from a little step next to the sink and the toilet there really isn’t much sign of how little you are. You are growing so fast and really aren’t that little anymore at all.

Each week you go to swimming lessons and you have mixed feelings towards this time. You really, really want to swim but, as you’ve been at nursery all morning, you are often tired, hungry and not really in the mood for it. So instead of learning to swim you splash about, mess around and look at all of your friends rather than looking at where you’re going. On the days where you’re in the right mood though you kick your little legs perfectly, you focus on where you’re going and you do so well. You were so nervous in the water on our summer holiday last year but I know the next time we go away you will be a different child – you have lost that fear.

Little Man, you are at the best age. And I know, I have said that every year as you have grown. But, right now, we are enjoying you so much – just as much as you are enjoying life. You are so much fun, you make us laugh and you still give the best cuddles. I am holding onto those cuddles and part of me doesn’t want you to grow up any more – I’d love to keep you just as you are now. But, as you grow I love seeing you learn more, understand more and achieve more. It’s a privilege watching you grow.

You have a whole new chapter ahead of you – one long, lovely summer and then you start school. I will miss my little sidekick even more than I missed you when you started nursery but I know you will love school. I cannot wait to see you in your uniform and I am excited for everything the next year will bring.

Happy Birthday Little Man. Keep embracing life just as much as you do now – you make us so happy and so, so proud.

Love always

Mummy and Daddy x