Dear Big H on your 4th birthday,
Today you are 4 years old. This has been a year of wonderful changes for you and I am proud of the big boy you are becoming. You started preschool last fall and loved it. Although your teacher's said you never spoke during school, you couldn't wait to go each day. You potty trained yourself just a week after school started. You handed me your pull up one day and stated "I'm going to be in underwear full time now mom. No more diapers" and that was that. Not one accident and no issues since that day. People think I'm making that story up, but that is word for word how it happened.
While that seems to surprise everyone else, it is of no surprise to me because you are truly our Wild Card (you may have heard your dad and I shout to each other "wild card" whenever you do something unexpected). We never know what you'll do or how you'll react to anything or in any situation. You keep us on our toes and guessing. You have since the day you were born. You have always had a sparkle in your baby blue eyes and I firmly believe that sparkle is what makes you our wild card! Everyone thinks you're a very quiet, sweet boy who rarely speaks. I roll my eyes at every person who says that because you have a better vocabulary than your almost 6 year old brother. And they've obviously never heard your feet pounding on the floor as I remind you for the umpteenth time to be quiet.
You give the best cuddles and hugs and you're also the best at giving me a bloody nose and breaking my glasses from jumping at my face.....this usually happens when I'm sitting on the couch, you're playing with your toys, and suddenly jump at me. Like I said "wild card!" You've become a MUCH better sleeper this past year as well. You definitely don't need as much sleep as your brother or sister, but you've stopped waking up to play at 2:00 a.m. and for this I am grateful. You're beginning to become much more independent. You still like to make sure I'm nearby to help hold your hand if necessary, but you're much more willing to try new things without clinging to me. Make no mistake, I will always think of you as my cuddly mommy's boy, but your new found independence will take you further than sitting on my lap and pouting.
Your brother is your best buddy. No one can get you to overcome your shyness, timidness, or fears quite like your big brother can. You like to argue with your brother and easily bring him to tears in any argument. You look out for your brother too and make sure he doesn't eat any "soil" because of his allergies. Your sister is your buddy too, but you two get into some pretty big fights that consists of screaming, scratching, hair pulling, biting, kicking, eye gauging, and everything in between. My favorite thing is seeing the three of you together holding hands as we walk. I love that you're always in the middle, nicely stationed between your big brother and little sister. You have always been a typical middle child through and through....even before you were a middle child!
You love watermelon, pasta, green beans, and anything sweet. We've watched "Despicable Me 2" every day for two months because it's your favorite movie. You love to play pretend and vacuum with your toy vacuums. You love the color pink. You love princesses and Barbies, balls and superheroes. You can play with the girls and run/wrestle with the boys.
As much as you can drive me crazy, I am not looking forward to the days when I no longer have to worry about you getting caught on our fence yet again (it's happened 4 times in the past year) while trying to climb over it. As many times that I've had to tell you in a day to "walk quietly because your sister is sleeping," I love hearing your little feet stomp across the house (it's my way of keeping track of you when I'm in the basement doing laundry). You challenge me every day, test my patience, make me cry, make me smile and laugh until I cry, keep me moving with your boundless energy, make me doubt myself, and constantly keep me guessing. I can without a doubt say that life would be boring if we didn't have you! I hope that sparkle in your eye keeps the world guessing for the rest of your life.
We love you H!! You keep things interesting around here. I always have a "Harrison story" to share and it never ceases to make people laugh. I have a head of hair that you have yet to turn completely gray so keep the stories coming and the feet moving Big H!!
Love,
Mommy (or Miss Ashley as you enjoy calling me sometimes)
