Oh, wow.  I’m the mom of an “officially” four year old boy.  Bennett and I have been talking about how he is turning four, for weeks now and yesterday it was official.  He is so pumped to be four… he lets me know that he is “A LOT older than Remy because Remy is only two”.  He and I have been having some really great conversations lately, especially since he has started the “MAMA!!!” chant at bedtime, so basically that means I have to turn around when I’m half way back to bed, to go back to his room and sit (or lay… whichever he is demanding at that moment) with him and talk about powerful life topics like: When will the full moon come back?  How many stars can we count out the window?  Why spaceships countdown like, 5,4,3,2,1 BLASTOFF?  He is in a big time mommy phase where I’m the only one who can help him with any of his wishes and desires.  Daddy will be standing right there with a towel ready for him to get out of the shower because Bennett has of course already announced his willingness to depart from his hour long water escapade, but as soon as he realizes it’s daddy who has the towel… it’s like “how DARE they send this random person to wrap me up in my towel!  I need the peasant woman… MOM!!!!!”

I have been reflecting on the last year with Bennett and how much he has grown.  Not only is he a couple inches taller, he has matured quite a bit!  When he turned three he would barely say a handful of words to communicate, now he communicates SO well with unlimited vocabulary!   He has the best memory, WAY better than mine.  He remembers so many details from trips we have taken, names of people we have spent time with and where we were… some times I have to try to remember if he is correct!  And he always is!  Oh another thing, when he turned three he was still in diapers, now he is a big boy and does his business on the potty (for almost a year now… but still…)!  I’m one proud mama!

Yesterday was different from all the birthdays before.  Instead of having a big, over-the-top party with lots of friends, we decided to be mellow and just have family over for pizza and cake and pool time, which are all things Bennett loves!  He told me he had so much fun that he wants to have “three birthdays this year”!  Cutie!

My sweet sweet Bennett,

Two nights ago, you went to bed as a three year old and woke up a four year old!  I can’t believe that this time next year we will be thinking about Kindergarten! You are so precious and every little thing about you brings so much sunshine to my life daily.

There are so many sweet moments that you share with your brother these days.  When you guys are playing together and he walks away because his attention span isn’t quite as long as yours is, and you yell for him to come back and play some more… it’s so so sweet!  When I spy on you guys and find you both sitting on the floor in your room reading books, just the sweetest!  When you grab Remy’s feet so that you can play “This Little Piggy” with his toes and you both squeal out with laughter…ugh!!  SO SWEET!

I love that you can spend hours in the pool with Daddy!  I am so fascinated that you guys can hang in the hot tub playing and chatting for so long and never get bored.  You are always down for a new adventure.  When we went to Belize, I wasn’t sure you would enjoy being on a sailboat for 6/7 hours straight, but you completely surprised me and had the best time!  And it’s something you are always bringing up to talk about with me and reminisce on…. that and the seaplane adventure in Alaska… lol

My favorite times with you are when you show a lot of excitement.  Because you are such a chill little dude, it’s few and far between when you really get amped about things.  When you know you are going to be flying on an airplane, when I tell you we are going on an adventure, when you know it’s Tumble Bus day at school, or when you know that we are going to AlliSongs… all those exciting moments for you are so special for this mama.  I love seeing a big smile on your face and will do anything and everything to keep one on your face whenever I can!

I love you so much little man.  I hope you have the best year being FOUR!

xx Mama