Letter to Our 4 Year 7 Month Old

Dear William,

On July 8th, 2016, you turned 4 years 7 months (or 55 months old).  You are 46 1/2″ tall and weigh 49 pounds 8 ounces.  Despite the extra inches you seem to be gaining each month these days, you are still wearing the same sizes as last month.  You’re just filling them out better.

Things we did this month…

We stayed close to home this past month. Both your father and I are having issues with our cars.  Your father’s car has had intermittent “no starting” issues.  My car has been having overheating and loss of power problems.  We’ve spent a lot of time troubleshooting and doing maintenance, but that means we don’t go too far because we don’t want to get stuck somewhere!  You have enjoyed helping us with all of our car maintenance, and it was really cute when you curled up on your father’s piece of cardboard as he drained my car’s radiator.

We visited the Orange County Zoo one Saturday.  It was kind of a spontaneous trip.  It was hot and we didn’t want to go home, so we just… went to the zoo.

Your Grandma D. consistently takes you to the library craft & story times, as well as various playgrounds.

On June 11th, we went to Chuck E. Cheese.  We hadn’t been for a couple of years, yet somehow you remembered what was in there and were beyond excited to go.  You had a fantastic time, even though some of their games were broken and their car ride with Mr. Cheese was out of paper.

I enrolled you in two swim classes.  The first week it ended up being a private lesson, because no one else showed up for the class. The second week, it was a full class (4 students to 1 teacher), but you still did really well and were focused. I think it helped that you knew it was just the two classes.  I was in shock at how much just those two classes improved your swimming form!  And even though your stroke isn’t perfect, you are going for much longer stretches across the water!

Your Uncle Chris (one of your father’s brothers) came to visit his parents (Grandma & Grandpa H.).  They all came over to celebrate Independence Day here at our home and have a pool party.  You trailed your Uncle Chris everywhere he went.  Your Uncle Chris is a pretty awesome person, and you are very fortunate that you have a lot of really good male role models in your life.

The 4th of July was pretty low key, but still great this year.  As mentioned just above, we had a family get together here at our home.  We did a traditional BBQ and then went up to the pool to cool off.  After that, we came back and did little party poppers, some sparklers and a couple random fireworks we found from our “wild” younger days.  When the family went home, we drove down to the lake in our city where their HOA does a pretty spectacular fireworks show every year at 9 PM.  You were amazed and enjoyed it thoroughly, sitting there on the street in your little fold-up chair, snacking on cut-up apples and corn chips that I had put in little plastic sandwich bags.  You declared the fireworks show the best you had ever seen.

Monthly interview of favorite things…
Color:  Red. Like this strawberry.
Song: The one that has the words all fall down.
Movie: Secret Lives of Pets AND Finding Dory
Food: Chicken
Snack: SUGAAAARRR!
Dessert: Ahhh.  Cupcakes and blueberry cookies.
Fruit: Strawberry and bananas
Vegetable: Broccoli and carrots
Class: Ummm, uh, uh, uh, Vacation Bible School
Teacher: The nice one that loves kids.
Store: Store?? Sprouts.
Restaurant: Ruby’s
Vacation spot: Big Bear
Toy: My favorite toy is my garbage truck.
Favorite Park: Music!  The musical park.
Theme Park: Disneyland, Sea World and Pretend City
Best friend: Uhhh, oh dear, uhm, uhm, Kristin.  At Vacation Bible School.
Favorite Story: Star Wars
Favorite thing to do with Mommy: Go to Disneyland
Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Go to church
Favorite thing to do with Grandma: Go to Library
Favorite Shirt: My favorite shirts starts with SS SSS Sss… can you understand it?  It starts with Star… S S S, can yoiu think what it is?  Star Wars?  Yeah, now can you say it?
What do you think about being 4?  It’s not good.  I would rather be 7.  Because I would just play with toys.  Now I just go to work.  And I don’t like it.  Sometimes I just go home.  I do the same thing at work as you do.

How did you sleep this month…
You’ve been sleeping restlessly this month. It’s been hotter, though, and that seems to make you sleep restlessly.  You’ve also had some trouble falling asleep at night, sometimes taking upwards of an hour.  You say you’re comfortable, and I think that’s true. It seems more as if you’re having trouble turning off your brain.

Things I want to remember about this month…
Your silliness knows no bounds. You pushed your foot into your father and said, “Ha ha, I made you burp.”  And then the “No, you didn’t.” and “Yes, I did.” Argument ensued.

Morning conversation:
William: Daddy is this your work phone?
Daddy: Yes, it is.
William hides it in the drawer.

Your Grandma D. took you to Pretend City. You were so excited and were really enjoying yourself. Your Grandma was sending text message updates about your adventure. Then she sent this: “I told William I need a potty break. He says, “Oh, Grandma, we don’t have time. Can you go standing up?”

Text update from Pretend City day– “A bit overwhelming in a good way. He was buying groceries & running to the kitchen round & round for first half hr.. Now he’s checking the x-rays in the dentist office. Did small boat float. Also did some cutting & gluing.”  He did the theater dance and the microscope. Ended up back in the kitchen & stated “I’m home.”. Now he found the bakery.”

We found a lost kitty one evening.  He came over to the pool area where we were swimming, and we didn’t know who he belonged to, but it was getting to be dusk and I know if I had a kitty who was an outside kitty, I would want him home.  So we called the number on the kitty’s collar, and sure enough, they were looking for him.  When the owners came to pick him up, you cried because “Carlos the Cat’ had to go home.

Friday night… one Friday night, you told us that, “I’m happy because I can sleep and sleep, because tomorrow is a mommy and daddy day.”

One particular morning you whacked me across the face with your Froggy. I had told you once already not to do it, and this is your current ongoing thing, getting in people’s faces with his hands or an object, so I took it away from you and asked him to tell me what he had done. You replied, “I can’t tell you. I just can’t. Because the sun is big and the earth is small. That’s why I can’t tell you.”  I told you that of course, those things were true, but didn’t answer the question I had asked.  That I wanted to be sure that you knew what you had done, that you knew I didn’t like it, and that way I could be sure you knew not to do it again.

Your father and I were talking about our visits to the doctor (we both had sinus issues this past month), and that the doctor had prescribed a nose spray with steroids to help with allergies. You piped up from the back seat, “Did the doctor ask if you wrote Star Wars?” Your father and I laughed and explained, “No, he asked about a type of medication.” You sought clarification, “What did he ask? What was the name of it!?” We had to tell you he was talking about steroids, because it was clear you had heard “Star Wars” and nothing else we were telling you was matching up to what you had heard.

Your big question the last two weeks has been, “What company made this?”  So, anything… your scooter or our plates or candles, you ask what company made this.  Your Grandma D. says you’ve been asking her “What brand is this?”

Photo: Look, the red letters! It says movie theater!

 

We watched the movie Finding Dory, As we walked out of the theater, you asked if we could go see Secret Lives of Pets the next day. We were sad to inform you that the Secret Lives of Pets movie doesn’t come out until next month

You have this new thing where you cuddle up in your blanket to go to sleep. We had a heat wave this month, where it was around 90° at night. You asked for your blanket and I told you it was too hot. I tried to substitute a lighter blanket and you told me, “I want my blanket back.” I replied, “No, because that’s even more hot.” You replied, “Well, then, I don’t like my bed anymore.”

Swimming with you and your father, you did a flip underwater and grabbed my arm. Surfacing and tugging my arm, you said to your father, “I found a wife for you, daddy! Here you go!”

I quoted a line from a movie and your father got to thinking about it and wondered if it would be OK for you to watch, but that he needed to watch it first to make sure it was OK. You were all excited about possibly getting to see a new movie and repeated back your interpretation of what he had told you. “Daddy is going to watch the movie and see what’s wrong with it.”

Text from your Grandma D., “I told William to eat the yam, that vitamin A would help him see in the dark. Then I went in the kitchen & he disappeared. “William, where are you?” He was in the dark bathroom checking if he could see. Ha”

Your sweet little sleepy voice, sweetly asking me, “Will you sleep with me, mommy?”

The first time ever, you finally asked me what will happen if I count to ten and you didn’t do what I asked.  You’ve never thought to ask before.  I just count and you get up and go do whatever I’ve asked you to do.  So, this time, I said, “Can you go to the bathroom, please?  I’ve asked you several times.  If you don’t, I will count to ten.”  Curiously, you asked, “And then what will you do?  Will you shout?”  I replied, “I will pick you up and carry you to the bathroom.”  I was glad I had an answer ready for you.

You stubbed your toe one night, and after your bath, I asked “How is your toe?”  You replied, “Now my arm hurts.”  Surprised, I asked, “Your arm hurts? How did you do that?”  You replied, “Oh, I’m just having problems tonight.”

Photo: The making of your first video

One Saturday morning, you informed me, “Today we’re going to have healthy food, but first we’ll start with dessert, which is hot chocolate. I thought we would have coffee and hot chocolate together. Is that fine?”  To which I replied, “That sounds like a perfect plan to me.”

Because this is what you say to me, I decided to say it to you.  You had been in and out of my private time in the bathroom, so I said, “Can you come wipe my icky poopy butt?”  You were in the kitchen and you shouted back at me, calm as you please, “No, thank you.”

Reminder every time we go in the store that we do grown up shopping list first. So then, walking to the veggie area, you said, “After vegetable island, uh, that’s not the right word… But after vegetable island, on MY shopping list is to check for a cookie. That’s what’s on MY list.”

William: I’m hungry
Daddy: But you ate a good dinner!
William: But don’t forget fudge !!

Photo: Eating your Mackinac island fudge, that we got while on vacation last month.  Your eyes closed, head swaying back and forth.

One morning, you came in and plopped yourself on the bed as I was getting dressed for work.  You sleepily eyed me and asked, “Are those bats on your dress?”  Confused, I replied, “No? They’re really big flowers.”  You were skeptical, but took a second look and finally said, “I don’t think so. I think they’re bats and it’s Halloween today.”  I laughed and said, “Definitely flowers… see here? The orange is the center of the flower.”  You replied, “Oh… OK. So you have flowers and bats.”   I replied, “Sure. We can compromise.”

Photo: “What’s for dinner?” I asked you.  You stuck your lollipop above your head like it was a light bulb and said, “I’m thinking…”

Photo: Every time we go to the store, you love to sniff soaps. I can give you a soap bar with the promise of buying it and it will occupy you the entire time we’re in the store together.  My kid, the Soap Sniffer.

Photo: Before we got to the soaps, you found this car.  And you were driving it around the store telling me, “This car is from 1909!”

Photo: Looking at your piece of chocolate chip cookie pie, you said, “Oh no!  A bee got in my dessert it pooped!”  I replied, “Oh?”  You replied, “Oh, I guess it’s just a chocolate chip.”  And started eating it.  ha

Getting ready to leave, you went to use the restroom.  I was surprised that instead of using the downstairs bathroom, you turned and went upstairs and I thought maybe your father was in the downstairs bathroom. A couple minutes later, you came down carrying your pants and underwear.  I looked at you weird and asked, “What… happened?” You replied, “I went upstairs because of the beautiful water.”  Surprised, I asked, “What beautiful water?”  You said, “The beautiful water in the toilet.”  I went and opened the toilet seat and your father had put blue cleaner in the toilet water.  Knowing that when your father cleans one toilet, he usually does them all, I asked you, “Well, wasn’t the toilet water upstairs beautiful, too?”  You replied, “Yes, but I peed in it anyway.”

I handed you your water to drink and you said, “Let me look down that straw….”  And instead of drinking, you peered down the straw and declared, “OK, it’s all wet.”

From the Cubbie Bear episodes, you sing the intro/ending song as you run to your bedroom after your bath to put your pajamas on.  But, instead of singing, “Here comes Cubbie, it’s a bear in a vest.”  You sing, “Here comes William in his birthday suit!” One night, you changed the song to “See the pony galloping down in the birthday suit!”

Oftentimes when making up stories, you put them to songs.  So you sing your stories.  So hilarious.

One evening I had left in a hurry while you were selecting your treat.  When you had picked one, you put them all back in your treat box and then asked, “Daddy, do you want a treat?”  Your daddy told you, “No, thank you.”  You replied, “Here’s your treat, daddy, it’s kisses.”  And you gave him kisses.

Photo: “My bike was tired, so it sat down. Actually, it accidentally tripped.”

One afternoon, you asked me, “Do you need help with your computer?”  I replied, “Nope, it’s all good.”  You answered, “Welp, if it’s all good, then pay the bill.”  Surprised, I asked, “Pay the bill?”  You replied, “Yep, Twenty Dollars!”  Well, then.

Genetics are a funny thing, and it’s funny the way people are always searching a child’s face for similarities of their parents. With you, depending on who’s holding you (me, your father or your grandma D.), people will say, “He looks just like [you]!” In just the course of 5 minutes at a family event last month, one person told your father that, and 5 minutes later someone told me that. The eye of the beholder, or the angle of your face. Who knows?

When I look at you, you just look like William to me. But there are times it’s like looking in a mirror and seeing a younger me, especially the eyes. Other times there’s something that makes me think I’m seeing a younger version of your father. Then there’s something that makes me think you look like my brother, your uncle. Like this picture, the way you’re sitting with one knee up and the tilt of your head, the first thing I thought of when I saw it was, “Wow, that looks like your Uncle.”  And it’s even funnier, because you’ve only met your uncle once and it was somewhere around 10 or 11 months old.

You did your first Vacation Bible School this past month at the same church where your “new” Awanas is held.  The theme was Mount Everest.  Because you were familiar with the church, you were OK with Grandma D. leaving.  She said she gave you a hug after you got your t-shirt on and you sat down with the other kids.  It was really great to see you doing so well.  It was a natural transition and you did great with the three hours every morning that week.  It was kind of funny, watching the video of the finale show, how you just disappeared and Grandma D. said she looked and looked for you and you had just sat down during the song. She guessed that  you decided you didn’t like the particular song and when one came on that you did like, you stood up to sing it.  Funny kid, whoever you end up growing up to be, you definitely march to the beat of your own drum.  And you are certainly growing up to be a funny, silly boy with a hilarious sense of humor.

 

Love, Mommy

More pictures from this month can be found here:  LINK