To my little boy, on his fourth birthday.

It's hard for me to believe that four years have passed already.  It seems like just yesterday I was waiting for you to come into the world, feeling your kicks and rolls, and scrubbing baseboards as I paced floors.  You've been a fixture in my life now, for long enough that I can't really imagine life without you.  I remember there being more sleep, and less injury, but really, I just can't conceive of it.

Today, you turned four. I'm not going to jinx anything, but you held my hand for three quarters of our walk to the pharmacy, not dashing away like you would have before.  You asked for spaghetti for dinner, we watched Cars all day, you ran and played.

It's been an absolute joy watching you grow.  You have a sharp mind, a keen eye, and an incredible sense of fairness.  You love Star Wars, and Curious George, and anything by Pixar.  You love spaghetti, and Chicago-style pizza, and fruit - any fruit you can get your hands on.  This year you were so excited to plant our vegetable garden and watch the plants grow from seeds.  You like to draw and color, you're very logically minded, and you are an amazingly social creature.  I could give you statistics, potty training, reading, writing, arithmetic, words, sentences, all that stuff, but really, I think it sums everything up nicely to say "You amaze me.  Every single day, there is something you do that completely stuns me."  There isn't a boring day in our lives.  We're always out moving, doing, catching, growing, learning, playing.  You love to be outside, but you hate staying in the yard.

You are the pride and joy of my life, sweet boy, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't love you beyond measure - even when you tear apart the house, spill cheerios and rice all over the floor, dump the milk, climb the freezer and dance on the dishwasher.  I love you even then.  <3 a="a" always="always" am="am" and="and" are="are" be="be" ever="ever" grateful="grateful" had="had" hand="hand" have="have" i="i" in.="in." in="in" incredible="incredible" life.="life." me="me" most="most" much="much" my="my" nbsp="nbsp" ou="ou" p="p" perpetually="perpetually" so="so" summer="summer" sunshine="sunshine" sweet="sweet" taught="taught" the="the" thing="thing" to="to" ve="ve" will="will" you="you">