Four

Wyatt turned four yesterday. To celebrate we rode our bikes down to the beach with a picnic dinner. The time change gave us more daylight and we enjoyed the beauty of our surroundings.

Three has been a long year with high highs and low lows. I've laughed more than I thought possible and said things that I never pictured saying like, "Please don't stand on the toilet seat while you are peeing." We've discovered the wonder of Nick Jr. on television and embraced a love of sharks, dinosaurs, and pretty much all living creatures. Wyatt asks a lot of questions about how things work together and how things are made. He seems a lot like his dad in this way. Bikes rides are daily and he can find mud anywhere and have it all over his body in a matter of seconds. I always keep a change of clothes or two in the car for any given outing. I sometimes assume that Wyatt is following along with us with the details of life and then he asks me, "Mommy, will I ever see my things from my bedroom again?" and I see that sometimes I forget to explain things like our construction project thoroughly to him. One of my favorite moments each day is when he wakes up from an afternoon rest and wants to snuggle up with me for a bit. He curls his growing body into my lap and rests his head on my chest while he holds his blue blanket in his mouth and sucks his thumb. While I am usually sad that his rest has come to an end, it does make it a bit more sweet. Wyatt has a zest for life that bubbles up and out during even the most simple life moments. A decorative tree in my mom's bathroom becomes a laser beam shooter. My iPod becomes an activator to make monsters appear. The cardboard tube from our friend Uma becomes a Spiderman tool. Wyatt believes himself to be an expert negotiator and I am learning how to nip it in the bud with a line borrowed from a wise friend that goes, "Wyatt, I love you too much to argue with you."

There have been moments this year when I've wished that I could just push fast forward to get to the "easier" part but I'm glad I didn't have that option because I would have missed so much. I am thankful for my spirited, strong, and tender hearted boy and am curious to see how four unfolds.