MY BABY!
Who authorized this GROWING UP stuff?!
Some of the things that I want to remember about him, at this precious age, is his unbelievable sweetness.
Sure, he has the propensity to terrorize his siblings like most little brothers are prone to do, but he also warms their hearts when he gives them tight hugs and looks up at their faces and says things like, "I wuv you brudder. You my Willow. I wuv you sistas. You my Gwacie and my Lizbet."
He is his father's little buddy and Charlie absolutely adores being home with him during the day. They'll take trips to Home Depot and Starbucks and every so often, go out for lunch while the big kids are in school.
They spend an exorbitant amount of time rolling around on the floor, wrestling. To balance the manly stuff, they also spend a lot of time cuddling and giving each other butterfly kisses.
He calls me "Mama" and asks me to marry him, every single day. Whenever I tell him, "Of course!" he'll inform his father with a sly smile, "Me and Mommy are getting MARRIED and I'm gonna kiss her on the lips!"
He is infatuated with letters and whenever he sees the letter "H" he'll yell out, "HENRY!" Since I've been working so much with the kids on reading and drill them with flash cards while sitting around the dinner table and whenever we go out, I suspect that he'll be reading before he enters kindergarten. His math skills are fairly advanced for a four-year-old since he, too, is learning first grade skills such as addition, subtraction and how to construct number houses.
He loves to dance. And sing a wide assortment of songs that he's learned in preschool including this number about a slippery fish, octopus, great white shark, hammerhead, HUMONGOUS whale and ... scrod?
Although the boys have bunk beds, William prefers to sleep on the bottom bunk with Henry. He is so tolerant and really loves his little brother. So much, in fact, that he unselfishly gave him the teddy bear that he received at a Build-A-Bear birthday party. The bear's name is Climby. And William wanted his brother to have him, because William loves Forest - and William loves his brother - he just wanted Forest to have a brother to love, too. Henry understands his brother's sacrifice and he treasures that bear. Almost as much as he treasures his 27 varied Buzz Lightyear toys.
He makes me smile and laugh ...
And on rare occasion, a little batty. (Within seconds of snapping this photo, he laid down and tried to swim in the puddle.)
But most of all, he makes me feel like the luckiest mother in the world.
I'm so glad he joined our family. It will never cease to amaze me that he (or any of our children for that matter) are here. They light up our world.
