Four!

Jake,

Today you turn FOUR! Last year at this time, we were preparing you to not be “the baby” anymore, and you were resistant to the idea. You wanted to keep being my baby. And to be honest, I couldn’t imagine you not being my baby, either! But let me tell you: you have embraced being a big brother with a FLOURISH! You take your role very seriously, and every day the VERY first thing you want to do is wake Amelia up and hug and kiss her. If you don’t get to hug and kiss her goodbye at school, you have a complete and utter meltdown. And you continually do it around the house, coming back downstairs from bed around 10:00 each night to do it “one more time.”

Last year I called you my “shy guy,” but I think I mislabeled you. I mistook your independence for shyness, it seems. While you still go off and play by yourself, or head upstairs to put a DVD in and watch it while snuggled up on my bed, you’re very much a social butterfly. You’re really popular at school, and you love to talk on the phone to Mop and Pop. You’re also not shy about expressing exactly how you feel, to anyone who will listen. Actually, it doesn’t matter if anyone is listening … you’ll just shout it from the rooftops anyway.

My favorite thing you do right now is that – because of your obsession with all things Kung Fu Panda – you race around the house and jump out from behind things, and you shout, “TIGRIS!!” I mean, we can all be in the den, playing games, watching TV, having a snack, whatever, and from upstairs we’ll just hear a big boom and this kid yell, “TIGRIS!” And we know you’re having fun.

You’re still really affectionate, not just with Amelia. You love to give me and Daddy hugs, and you kiss my hand and cheek like a real gentleman. You open doors for people, you hand me things when I drop them … if I can just train you to put your shoes up and throw your clothes in the hamper instead of on the floor, you’ll be terrific husband material one day.

Actually, you’re going to make a terrific husband already. Your kind heart, your listening ear, your incredible memory and your ability to make us laugh show me daily that we must be doing something right. I’ll never know how it's possible for so much personality and joy to fit into such a small package, but God really did a great job on you.

You melt me.

Love,

Mommy