Happy Half-Birthday Dylan!

Dear Dylan,

Today you're four and a half years old. 

You have acquired a strong personality and let it show sometimes.  I'm blaming it on the two days/week you're at preschool.  You sometimes stick your bottom lip out and get a little attitude.  Luckily, you do it to be kind of funny, and not seriously trying to go against something.  I can reason with you easily, and you ultimately aim to please.  Your thing lately is to tell me that something is boring.  You heard the word "bored" and asked what that was, and when I told you that you could be bored if something is boring, you now kind of use them interchangeably.  Oops.  I should have given you a better definition, but at least I know you're listening. 

I think you're so cute:)  I love your brown eyes and your dimples when you really smile. 

You ask when you can now play in a real Tball game again.  You liked it, but the season is over.  Maybe we'll let you play soccer next! 

You know how to make us laugh, and even will tell us "I'm trying to be funny."  One day when a car with its base turned way up came by our car at a light, you said "I can even hear that music from my bottom."  It's true that the vibrations shook our whole bodies:) 

You are good at sharing. 

Your favorite food is a PB&J as usual.  You will eat a banana in the morning before your vitamin or treat you negotiated the night before.  You like cereal and request I mix two kinds for you.  You like broccoli and chicken too.  You will sometimes tell me that you don't want to finish your food because it isn't healthy.  If it isn't, I have to agree.  Sometimes you tell me "no, I'm hungrier than that" when I offer you a certain food when you want something else. 

Every evening you ask me what we're going to do the next day.  You love going places and seeing friends and family.  You love to go to Grandma's house after church each Sunday. 

You take naps sometimes, but other days you tell me you weren't tired.  Today you claimed that Isaac was bothering you until I pointed out that he did go to sleep.  You replied quickly with, "I said he bothered me a LITTLE bit."  I like how you're quick on your feet, and how you know that was funny, but we'll have to work on what exactly lying is. 

You like to sit and watch movies with Daddy, and ask us to sit and cuddle with you on the couch. 

You are learning your letters.  You know most of the letters and their corresponding sounds.  You can start to read.  You have one book that you can read all by yourself.  It's "I Can."  You know it by the photos, but because you like to make me happy, you run your finger under the appropriate lettes in the words as you go along the pages. 

You like to sing and can cary a tune.  I love to catch you dancing and/or singing.  You sing to some of your lulluby CDs.  There's a song that repeats "Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him in the morning, Praise Him in the Evening . . ." and you think it's the "Raisin" song.  (Repeat it aloud and you'll remember why.)  You can say the ABC song too. 

You like to say things how you learned to say them, like the word "Yellow."  Uncle JT works with you to say "Y' Y' Y' Ye-llow" instead of your habit of saying "Le-llow."  You can do things extremely well when you think about it.  Sometimes you like to just be silly though.  That's ok b/c you're a kid. 

You love to swim and just learned how to do front flips in the pool! 

I love you so much, but you already know that because we fight about who loves the other more than all of the cars on the road, or the signs on the streets, or the clouds in the sky, or whatever is out of our car window at the time. 

Love,
Mommy