Dear Elijah,

Just today we counted it out on the calendar and in only 41 days, you will be four! Four! Where has the time gone? You are such a fun little guy. And whiny. Did I mention that yet?

Each day with you is interesting. Some days the big boy in you comes out and some days you revert to baby mode, complete with baby talk lately. Where did that come from? I admit, I love it when you want to cuddle, but I long too, for you to mature.

You've recently decided you don't want to eat toast (with peanut butter and honey) for every meal (not that we let you) and have decided you like more interesting things. Namely chips and other snack foods. Or anything with sugar in it. You will drop just about anything for food that tastes good. I hear "I'm Huuunnngggrry!" many times throughout the day and yet, it takes you SOOOO long to finish a meal.

I think it's cute that instead of saying "Am I....," you say, "Are me....?" In many ways, you walk to the beat of your own drum. I hope that grows into some good leadership skills. Right now, it's hard to imagine. Your first reaction to things that don't go your way is anger. And with the anger comes hitting and scratching. This is usually directed towards your older brother and I know sometimes he deserves it. We working on making sure he's not purposely teasing you and also working on teaching you how to ignore it. It's not been easy. For anyone.

You are a good big brother. You love Caleb. A little too much at times, but you're getting better about being gentle. Sometimes you are the first to notice when I'm sad. Your usual response to this is to say, "I'm sad about 'Licity too." And then you go back to playing. But I love that you say her name and talk about her, even if you don't remember her very well.

You are a creative kid, Elijah. You love play-dough and painting and other artistic endeavors. You are also becoming a big helper. You love to help me in the kitchen, especially with washing potatoes and fruit. You also love to help Daddy with whatever he's working on. You have made it very clear that you want to be a daddy and a policeman when you grow up. You are going to have kids so that you can do devotions with them. You also already know who you're going to marry, since you can't marry me. You've told me you love her even though she's a couple years older.

We're working on your listening skills too at this point and you're doing better. You're definitely our wild child and I already envision having you run laps or something like that before expecting you to sit still for very long to do school work. And speaking of that, you're so anxious to do school and especially to read. I'm think we'll work on it this year, though very informally.

All in all Elijah, I just want you to know how much we love you. No matter what!

Love,
Mama