Ushering in Year 4

Dear Little Man,
It has become time to once again to write you a letter on the eve of another year to come. Three has been an interesting year with lots of ups and downs with lots of changes for you.

You have grown to be such an independent child, and you definitely walk to the beat of your own drum. You are always on fast forward, and there does not seem to be much of break from one thing to the next. Your interests are so varied; you do not necessarily have a particular obsession except for your pirates. I am pretty sure of the ideas of pirates will be around for a long time. You also love knights, Legos, and music.

You have some new things for yourself. You have fallen in love with all things Disney princesses. First, it was Cinderella, and then there has always been Anna and Elsa. "Frozen" is definitely still your go to movie especially when you are sick. However, your newest favorite is Ariel. You even asked for a Little Mermaid birthday cake this year. You love to gallop around the house playing Prince Eric, and you call Dante Max instead. You have also broadened your viewing likes. Of course, Jake is also number one, but you have discovered Octonauts, Princess Sofia, Super Why, and Little Einstein. You are now interacting with the shows, too, which is always fun to watch.

The other new thing is dance. This past Tuesday Daddy and I finally let you begin taking lessons. You had been asking for almost a year to take them, and we finally took it as sign that you were serious. The pure glow on your face while you were taking that first lesson was amazing. It was so nice to find love in an activity again after everything that has gone on this year. You were so excited about the new lessons that the next morning when we were watching "So You Can Think You Can Dance" you excited went and put on your tap shoes when you saw another tap dancer. You left them on all morning! I had to bribe you to take them off in the end.

Much of the change this year has come from things that happened at your old school/day care. Daddy and I are not sure yet what fully happened, but we know something did because you started to change. You stopped loving things you used to do like coloring and going to school. You were always the teacher/caregiver's favorite, but suddenly you got in trouble a lot more. You would pretend not to want to go, and you seemed scared and worried all the time. Yet, you couldn't express to us what was wrong. We searched out another place for you to go where you could feel comfortable and nurtured enough to return some to your old self. We finally found that in the school you are at now. You love your teachers and class, and you are much happier all the time. You seem to be your full adventurous self again who has no fear in a good way and wants to explore to feed your curiosity. You love school again and are so excited to go. You get to take music and have library time which you hold so dear with only having done them for two months. Daddy and I only wish we had moved you sooner. You started play therapy to make sure we help you fix any lasting affects.

Another change is you are trying to give up your nap. Some days are okay, and then others you still crash and burn. It seems like the crash and burn days are when we make you slow down just a bit, and then the next thing we know you are out cold. You want to push your bedtime as well, and we had to move it back to 9 in order to get you into bed. You are definitely your mommy's child when it comes to sleep and bed. A night owl in the works says your Daddy. 

Tomorrow, we will start off year 4 with a new experience. Instead of a party, we are taking you to Great Wolf Lodge; this will be the first time you have ever gone to a hotel to stay. Then we will spend time with family on Sunday to celebrate your party. You are so excited to have an ice cream cake. I am sure we will have more adventures to come this year. I can't wait until this time next year for our upcoming Disney trip and looking into kindergarten. For now, I will give a simple sweet kiss on your head, and I will see you in the morning. 

Love,
Mommy