Roman is FOUR

My little boy is now FOUR! WOW...sometimes it just goes by all too fast and I get kind of sad. But then I remind myself to just cherish it all. Roman was having some anxiety before turning 4 and kept telling me the week before that he wanted to stay 3. I tried to talk with him about why he didn't want to turn 4 and I just couldn't figure out what was the main issue. I told him that he could have a special sleepover in our bed the night before his birthday. This made him very happy and then he started to actually look forward to his birthday. Before going to bed that night he finally opened up and said, "What happens when I turn 4?" I explained to him that each and every day he grows a little and his birthday is just a celebration of the day he was born. He then said to me, "Does it hurt when I turn 4? Will I still be able to talk?" My heart hurt a little knowing this is what was going thru his mind all week. I tried my best to comfort him and snuggle with him a little extra that night. When he woke up the next morning, I said to him. How do you feel? He felt great and quickly realized he was 4 and all was OK. The worries and anxiety about turning 4 were gone and luckily he was able to enjoy the day.

Dear Roman,
You make our hearts so full and have brought such love to our family over the past 4 years. From the moment you entered our lives, we have never been the same. This past year has been such a fun adventure and we are so proud of the sweet boy you have become.

 You have such an amazing imagination and we have loved seeing it come to life this past year. You love role playing, hearing stories and learning about new things. You are fascinated by how things work and why things happen. We can imagine that you are going to be our little scientist. You also love to be the Chef. You ask us if you can cook something with ingredients since you love to mix everything together and then see a finished product. We can't wait for the day when you serve us breakfast in bed (maybe in another 10 years).

You have gotten so good on your new big boy bike and love riding to the school or in the backyard. You love playing with your action figures and still occassionally play with your Cars. On your birthday I let you open a few gifts before your Dad got home from work and when you had 1 left, I asked, "Do you want a toy or a book?" Of course you picked the book. You LOVE your books and are starting to get into longer length stories. One of our favorite things to do is sit in your bed and read stories with you. You also love playing Board Games, which have become a new nightly ritual after dinner. Candyland is your favorite (OK...you are obsessed with it), but we are starting to find some others that you like. You get such joy out of playing with your Dad when he gets home from work and love when he chases you around the house and you throw imagineary fire balls and lasers at each other.

You go 2 days a week to preschool and you love your teacher Miss Paulina. You continue to give your Mama a hard time occassionally when I leave, but the teachers reassure me that after a minute you are back to smiling. Please don't continue to do this for the next 15 years, it may just break my heart. You started going to Promiseland Sunday School this year at Saint Matthew's and have the sweetest, most wonderful teacher, Miss Sherry. I love that you will grow up with a wonderful group of friends from church. We feel very blessed to be part of such a positive church community.

You started going back to My Gym and it is the perfect class for you. It gives you independence and confidence that you are able to do a class on your own. We are so proud of you for trying so hard and keeping with it. We know these things don't always come easy for you. You are really excited for swim lessons to start and ask me every day how many days until you get to swim. Our little waterbug. You decided you didn't want to play soccer, so I'm looking into some classes at the Lindsey Mueseum for the Spring.

Those bright green eyes hold such wonder and curiosity. You tend to be a worrier and I wish I could take that all away (sorry you inherited that gene from me). You are compassionate, sweet, loving, emptathetic and so smart. I've noticed that 4 might also be full of some sass and attitude, but we don't let you get away with too much. You are such a loving Big Brother and treat your sister so wonderfully. She is one lucky girl.

Roman, we love you so much! We are looking forward to another happy year ahead. Thank you for being our little prince that always makes us feel so loved.