four.

::  Officially four ... and looking oh-so-grownup

::  At four:  books are one of his very favorite things.  Here, perusing "Horatio's Birthday" -- a vintage, out-of-print surprise (and a follow-up to a favorite tag sale find, "Horatio," about a grouchy cat).

::  The birthday ring with four candles this year.  The animal of the year:  fish (a.k.a. "hammerhead shark" - a character in his favorite "Go Fish" card deck).

::  For Henry, four is all about fire -- as are the cake & accoutrements.

::  The fire chief checking out one of his new fire-themed books, "Fire Engines" by Anne Rockwell.  And, wow, something in it is jaw-dropping-good.

::  Amidst gifts.  Mama's favorite:  vintage Fisher-Price Little People fire station and trucks. 

::  Putting out the "fire"

::  Testing out his new rain/firefighting gear on a very wet 4th of July.  He gives it a big thumbs-up for both outdoor rain play -- and indoor "firefighting."

.........................................

Oh, four -- I have such high hopes for you. 

This birthday week has been the strangest, most bittersweet -- and a "difficult celebration," if there is such a thing.  I don't think I can articulate the experience -- and certainly don't have the proper distance from it to attempt it at the moment.  But I can say that Henry's year of three-dom was one of the most challenging of my life.  And it seems that the last week of said year was some kind of culmination, grand finale, or sweeping illustration of limit-testing.  When I say "culmination" and "grand finale" it is with crossed fingers.  I'm ready to move on.  I'm so over three.

In between the tantrums, terrorizing, and tears of the past week, we did manage to celebrate a bit.  It was even fun at times.  Thankfully there are always glimmers of hope for better, easier days ahead.  There is definitely a sweet boy in there -- he just has spent much of the last year hiding behind a difficult facade.  I know many parents report the time period surrounding age 3 1/2 to be one of the toughest.  And I think Henry's naturally "spirited" nature pushed that toughness just a bit further.  And then further yet. 

But the rough end to three-dom may have been a blessing in disguise.  It turned out to be the nudge we needed to take action on some issues that we'd been attempting to let work themselves out (and they just. were. not.).  Combine that with the natural shift in temperament a bit more maturity will (hopefully) bring ... and positive change must be around the bend. 

All that said, our newly-four-year-old is passionate and inquisitive.  He's imaginative and outgoing.  He's one quirky and interesting kid.  He amazes us with his vivid memory and his ability to soak up information like a sponge.  It brings a smile to our faces to overhear his pretend play -- full of great narration and creativitiy.  It is a delight to sit with him snuggled up tight, reading book after book after book.  I love that he fully participated in singing "Happy Birthday" with gusto -- to himself. 

For posterity's sake ... A few of Henry's favorite things at four:

• As mentioned above, all things FIRE:  firefighters, fire trucks & engines of all types.  He adores his collection of toy firetrucks and fire-themed books.  For his birthday, I scoured Etsy and eBay to find several sweet vintage fire books for his library.  With his veritable fleet of fire vehicles, he was busily fighting a "big brush fire" in our foyer last night and this morning. 
• Books.  Oh my, the boy loves books.  Both fiction and non-fiction, short and long, silly and serious.  He's especially interested in books with a table of contents and/or index.  He just learned about chapters and was pretty intrigued.  He is such an active boy -- rarely still -- but he will sit and listen to books for an amazing length of time.
• Characters from books:  Clifford the Big Red Dog, Horatio the cat, the Berenstain Bears, Amelia Bedelia, Fireman Small, Richard Scarry's Huckle Cat.  He likes to pretend to be these characters -- and oftentimes wants to cast the rest of us as well (e.g. Henry is "Clifford," I am "Clifford's Daddy" (why not his mama?  no clue.), our cat Suzy is Clifford's "Mama,"  Daddy is Clifford's brother, "Nero," and Charlie is Clifford's little "sister."  Obviously.).
• Playing with the hose and sprinkler.  He loves a hose sprayer with different "settings" (e.g. shower, mist, jet, etc.) and tells us all about the different types of sprays.
• Vacuum cleaners once were his most favorite thing of all -- that interest has waned a lot, but not completely.  He's gotten tall and strong enough to be able to manage my vacuum (with a shortened handle) and can actually be productive with this interest.  He also occasionally spouts out, "What would you like from my vacuum store?"  His playstands become his retail location to hawk crevice tools, upholstery attachments, and the like.
• His weekly playdates at grandpa & grandma A's house.  Absolutely loves them.
• A product of those playdates, his friend "Meow Mix."  This is a decorative wooden cat -- not originally intended to be a toy -- but, boy, has it seen lots of play.  He plays animal hospital/vet office and pet store in my parents' basement.  Meow Mix lives at their house, but occasionally comes home with Henry. 
• Eggs.  Macaroni and cheese.  Milk ("moo").  McDonald's cheeseburgers (sigh.).  Vanilla ice cream.  Scones.  Grilled cheese sandwiches.  Toast.
• Helping in the kitchen, especially when it involves small appliances.  Using the hand mixer all by himself.  Making pesto in the food processor. 
• Parks (yes to slides and climbing, no to swings), swimming pools, children's museum, nature center (playing in the creek and the log playhouse).   
• Tools and big machines.  He had a toolbox of *real* tools in his playroom with which he disassembled a toy wooden dump truck that was held together by dozens of screws.  He quietly unscrewed one after another until there was a huge pile of screws and bunches of random pieces of wood.  Lessons learned:  real tools are for supervised play only;  be wary of quiet in the playroom.  
• Waking up his sleeping baby brother (ahem.).
• Cuddling.  Sleeping soundly and peacefully all night long.  Thank goodness for that.

 

Comments

[Auntie Ashli]

Yay to Four! We love you Henry! Hope you had a fab b-day.

[Beth @ Jus Shar Designs]

Now that my babies are all teenagers, I think back on their toddler years and cherish them. I miss them being little.

I enjoy being able to interact with them now as budding adults, but nothing is as precious as their "little" years.

Happy Birthday, Henry!