4

Eli,

I absolutely cannot believe you are 4 years old!  My heart nearly stops every time you say that after 4 you'll be 5.  I really wish I could slow down time.  I am hoping this year passes very slowly but I know it's going to fly by like all the others.

You are such a sweet boy!  We've had our fair share of troubles but it warms my heart every time you say "Mommy, I love you" out of nowhere.  You share your love so easily to everyone around you and, even though it might cause you some heartache down the road, I hope you always do.  You are the best big brother to Emily.  You've been known to say "Good morning sweet princess" when she wakes up and you will do anything and everything for her even when we want her to do it herself.  You love nothing more than playing with your daddy, whether it be trains, planes, cars or animals.  And you're almost always willing to help me.

You are still obsessed with trains.  We went to Chattanooga last month to take you on a birthday train trip and the memories we made won't ever be forgotten.  I wonder nearly every day if trains are going to be a lifetime passion of yours or if one day you're going to wake up and move on to something else.

You are super smart too.  We have spent the last 6 months or so teaching you letters and how to write them.  You have even memorized 26 Bible verses and 3 prayers (Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, Our Father and Hail Mary).

You like chicken nuggets, pizza and pancakes.  And last weekend you happily ate a cheeseburger for the first time, I'm hoping that leads to you liking more foods that you formerly hated.  Your favorite color changes every time I ask you but you seem to choose green most often when you are just picking colors for things.  Your favorite word recently is "Awesome" and this year you have started singing full songs.  It seems like you hear a song once or twice and you know all the words.  You're not a big fan of movies because they always have a bad guy of some sort but you LOVE happy endings when you do watch them.

My heart fills with so much love every time I look at you or think of you.  Tuesday morning I told you it was 4 days until your birthday and you said "then I'll be 9 and 10 and 11" and I told you that it would be a while before then and you replied "it'll be a lot of days and then I'll be a grown up like you", the thought of that makes me happy and sad at the same time.  I know it's going to pass in the blink of an eye.  I looked at you and saw a flash of you all grown up and I said "We'll always be buddies, even when you're grown up, right?", you said yep with a big grin on your face.

I love you sweet boy!

-Mommy