Happy 4th Birthday William

Dear William,

Happy happy birthday! It blows my mind that you are 4 years old, starting your journey into your 5th year of life. It's hard to express in words how proud Daddy and I are of the little boy you have become. You fill up our lives with laughter, silliness, questions, wonder, and sweetness. Watching you grow and learn over the past four years has been the most amazing gift, and we feel so lucky that you are our son.

What a year you've had! You learned how to use the potty, and how to write your name and lots of other letters. We took a train to New York City to visit friends. Then we spent a long weekend at the beach. You loved both trips, and ask often about doing them again. We took a long car trip to North Carolina to visit Baba and Uncle Chris and Aunt Barbara and Uncle John and your cousins Zack, Jacob, and baby Tyler. You went to the dentist twice and you were awesome for both visits. You went to a Nationals baseball game and took a paddle boat ride in the Tidal Basin. You experienced your first blizzard, helped shovel out the cars and the sidewalk, and went sledding. You participated in your first school performance and you went camping for the first time. Your 4th year of life was definitely full of adventures.

Your 4th year of life was also marked by a growing interest in space. You love learning about the planets, the stars, the sun, asteroids and meteors, and the moon. You also love Star Wars, although you like to fast-forward through much of the movie because there are a lot of scary parts. You still love trucks, however, and still spend much of your time playing with your construction vehicles and blocks, building things, knocking things down, and just using your vivid imagination. Anything you touch becomes a toy, and I love how creative you are when you play. I also love how independent you've become. You clean up after yourself (most of the time). You can pour your own drinks and get dressed and undressed by yourself. You can put on your own socks and shoes (although you still like to let Mommy and Daddy do it most of the time), and you've even spent time playing with the big kids in the neighborhood all by yourself.

I'm so proud of you for so many reasons, but I'm especially proud of the way you've embraced your role as big brother to Seth. You are protective of him and truly enjoy playing with him. You both have very different interests, but wow--you guys can make each other laugh like no other. You are so good about sharing things with him and taking turns, even when it's really really hard. I have loved watching your friendship grow, and hope that the bonds between you will never be broken.

I also hope that you will never stop asking questions. And boy--do you ask a lot of questions! I love it that when I don't have an answer, you have a theory ready to offer. You are always thinking, always wondering, and I want you never to lose that curiosity and that desire to learn new things.

Daddy and I wish so many things for you in the upcoming year: new adventures, warm friendships, lots of learning, happy days and restful nights, confidence, security, and love. We look forward to all the time we will spend together, reading, playing, watching, walking, riding, learning, sometimes fighting, but mostly, loving. Thank you for being the delightful, loving, and thoughtful son that you are. We will do our best to encourage you, comfort you, guide you, and support you as make your way through your 5th year of life. Happy Happy Birthday! We couldn't possibly love you more if  we tried!

Two weeks:

4 months

8 months

14 months

2 Years

2 years, 3 months

2 years, 6 months

3 years

3 years, 6 months

Almost 4