My little four-year-old

Well Tucker, Mommy was so busy last week I didn't get a chance to do your four-year-old update post.  What can I say that hasn't already been said?  You are just a delight.  You are precocious and precious and melt my heart in a million pieces.

You are amazingly bright and love to learn new things.  It was YOUR idea to learn the flags of all the countries- not mine.  You get your book and say, "let's work on these flags, Mommy".  :)  You LOVE your reading lessons and ask for me to teach you.  You can read so well now- I guess on at least a 1st grade reading level.   I got you some wooden letters and word things and you sat and worked on them for over an hour.  You did them all and then dumped them out and did them again.  I'm always amazed at your long attention span.  It's very different from your brothers'- they are smart, but they move from thing to thing- while you stay with one thing.  You will sit with your planets and "work" with them FOREVER.  You still love letters and make letters out of your straw at restaurants, out of strings, out of pipe cleaner- anything you can find.

You are extremely excitable.  You love to have a good time and if I mention the littlest treat- like how about some milk- you jump up and down and cheer "hoooraaaay! Yaaaay!!!  Thank you!!!".  I love that you say hooray.  You still love to do things yourself and one of your catch phrases is "I DID IT!"  When we play bingo you say "I DID IT" for every single tile you put down.  :)  Every time you get your shoes on or clean something up you cheer for yourself.  :)   If you get really excited it's hard to calm you down.  You literally jump around and can't sit still.

When you get upset you say, "I'm going to put on my sad face."  We always tell you to "fix your eyes" when you are mad.  You are still Julia's best friend.  You two are together all day every day, usually doing imaginative play with toy animals or with you pretending to be an animal.  Today I heard you playing with horses on the floor and you said, "I would like to try that hay- said the black horse".  :)  You talk like you are reading a story.

You love Marky too and love sharing a room with him.  You two talk and giggle every.single.night.  I have to tell baby sitters to expect a bit of laughing and talking when they put you to bed.  It's just what you boys do.   And you two wrestle and fight with weapons, which I know Marky loves.  Now you like to sit up and read at night like brother does.  You still love Thomas the tank engine, Curious George, and Bible stories.

Charlie ADORES you- he says your name with the most gusto- we hear a loud, happy "TUCK TUCK!" when he sees you.  You love to try to make him smile and try to teach him things all the time.  Today you took the magna doodle and wrote every letter - upside down to you- so that Charlie could read them and say them.  "Here Charlie- what is this letter?  Good!  How about this one?  Great job!  Now this-" and on and on it went.  Such a good big brother.

You still take long naps about four times a week in the basement in the room I call the sensory deprivation chamber.  :)  It's just a guest room with nothing but a bed.   You just couldn't get to sleep in the daytime upstairs where the rooms had books or toys.  You LOVE your two-mornings-a-week preschool experience- and they love you.  Taking you is like taking a celebrity- all the kids swarm you when you get there.  You always carry your bag in and say, "good morning everybody! I am strong and can hang this bag up myself."   You love to make people smile and when you played soccer you spent more time waving and flirting with the fans than actually kicking a ball.

It's still hard to get you to eat food.  You are picky and don't like meat very much.  You would drink milk all day every day (and especially vanilla milk...aka pediasure or ensure) every meal of every day if we would let you.  You are very slim and have the smallest little waist and bottom.  We think you have the cutest little figure.  And we all ADORE your curly hair and dimple.

Daddy and I talk about what a special, unique boy you are all the time.  We feel so blessed to have this little, charismatic, smart angel to raise.  You are nothing but a JOY- a DELIGHT- Happy Birthday sweetheart- Mommy loves you sugarbear!