Letter to Harrison- 4 Years Old

Harrison-

You are officially 1/4 of the way to getting your drivers license. HOLY COW!!! Part of me is scared to death and the other is so excited to watch you grow. I am currently more scared than excited, considering you crash cars on any video game you have ever tried and can't figure out how to steer the bumper cars. I am sure, however, that you will have perfected that skill by the age of 16, and I can also guess that you will have been behind the wheel in a variety of cars before that (I'm thinkin' go carts).

ALL boy! You love cars and planes, and even got to take your first plane ride on your fourth birthday!! We flew to Charleston, SC, to visit dear family friends. On the flight you were a perfect gentleman who received the royal treatment. You also did all that you could to make sure that your brother enjoyed his first plane ride, too.

Silas is lucky, you are such an INCREDIBLE big brother. You have really taken becoming a big brother very seriously and though you have your moments of "sassiness", you are such an empathetic caring kid. You talk to him so gently, and you have never been unkind to him. You do, however, occasionally scare him with your really quiet inside voice- HA!

You are Brave- 4 year shots, dentist, all parts of growing up that you took in stride. When you needed your shots at your 4-year appointment, we had been talking about them for about a week just to prep you. When it came time, you said, "Mom, can you just hug me while they do it, then I'll be O.K." MELT! Good to know that you still need your mama some of the time. Independence, however, is something that you are working on with ALL of your attention. You have been riding bikes and playing outside by yourself, which makes me realize how fast time really does go by. You will be in school next year, all by yourself. You will go on to do so many things all by your self. Most of the time you are such a social butterfly that we do not worry about you fitting in. We do, however, sometimes worry about you being so trusting that you would jump into a car with the wrong person for the right candy bar... We are working on that

You can count to 40 or 50, depending on the day. Recognize all your numbers, colors, shapes and capital letters (and most of your lower case letters). You have mastered writing the letters H, a, r, r, and y, for obvious reasons! You are working on writing the other letters and numbers, as long as you are willing to hold your pencil how you are supposed to :) You can tell me the letter sounds that almost all of the letters make, and you are starting to sound out words. This just BLOWS my mind, because I did not set out to make you a pre-K reader, but you decided to go for it. There are a number of occasions over the past year where you have showed us that you are ready for so much more than we think you are. You go after what you want with a determination that makes both your dad and me very proud (and if I am completely honest- a little frustrated at times, too).

My smart, brave, funny, sweet, opinionated, independent Harrison, we are in AWE of you. We can't wait to see what adventures you will take us all on in the next year.

Love, Mommy (and Daddy, too)