Dear William (51 months)

Dear William,

Today you are 51 months old!  We have had a busy month, full of fun.

Early on in the month, your daddy was out of town for a week-long business trip.  It was just you and mommy.  

We went shoe shopping. (Believe it or not, we found these, never worn, at the U-City Goodwill).  

We went to Grant's Farm:  

They had a carousel: 

You helped me navigate:

You liked the elephants.  This one was named Bud.  I'm sure he would be happier in the wild, where he belongs, than in St. Louis.

 

 

When Daddy came home, it was time for his birthday!

 

That same weekend, you had another birthday party for one of your friends at school.  The party was at a place called The Myseum, which is located in a horrible suburb that consists of miles and miles of vapid strip malls and traffic.  Once we got there, you had a lot of fun running around.  You played paleontology with your buddy Sam.

 

After the birthday party, we went to Castlewood State Park for a hike.  You decided to turn it into an impromptu trail run.  You are freakishly good at running downhill on rocky, rooty single-track switchback.  You made me so proud. 

 

On the way home, you were very tired.

You threw up at school on the day before Halloween, so you had to stay at home the next day and miss the party.  I felt so bad for you.  I took the day off work to take care of you.  We made baby donuts to cheer you up.

 

In the afternoon you got all dressed up in your costume and we took a walk around the neighborhood:

 

That evening, you were so excited about Trick or Treating.

But right before it was time to go, you said you didn't feel good and you needed to lie down.  You went to the couch and slept for 2 hours.  (This is very much unlike you).  You slept through Halloween, you poor sweet dear.  At about 8pm, you woke up, rubbed your eyes and said, "Is it time to go trick or treating?"

I didn't want you to miss the whole thing, so we went outside and I said we could go to a few neighbors' houses who still had their porch lights on.  But as soon as we began to walk down the sidewalk, you started crying.  I'm not sure why.  You said you didn't want to go trick or treating anymore.  I said, how about you just trick or treat at one place: our house.  You could ring the doorbell and surprise daddy.  You giggled and thought that would be great fun.  It was.

After you were feeling better, we made some spooky treats.  You helped me, but of course you refused to eat any.  That's too bad, they were really good.

Aside from Halloween, you did other fun activities this month, such as play Legos with Daddy:

 

You made a placemat at school.

 

You enjoy classroom activities, such as learning about the calendar:

 

You enjoy that somewhat new and horribly crappy Disney movie Planes.  You have convinced us and your grandparents to buy you almost all of the planes featured in the movie.

 

You also love that totally weird and confusing music video What Does the Fox Say.  I have told you that what the fox says is not a mystery.  We have known all along the secret of the fox: On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur.  L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.

 

It's been a busy month, and we are all tired by this point.  Last weekend, mommy was too tired to cook, so daddy took us out to lunch:

 

Daddy did a bike race, and it was a long day.  You requested to take a nap in the grass (holding one of your planes, of course).

 

Even though we were all tired, we took a little hike at Lone Elk Park afterwards.  It is very important to me that you get to know the woods, the wilderness.  I don't like that you are growing up inside a city, where there are so many buildings and cars.  We need to cherish these beautiful moments in the forest as much as we can.

 

 

William, it has been an amazing month with you.  Every day is a gift, and it just keeps getting better and better.

Love always, 

Mama