Dear Baby Boy.....

Oh Alex, how is it that when you wake up tomorrow morning you will be 4?!  It seems like I just wrote last year's blog post and here we are again already.  Alex, you are an adorable, silly, sweet, loving, chatty, goofy boy.  You definitely complete our family and we are so thankful every day that God chose you for us.

Where do I even start this year........


Likes....

The spotlight.....I'm fairly certain you are going to be the class clown.  You will do anything to get a laugh out of people.

At that same time, you have an electric smile and laugh that absolutely light up any room you walk into.

You like all things star wars right now.  You watch them with Daddy and every time it's your turn to pick the movie for movie night you go right to star wars.  Library books..... star wars.  Birthday party this year..... star wars.

Fast clothes.  Earlier this year, you decided that you would ONLY wear clothes that were "fast".  That made for an interesting time trying to get you dressed for Great Grandpa's funeral....

I guess we could say you got the last laugh on that one!

Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches.  Bonus on this one, you learned to make them yourself!

Cooking with mommy..... this one is a new one.  Any time I'm making something in the kitchen lately you want to help out.  Here you are helping me make soup.  And you normally turn your nose up at soup, but because you helped make it you dove right in.  Score.

Dishes..... again, score.  Any time I'm rinsing out dishes after dinner, you insist that you get to do it.  You really just love the running water, but hey, I'll let you do it any time!

Your mustache pants.  I don't know what it is about them, but you LOVE them and they are always the first things you put on when I tell you that you have to wear pants.


The Brewers.  We made it to a few Brewers games with you this year and you did great.

Well, until that game when you didn't - but we'll blame that on a lack of a nap and hunger.  And thank goodness we had preferred parking that day because it was a LONG walk to the car!

Grandpa.  You are still quite obsessed with Grandpa.  When you leave him the first thing you want to know is when you will see him again.  Thankfully he worked at the zoo again this year and we got to take lots of free train rides.

Ben.  He is no doubt your best buddy.  You adore him and insist on a hug from him every morning before he gets on the bus.  He forgot to give you one the other day and you were so sad until he rolled down his window on the bus and waved to you.  Totally made your day.

Jakey.  You love playing at his house and you two have a blast together.

And let's not forget Vince

School.  You LOVE school.  You can't wait to go and are starting to learn so much.  Your teachers are great this year.  You are a butterfly, though we love to hear you say "I am not a callepitter!"

Arse Cream.  Wait, that would be ice cream now.  Broke my heart the first time you pronounced it correctly.

Makenna.  For the MOST part you two adore each other.  You certainly need plenty of reminders to be nice and stop fighting but when you two put your heads together and use your imaginations it is SO fun to watch you together.

Baseball.  All things baseball.  You had your first official baseball this year and you were very bummed to find out it wasn't an official league, but rather just skills.  You wanted so badly to get on the field and just play.  You are a rockstar hitter, but still refuse to throw overhand most of the time.

Daddy.  Mommy is slowly losing out on the mama's boy spot.  I knew it was only a matter of time but I'm fairly sure by this time next year I'll be out.

Reading.  You love to curl up with a pile of books any time of the day or night.  You sit and listen to so intently and soak it all in.


Impact.  I signed you up for kid's night at our church even though you are technically not old enough yet.  You absolutely love it though.  Mama helps out in your classroom, too, which you think is pretty cool.

Bike rides... we got you a tag along bike this summer and you LOVE it!  You do great on it, too.  We've been able to take lots of family bike rides to the coffee shop, train bridge, library and parks.

Routine.  You THRIVE on routine.  Now that school is back in session and summer is over, you are doing SO much better with melt downs.  You take great naps at school and Ms. Jamie's and I think it is all about the routine.

Although I must say, we did a LOT of vacationing this summer and you ROCKED it, well for the most part.  

Charleston

You LOVED the ocean & the beach!

You were a TOTAL sass in Greenville when I wanted to get a cute picture of you....

But a total ham later that night when we were trying to take a family selfie...

You LOVED the Cada's cabin-et and keep asking if we can go back

You also LOVED our trip to St. Louis with Grandma and Grandpa...... well, until we got to the top of the arch and you had to poop.  Let's just say we'll never say "squeeze your cheeks" again without thinking of you!

Your wishlist this year includes Legos and anything Star Wars.

Dislikes.....

"Fancy" clothes.  This would include jeans, "jakey" shirts, really anything other than your standard t-shirt and sports shorts.  Actually come to think of it, you really prefer no clothes at all......

Here you are after mama asked you to go back upstairs and get some clothes on...... you came down with sissy's lanyard and said - I dressed mama!!

Although, I must say that when we went to the pumpkin farm with your school, your teachers taught you that you had to wear jeans and you insisted that you comply.  I did not complain one bit.

And when we went back to the pumpkin farm today, you knew if you wanted to go on the "pokey" hay ride that jeans were a must.

And you even busted out the jeans for the sock hop at mom's night at your school JUST for me.  Dare I say we are on the brink of getting out of this "fast" clothes phase?!

Naps at home.  I'm not sure why but you REFUSE to nap at home for mama.  Although, I must say you have mastered the car seat nap......

and the stroller nap is still going strong, when necessary.

Peeing INDOORS..... you've mastered the outdoor pee and there have been times you've tried to convince me that you just couldn't make it to the toilet even though you started out INSIDE the house.

Oh buddy, I feel like I could go on forever and if I did that time would just slow down just a little.  I'm so thankful for you each day.  I say this every year but you are the little boy I never knew I needed.  You are so obsessed with your "story" lately and want me to read it over and over.  I'm still in awe of God's plans for you and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us.  We love you Alexander Brooks, happy birthday!!