Four years ago, January 13th

Four years ago, I went to the hospital to visit my BFF and her new baby girl. Macey was born the day before and I sat there holding her alongside my big pregnant belly. Both Macey and Simon did their newborn wiggle at the same time; one of them was breathing air and the other was still tucked inside, but they moved exactly the same. It was one experience I will never, ever forget and actually made it a little easier to stomach the fact that Simon was still pumping amniotic fluid through his lungs.

You see, I was not interested in being pregnant anymore. I was just over 38 weeks and that seemed like long enough to me.

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Now here we. It's been 4 years and a few days since that memorable double wiggle. I can hardly believe how big he is and everything he can do now. I was thinking about all the milestones he hit before his last birthday and how significant they were: talking in actual sentences, ditching diapers, ditching his crib, ditching his nuk, learning a million things, etc.

There aren't as many "milestones" to note before this birthday, but here is everything I can think of that makes Simon the 4 Year Old different than Simon the Three Year Old. This is really for me to look back on some day, so I apologize if it seems like overkill...feel free to skip it :)

Let's see....this past year, he graduated to a booster seat. His voice sounds like he went through puberty. He can now tell stories, be manipulative, put up a solid argument, make jokes, go potty without assistance, sound out small words (when he's in the mood), sit on the naughty bench for 3 minutes without his butt leaving it for a second, write his name, use the numbers and hands on the clock to help him know when we're leaving or someone is coming (no, he cannot really tell time), get undressed, get dressed (challenging when your head is adult sized but your clothes are kid sized), swim with nothing but a noodle, navigate through the blu-ray player to quietly get a Netflix show on if I won't do it for him (naughty business). He loves to show us the things he can do and always requests we stop what we're doing to watch. He pretends he is a superhero all the time and has "punch power" that gets him in trouble. He goes to school 3 mornings a week and loves it, especially the art projects. According to his teacher he is funny and social. He's still not great at sharing. He asks about our baby. He can play with a little action figure for hours and has a great imagination, despite his sad love for the boob tube. He has a major sweet tooth and would live on candy if we'd let him. He's no longer afraid of the dentist. The second he sees Daddy starting on a house project he runs all over to collect his tools so he can help. Okay, okay. I could probably go on forever trying to capture everything this boy is.

Right now, though, we have to get ready for school....