Noah is 4 years and 4 months and 1 day old

Dear Noah,

Yesterday you turned 4 years and 4 months old, and your cousin M turned 3 years old. Grandma is leaving to visit M and his baby sister today; you’re going to miss her.

The last month has been a rough one for you. On the one hand, you got a new-to-you, first ever Big Boy Bike, along with an awesomely cool helmet with dragons and flames. On the other hand, you whine and complain, “I can’t do it!” with alarming speed, about everything from riding your bike to standing up from the couch and walking into the bathroom to brush your teeth.

At school, you do amazingly detailed artwork, and your math skills are phenomenal. You continue to hover on the very brink of learning to read. But you’ve also been sent to the administrative office area for refusing to follow adult instructions. You’ve also been spoken to, multiple times, about using inappropriate language.

(Aside: Why is it hilarious to talk about potty activities, the body parts involved, and the results? This is the kind of inappropriate they mean.)

You can go from 0 to 60 and from 60 too 0, in terms of mood, in about 1 second flat. If your will is thwarted, bam! If you are successfully distracted, whee!

Of late, your Star Wars obsession has grown, and your sister has begun sharing it. At the end of our new toy moratorium last weekend, I took you both out to a neighborhood store with the intent of allowing each of you one toy that cost no more than $20.

The neighborhood store, which we’d never visited before, turned out to be more of a comic book/action figure store than a mainstream toy store. This was not a problem, since both of you were able to get unboxed Star Wars action figures for $5/each. I even relented and let you each choose 2. You picked Luke Skywalker in his Jedi training with Yoda costume, and a stormtrooper. You tell me about all the exercising you need to do in order to stand on one arm, just like Luke. Josie picked “D-2-D-2″ and “Ku-ba!” (Chewbacca).

In spite of your current whiny tendencies, I love you very much. You are mostly wonderful as a big brother, and as a son. I hope the whining phase passes soon, and that you know how very, very, very much I love you.

Love,

That Mommy