My Fantastic Four-Year-Old

Note the tornado shirt, too

With much fanfare—parties at home and school, multiple rounds of cake and presents with friends and family—Ethan turned four over the weekend.

It was an exciting time for him, as he’s seen numerous friends and classmates turn four at preschool this year and I think he really wanted to be four, too. Pretty exciting for Penny and me, too. Our oldest is now a big boy—there’s not even a hint of toddler left in him.

And what a fantastic four-year-old he is! I’m blogging about this so I don’t ever forget that on his fourth birthday, Ethan got a giant inflatable castle, added a few more weather books to his collection, and ushered in his fifth year with not one but two “force of nature” birthday cakes: the first decorated as a volcano, the second as a tornado.

At four, Ethan loves preschool and thinks everyone in his class is “a friend” even if he doesn’t know their name. He makes up a new song about weather every day (Sample: “Drops of water in the clouds get heavy and they fall, oh, they turn to hail stones in the sky and then thunk, thunk, thunk they go, oh!”). He’s recently added volcanoes to his list of favorite things and hopes we visit Iceland this summer so he can see one up close.

He likes sharks, lightning, hurricanes, tornadoes, hockey, flowers, bugs, and Curious George. Fridays are his favorite day because I work from home on Fridays and we watch tornado videos on YouTube when he wakes up from his nap.

At four, Ethan wakes up happy every day of his life. He says “I love you” all the time. His favorite people are his parents, his grandparents, and his sister Madeleine, who is his best friend and willing accomplice. Is it too much for me to hope they stay that way forever?

He is developing friendships with his classmates and the neighboring three-year-olds on our street. He also has numerous imaginary friends, including a blanket he calls Water Tower and a mischievous non-corporeal windmill from Tornado Alley who’s always getting into some kind of trouble.

At four, Ethan loves to hear stories and always asks for “one more” no matter how many I’ve read to him at naptime or bedtime. We have just started reading chapter books together and he’s loving the way the story continues every day. So far we’ve finished two Roald Dahl classics, James and the Giant Peach and The Fantastic Mister Fox. He loved them both.

At four, Ethan is the best little boy in the world. I love him more than he will ever know.

Happy birthday, eBear!