Most kids' loveys are a piece of a tattered baby blanket or a pale, washed-out little stuffed bear that is slowly falling apart and could be missing an ear or a paw or even an eye. Not Ian's. His lovey is Gymbo. The bright colored clown they use as a mascot for Gymboree. Ian's lovey matches his personality to a tee. Funny, happy, smiling, colorful and a personality that comes through from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. Ian discovered Gymbo at a Gymboree class when he was only 13 months old. Ever since then it has been one mad love affair. Inside our house, Gymbo is constantly by Ian's side; when he is having his milk in the morning, watching tv in the afternoon or needing someone to snuggle with at night in his bed. Gymbo is even available for the hugs needed to soothe a meltdown or temper tantrum when Ian realizes he won't be getting his way. The two of them are quite a pair. Fortunately Gymbo is mass produced and we have about 6 of them ready to go and step in should the main Gymbo doll not be able to fulfill his lovey duties. We joke that our back-ups have back-ups.
My firstborn turns 4 today. Somewhere along the way he went from being a baby into a very smart, loud, energetic little boy. He calls himself Tigger and gets most adults and kids to follow suit. The definition for "high-spirited" is: 1. characterized by energetic enthusiasm, elation, vivacity, etc. Ian is the epitome of high-spiritedness. He boldly throws himself into everything he does; from making friends to building train tracks, to playing on the playground and acting out his favorite skits. Ian has an imagination and creativity that would rival even Walt Disney's vision for Disney World. He lights up a room when he enters it and his enthusiasm is all but contagious if you are around him.
Ian says the cutest things. A few months ago we were driving along in the car and as we were on an overpass, he proclaimed, "I just love overpasses so much I can't stop." Other times, Ian will say something so thought-provoking, you are amazed it came out of the mouth of a 3 year old. We were at Starbucks on a particularly blustery winter day in January and Ian was enjoying his favorite "cold vanilla drink" (it's really a vanilla bean frappacuino - no coffee in it whatsoever). While he was holding the cup and having a sip, he said, "boy, this is colder than the weather outside". Other times, his observations of the world and the things he sees in it, are downright funny. Like the time we were in the car, turning in to the neighborhood we live in. There was a woman, who looked to be about 11 months pregnant on the sidewalk. As we passed her, Ian said, "She shouldn't be walking to the hospital, she should be driving."
And, have I mentioned how courteous he is? After I got home from my appendectomy at the end of January, Ian must've asked me every day for approx. a month how I was feeling. At dinner each night, he'll ask Jeff how his day was and what did he eat for lunch. He listens to what the answers are and will make appropriate comments as feedback.
Ian is a planner. I'm not talking about planning his day or the week out, but years in advance. He has detailed ideas on themes, presents, invite lists, and locations for his next 10 birthdays. I think he even planned a surprise a party for himself one of the years. If you ever get tired hearing him talk endlessly about his future birthday parties and tell him to stop, he will just move on to Halloween. What costumes he will be wearing and who he will go trick or treating with. Ian can live in the moment and still be thinking about who he'd like to be for Halloween 5 years from now.
He loves to cook his own scrambled eggs, but still wants help putting on his shirt each morning. He will try anything once and if he didn't have a great experience doing it the first time, it will be near impossible to get him to do it again. Getting him to the dentist is a battle, but fortunately we no longer clear out Cartoon Cuts each time we go for a haircut.
Ian is such a sweet, loving little boy. He will very easily hug and kiss his friends & parents and profess his love. I used to say that when things are going his way, he is most pleasant, happy child to be around. But the minute he is not in control of the plan, he is a nightmare and no one, not even his mommy or daddy wants to be near him.
He likes to start his day off with the weather forecast on tv. If the weatherman says it is going to be scattered showers and it isn't raining the moment we are walking out the front door, he'll say "awwwww man, the weatherman got it wrong again." Even on days with a mean overcast, he'll look up at the sky and say "What a beautiful day!".
Ian has totally come into his own this past year. I can see glimpses of what he will be like 10 to 15 years from now. He will be loyal to his 'best pals', a warm, caring, incredibly bright young man with a wicked sense of humor. In fact, he'll be a lot like his father and in my book, that is a good thing. A very good thing.
Happy 4th birthday my little pumpkin. You make mommy and daddy so proud of you. We love you so much.
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