Chaletgirl

Turning four has been a huge milestone for young Henry. He talks so much about now being older than his friends, who, apparently are ‘littler’ than he is. Oh, yeah, by a week. And he has been carrying around a photo of himself from last year. “This is me when I was three. But I am not three anymore. I am four. This is old. This is when I was three.”

Repeat. Often.

I guess he is learning about getting older, and how he fits into the world, and at the moment, he thinks he has a starring role. Well, he probably will….

“I am going to do a magic trick for you. See there is nothing in my hand? Now I will wave my magic (insert current item in his right hand here….paper? tissue? hat?) over my hand and……ta da!!!! Now you can see a tomato!”

And then he carefully puts one forearm behind his back, and one across his middle and takes a bow.

Hilarious.

Anyway, since a certain young lady has me up early, I’ll share a few pictures from last week.

On his birthday we went to the Powerhouse Musuem. There is so much to do there, we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I think his favourite part was an exhibit called Zoe’s House.

Have a quick look at the link to see what it’s about. It was a fascinating thing to watch as a bunch of 3, 4, and 5 year olds make a worksite ‘work’ with no interaction or guidance from adults. There was just always a child there to do each job, as if by magic. Someone to open the gate, someone to turn the conveyor belt, someone to load the bricks. I found it absolutely amazing to observe.

Here’s our little worker:

And my favourite photo:

On the weekend we had a party for him with some farmyard animals, including a pony. The pony rides were very popular.

We bought him a camera.

And his friend Alex bought him a Spiderman costume, which promptly replaced his shirt for the day.

There were guinea pigs, sheep, goats, chickens and a duck. All available to cuddle and pet and brush.

Emmeline even had her first ride on a pony….

Here’s the cake, a number 4 dotted with farmyard animals.

It’s all dairy free, and the breadsticks are meant to look like a fence. This creation took me 4 cakes, 4.5 hours and turning ABC kids on for a 4 month old to watch. World’s Worst Mother Award goes to me. She’s 4 months old!

{edited to add, before the parenting police seriously pounce on me, that she didn’t watch TV for 4.5 hours! More like 30 minutes! She was asleep for most of the time, and the last part she was nestled in the sling right next to me. Just in case you were wondering.}

Luckily, Henry was having an afternoon nap after his big day at the musuem the previous day. But he came downstairs to look at the cake and declare that it “wasn’t a proper number four cake…it doesn’t have marshmallows!” Hence the marshmallows added on around the edge.

Thankfully it then got the nod of approval. Phew.

A lovely day was had by all. We were blessed with a beautiful day and lots of good friends to help us celebrate.

I feel so very, very lucky.

It’s nearly 3:00pm on a windy April afternoon as I write this. Four years ago I wasn’t a mother. I tried to explain this to you this morning and you looked at me like I was talking Swahili. I guess it is incomprehensible that your mother, who you have always known to be there, wasn’t always a mother.

But four years ago, about now, I parked my car at the local Bunnings. I’d had a busy day. That morning I cooked a big batch of green chicken curry and froze it in meal sized portions. Your due date was just over a week away and I was getting ready. Our house was being built and I had been to the site to talk to the electricians, then to the tile showroom to pick up some sealant, and then I headed off to Bunnings to pick up something. I can’t remember now. All I remember is that I got to the front door and my waters broke.

And it’s been four years of wonder and happiness and mayhem and tears. Tears of sadness at times, but mostly of joy and laughter.

You have sometimes been a challenging “3″ my dear boy! Your curiosity and logical thinking know no bounds. We are constantly amazed at the way you think, and the way you are connecting all the dots of the world around you. You have an innate sense of how things work together and how the world works. You have just learned so much in the last year!

You are at preschool three days a week this year, and they are also teaching you so much. You can still just count to 20, but you are advancing with your letters and the sounds that they make. You can always recognise and nearly write your name unaided. Your pre-writing skills have come a long way.

You have many friends there, and most recently have fallen in love with a little girl named Ella. You constantly tell me that you “love Ella the whole world”.

You are still doing swimming lessons every week and you have also progressed much further during the last year. You can paddle out to your teacher a few metres away. You can float on your back. You can dive underwater for hoops, and you have conquered your fear of diving off the ducky mat. I suspect it was the two weeks in the pool at Noosa in January that sorted that out!

Aside from Ella, your favourite person in the whole world is your Uncle Lindsay. I feel so very blessed that you have such a wonderful male role model in your life, aside from your Daddy and your Poppy. I don’t think a little boy can ever have too many men around who love him.

We have gone from a family of three…..

to a family of four.

You have a new little sister in your life, who you just love. “I love her because she is soft”, you tell me. It has been a huge adjustment and I am so proud of you for accepting her so generously and lovingly into your little life. I hope that you will always be a part of each other’s lives.

You continue to adore your Nanny and your Poppy and you are so lucky to be able to spend so much time with them. I just hope that you will remember all these special times.

Like a very wise friend once warned me, you are now into everything Superhero…Spiderman! Batman! Ben 10! I don’t even know where you discovered them, I’m guessing it is preschool. I have made you a Superhero cape for your birthday…I can’t wait to see your face when you open it.

You still love to sing, and dance. You love watching So You Think You Can Dance, which I record for you. You are great at following the dance moves. You only need to watch it once or twice, and bang! You have it nailed! Funnily enough you taught yourself to breakdance well before I ever showed you on TV.

You still adore your Bunny and must sleep with her every night. You’re still napping during the day when you are at home, but not at preschool. We have done a lot of work with your hypersensitivity to noise, and aside from your sister screaming in the car, there’s not much that bothers you these days. You are still allergic to dairy, but we have another appointment at the Allergy Clinic next month, so we will see how you go with the skin prick test. Other than that, you are in good health and you are such a happy, cheerful little boy.

Happy Birthday, Henry. Four. I can’t believe it.

We love you, sweetheart.