A love letter to my son....

Dear Anderson-

This summer you have turned four...FOUR years old! How that is even possible is beyond me! I still remember the night that I took my pregnancy test like it happened yesterday! Sometimes it seems very natural that you have grown up so much, but then on some days I catch myself looking at you and listening to you and I simply can believe that my sweet baby boy is standing before me and talking to me like such a big boy! Didn't we just spend our days working on tummy time and watching Curious George like- oh, I don't know- 2 seconds ago! So here are a few things all about you...

- You are an absolute joy to your Dad and myself! We consider you and your sister our greatest accomplishment and thank God for you all the time. I seriously think you gave us both a purpose to life that was missing before you arrived.

- You are a very serious, observant little guy. You really always have been! You tend to be quiet and take things in...then before we know it you are talking about things we had no idea you could comprehend!

- You love to figure things out. Curious George has always been your favorite show, and I think it is because it is math and science based. You love tinkering (a true Smith trait) and putting things together...figuring things out. Transformers toys are huge for you right now. Your Dad and I can never "transform" them as good as you can! I can totally see you becoming an engineer or something along those lines.

- The down side of your "tinkering" personality is that you can become hyper-focused on something and have trouble letting go of it if you can't figure it out or get it to do what you want it to do. Your temper sometimes gets you in trouble in this area, but you are getting better the older that you get.

- You LOVE animals!! Seriously- if I had a second guess on careers for you it would be a vet or some other type of animal-type career! You are so tenderhearted when it come to them that it often breaks my heart. When our cat Mable wandered away over a year ago you were devastated and prayed for her EVERY night. Just last week on the way to school you told me that you had a "big" idea. You wanted to write a note and leave it on our door to tell Mable that this was her house in case she happened to walk by that day while we were gone. It makes me sad to see how much you miss her, but it makes me happy to know that you have such a love for animals. Your Gigi is like that too, and I see that part of her in you.

You also just love to watch discovery channel and read books about animals. You aren't satisfied with just a general "That's a monkey" . In fact, you corrected me at the age of three by saying "that is not a monkey, mommy- that is a Pygmy Marmoset". You want to know their diet, their habitat, if they are nocturnal, etc... It's crazy how much you know about different species, etc.

-You are smart. I know this is my blog and that everyone thinks their child is smart, but you are really smart. Your teachers always comment on how crazy expansive your vocabulary is for your age. You spoke in full sentences at 15 months old- at the time we didn't know that was abnormal, but now comparing Lydia's verbal skills we realize you were different from most kids very early on. You talk about concepts that a lot of four year olds don't understand- things like toxins, plasma, electricity...all sorts of crazy stuff. You never know what is going to come out of your mouth, but it almost always surprises us or crack us completely up!

- Along with your smarts, you have some struggles- in the last year we have really worried about your attention span. We watched you in group interactions and school situations and it just seemed that you sort of zoned out quite a bit and sometimes could be a little difficult to engage in a group setting. We couldn't really tell if it was the start of a bigger problem or if you just needed time to grow up a little. As a former teacher I certainly had ADD in the back of my head, but after talking with your teachers and really watching you and waiting for you to mature and develop we think that this is just really more to do with your personality. You just aren't a cheesy, all grins, front row, all up in the activity, kind of kid. You are more serious and pensive and tend to be a bit more independent. We are keeping an eye on it, but we know that we will deal with it if it comes...lucky for you you have two parents who love you more than anything on this earth and will move mountains to make sure you succeed in whatever you try!

- You are getting into that "boy" stage of thinking anything to do the word "potty" or "tee-tee" or "poopie" is funny. It.is.driving.me.crazy! I came from a family of three girls, so this whole potty-humor thing is new to me. You get corrected for it a lot, but hopefully we will grow out of this fun stage soon!

-You have a love/hate relationship with Lydia. You love her 90% of the time, but every once in a while she gets a toy you wanted and WWII ensues...we are officially to the stage of having to buy two of everything the exact same! I had to ask for two boy happy meals the other day so that you two would have the same exact toy! Lol! You do love on her an awful lot though. You always ask to wake her up or argue with us about putting her to sleep before you. You can't imagine not being with her all the time, and I love that. I hope you are always close and supportive of each other.

-You have had a tough time adjusting to Mommy going back to work. Although my work at the studio is still flexible, I have been working a lot of overtime this past year to get everything up and running. I feel like I am on the cusp of being able to work less and possibly take a morning or two off to spend with you and Lydia soon, but this time of getting the business up and running has been a tough adjustment for us all. You ask why you have to go to school everyday now and it just about kills me every time the words come out of your mouth. Talk about Mommy guilt! You are so used to being home with me that going to school full time is a big change, but you are LOVING school and I am so thankful for that and your wonderful and loving teachers. That gives me piece of mind when I am working long hours!

- You LOVE church. It is the best blessing to your Dad and I to see you soaking up the word! You ask to go all the time and rarely let us play hookie without asking - "Hey when do we go to church at night time again?" I have a feeling you will be keeping us straight on this issue!

- You require VERY little sleep. Even though we put you in your room at 8:00 or 8:30 at the latest, you are often still awake at 10:00 when we go to bed. You just talk to yourself and get up and ask us for EVERYTHING under the sun and just refuse to close your eyes in general! It is challenging to say the least because I would like to just be able to watch a movie with your dad or talk to him/hang out...but we are too busy putting you to bed for three hours! Lol!

-You are a really good eater. We don't struggle with this part, and I am so thankful because your sister is another story entirely!! You love crazy things like sushi- a sign you are your mother's child! You enjoy salad and lots of other vegetables and generally clean your plate for most meals. You have started a unit at school on healthy foods. Your commentary on your Dad and my diets is sometimes comical!

-You say things that crack us up all the time, but you can be very sensitive about us laughing. You feel like we are making fun of you and it makes you M-A-D!!

-You love to play outside and particularly in your sandbox and you love digging in the dirt and playing with Hotwheels!

- You still love Curious George, but are more into Diego and Superfriends. You love the movies Pete the Magic Dragon, Bolt, and Cars. We have been really trying to limit your TV, so you aren't watching as much as you used too. We've replaced that time with playing CandyLand, Memory, Go Fish and making crafts that have to do with your letter homework from school.

-On the day of your actual birthday. You played hookie from school and we went on a just Mommy and you date! I drove you to Birmingham and we went to Build-a-bear where you created a Jaguar dressed as Batman (named Batcat). We then ate lunch at chick-fil-a and then caught an afternoon showing of Toy Story 3 in 3d. I loved every second of our alone time together.

Happy Birthday Anderson! I love you so much and can't wait to see the awesome young man you are going to turn into!

Love- Mommy