Bret's 4th Birthday Letter

Our dear little Bretsterboy,

Your birthday is finally here, and despite my best efforts to prevent it, your turning four appears to be inevitable.  You have anticipated this day for a llloooonnnnggg time, and tried your best to convince me that it will be okay to let you turn four.  You needed to turn four so you "could get more mail," "could be a Daddy," and "could learn how to wrestle."  I'm not sure yet what's in it for me, but you did make a promise to cuddle with me every day, so I guess I'll try to just be content with that.

This year of your life will definitely go down in history as the Year of the Mail Obsession.  I've tried in my mind to think back and pinpoint when it all started.  What was the trigger?  I really don't know!  I know it's been at least 7 or 8 months now!  At first, we kinda indulged you and gave you the junk mail whenever we had some.  But then, you became totally obsessed, and we had to deal with tears when you didn't get "ANY JUNK!!!!"  As we tried to hide our laughter, we explained to you the concept of junk mail and why we don't always get it and why it is called junk.  We tried having you throw it away for us (like maybe that would give you a sense of control over the obsession), but it didn't seem to help.  Then we spent a couple weeks visiting your aunt & uncle, grandparents, and your grammie, and I thought "Surely he'll forget about the mail when he's away from home for so long."  But guess what your first question for them was?  "Do you have any junk mail?"  And guess what they said???  So, you played mail at their houses too!!!  Your summation of your uncle & aunt's was this, "They get lots of newspapers!" because we would come out the front door every morning there to find a newspaper laying in the driveway.  One time, you were asking questions about junk mail, and I tried to sum it up by saying that it was sent by people who want money from us.  Next thing I knew, you were filling junk mail return envelopes with coins that you had found and sealing them!  If there was a way to track those envelopes, and see the reaction of the people who received them, I think I would have dropped them in the mail!  Instead, I just pretended to do it, and cycled the coins back into your collection!  ;)  So, at this point we have given in to your obsession.  You even got a mailman outfit and a mailbox for Christmas, which has seen lots of use!  I've given you a big shoebox to keep your junk mail in (though I confess to rifling through it and tossing things now and then when it starts to get full!), and you play with it every single day.  You love ads, newspapers, and postcards.  You can't wait for me to finish a magazine so you can search through its pages for postcards!  You love the junk mail that comes with return envelopes inside!  And if they have a window in the envelope, that's even better!  You know that mailmen take off Sundays and holidays, and one Thursday you decided you were going to take the "day off" from mail.  We happened to run errands that day, and you kept seeing mail trucks and mailmen, and you were a little worried that they were apparently conducting business as usual.  You thought maybe we should stop and tell them that you were taking the day off.  At that point, I realized that to you this mail thing is much bigger than just what happens in our house.  You are part of a brotherhood of mailmen, and your mail that you play with is part of a huge network!  When you get mail that is actually addressed to you, it inevitably comes at the same time as mail addressed to Serena & Cody, and you always wait and save your mail until after they've opened theirs.  It's like you need to savor the moment and make the mail last.  As your birthday approached, I asked a bunch of my friends & family if they'd make a special point to send you a card this year, as I knew it would mean so much to you!  Yesterday you got 7 cards in the mail (incidentally, that was the only mail we received yesterday!), and you were just trembling with excitement as you kept pulling them out of the mailbox!  "Wait!  There's anudder one!  And anudder!"  (Envelopes were falling to the ground; your eyes were just popping out of your head!  If I could say one thing to those sweet people who sent you birthday mail, it would be, "It was totally worth the time, effort, and the $.49 stamp!!!!  Thank you SO much!!!")

Special delivery for Christmas!

So, what do you do when you're not playing mail?  Well, basically you're either bouncing off the walls or you're sitting quietly trying to put something together.  You especially love to do anything that involves jumping.  Usually, off of steps or stools, trying to see who can make it the farthest or the highest.  You are convinced that one of these times you're going to touch the ceiling.  I wouldn't put it past you.  You also love bugging Serena, but unfortunately she does not love it.

With the way you run and jump and tumble and wrestle, and with the way your eyes sparkle, it seems unbelievable that you can also sit quietly for extended periods of time and work on putting things together.  But, you are a very creative little guy!  Sometimes, Serena & Cody are off playing somewhere, running up and down, and getting dressed up, and you are in the corner with a piece of string and a "treasure," trying to create something.  You like to make knots and "braids" like Daddy does with paracord.  You love to build with Duplos (no Legos for us yet...waiting for your brother to get a little older!), and with your building set you got for Christmas.  Daddy & I are constantly amazed by what you come up with!  And with how long your attention span can be for those things!

You spend hours at the art table!

You still love "The Little Engine That Could" and "King Bidgood's in the Bathtub" and "I Wish I Had Duck Feet," but overall your book interest seems to be shifting to subject books.  It's fun to walk you down the non-fiction aisles at the library and listen to you get all excited about the books about frogs and turtles and fish!

When it comes to your favorite things, you have a little basket of what you call your "treasures."  Now, the average passer-by might be tempted to think it is just a bunch of junk...scraps of paracord, an un-sharpened pencil, some beads, some buttons, some odd earrings, a shell, a marble, a hat from a decorative gourd Grammie gave you last fall, a spinning top, a paperclip, a jingle bell, a foam ornament, scraps from Daddy's ramrod materials, a carabiner, and a Christmas bow...but you are no average person!  Many of the items are things you pick up off the floor when we're out shopping.  You get your treasures out and use them for "making somefin" just about every day.

One of the best thing about you is how cuddly and loving you are!  Every morning, when I come in to get you kids up, you jump out of your bed and climb up into my rocking chair.  Then, I sit down and hold you.  Usually I end up tickling you, because I just can't help it!  Your giggle and your squinty=eyed smile is way too tempting!  You tell me your plans for the day, and you ask me questions you've thought of during the night.  Who knows how long you would stay there, but eventually Serena or Cody wants a turn or wants breakfast or needs help with something, so we have to stop.  Another favorite thing of mine about you is that you always let me put my cold hands inside your shirt!  Heehee!  ;)  And you always notice when someone is wearing something new.  And you love it when I wear something sparkly; you tell me I look pretty.  :)

You are our observant child.  In the car, you appear to be staring out the window in a trance, but then at home you have all kinds of questions about the things you saw.  Unfortunately, I'm not very good at noticing or remembering every single vehicle we saw and what it is called.  "That red truck with the big top" is not a good enough clue for me!  ;)  You like to talk about how something was made or how the Christmas lights got on that huge tree or along the top of the roof of the outlet mall.  You want to know how things are done/made, and if I don't know the answer, you usually have an idea!  You are the one who always finds things when we're out and about.  You've found coins in the strangest of places!  And you just can't help yourself from checking all around the floor of the check-out aisle at a store, since you know that's prime coin territory!

Finding a penny in a corn bin!

Daddy has been teaching you wrestling moves a lot since winter set in.  You really seem to be catching on!  (I'm impressed, anyway!)  Daddy will get you in a hold and then ask you what you should do, and you do things like kicking your feet out, or getting to a base, or spinning, or rolling him.  You think it's really fun, and you try to practice on Cody & Serena, but unfortunately they don't think it's as fun.  ;)

Despite your love of bugging and wrestling your siblings, you are very caring towards them.  You love to give them things and make them happy.  You would much rather give one of them the toy you were just having a ton of fun with than for them to be sad.  ON THE OTHER HAND, you are a shameless negotiator, and Cody in particular often falls prey to your tactics.  Nothing cool is safe in his possession, because you can take a similar but not-as-cool item and make him want it so bad that he will beg you to take his cool possession.  It is ridiculous!

You fell in love with toads and frogs and worms and bugs this past summer!

Snitch!

You and Cody are getting to be quite the little buddies!  Cody is still a bit of a baby in the way he plays and talks, but he likes to go along with you and do what you do.  He's not so good at playing out stories like you and Serena do, but he loves to join in on the active things you do.  You guys are hilarious together!  You butt heads when Cody tries to take things from you in typical two-year-old fashion.  Or when you create a situation.  (i.e., "Cody, do you want my blocks?"  "Sure!" "Are you going to take them from me?" "Yes." "And you're never going to let me play with them again ever?"  "Yes!"  "MOOOOMMMMYYYYYYY!!!!!  WWAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!")  I have no idea why you do that.

Your four-year-old stats have you at 38.5" and 33 lbs.  About 2.5" taller than last year!  :)

Our lives are brighter because of your sparkly eyes and your grin!  Your big, tough voice that you save for particularly grown-up conversations, and your earnest squinty-eyed/cocked-headed questions are absolutely priceless.  I wish I could find the words to do them justice, or better yet, get them on camera.  But, alas, the Bretsterboy cannot be captured; only enjoyed.  Every second.  To the fullest.  We love you so much!

Love, Mommy