Happy 4th Birthday, Noah!

Every year I write a letter to my children in honor of their birthday. (This post contains affiliate links.)

Happy 4th Birthday, my precious little Noah!

This year you transformed from being a toddler to being a little kid. You’ve become more animated, opinionated, and taller. Of course, you still have the same catchy smile and infectious giggle. You truly are a delight.

Highlights from this Past Year:

This past summer you and Grace spent a whole week at Grandpa and Grandma’s without Mommy and Daddy! We were celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary at the beach with friends. I was very nervous about leaving you for so long, but you did great.

We took you to see your first movie at a theater! We were spending a weekend with Mommy’s family at a hotel, and went out for the afternoon to see The Peanuts Movie. Honestly, the movie was pretty boring. You even started drawing in a notebook in the middle of the film! We had a fun experience anyway.

One of the cutest things you said this year on a regular basis was “a little bit a lot.” You frequently asked me to put “a little bit a lot” of water in your cup. Another common phrase was, “Well… like… I have a question.”

Your favorite things to play with:

• Froggy – your most beloved friend to sleep with
• puff balls – Noah, you used these for everything from cooking to carrying in dump trucks.
• cars & trucks
• Legos
• Cooking Fever – a game on our tablet that we both become obsessed with
• car doors – You loved opening and closing car doors and insisted that you always do it.
• Grace – Please be best friends forever!

After listening to horror stories from my friends, I decided that I was going to keep you in your crib for as long as possible! If you weren’t trying to climb out and didn’t complain about the crib, why would I open us up to the possibility of you getting out of bed every 10 minutes? Yet all good things must come to an end, and you started requesting a “big boy bed.” Your transition this winter went fairly smooth until . . . 

I noticed the infection in your thumb during a bath. It was red and swollen, and you complained that it hurt. It was bad enough that we went to the doctor for an antibiotic. The doctor told you that you needed to stop sucking your thumb. That night we covered your thumb with a bandaid, and for the first time since you were a newborn, you tried to fall asleep without sucking your thumb. You cried and said, “Mommy, I just want to suck it so bad! I can’t handle it.” It was heartbreaking, but it got better. You officially broke your thumb sucking habit before your 4th birthday.

After you stopped sucking your thumb, you also stopped “cutting” Froggy. You no longer felt the need to rub Froggy’s material between your first two fingers as you fell asleep. But for the longest time, Froggy was your most favorite stuffed animal friend. You wanted him while watching TV, during bedtime stories, if you got hurt, and when you felt sleepy in the car. Sometimes at naptime I would say, “Noah! Do you hear that? It is Froggy! He is saying he wants you. He misses you.” It always made you smile.

Noah, your favorite books this year included:

•  Vegetables in Underwear – Listening to you read this book from memory in your adorable little kid voice was one of my most favorite things ever.
• What’s that Noise Little Mouse – Your favorite page was when the mouse cries. You used to comfort the mouse and give him a kiss.
• Rough & Tough series – I have these books memorized!

This was also the year we tackled potty training. After you filled out your “potty training chart,” we went to the toy store so you could pick out a prize. You picked an awesome garbage truck.

Noah, you went through a stage where you wore a pair of green glasses everywhere. It. was. adorable. You looked like a little hipster.

You had a love-hate relationship with walking Grace to school. There were days when you cried the entire way to to school. Then other days you and Grace would race ahead of me in a fit of giggles.

More highlights from the year:

• Riding in Great Uncle Kevin’s tractor.
• Family vacations to the mountains & the beach.
• An incredible day at The Crayola Factory.
• Strawberry picking for the first time.
• Saying goodbye to Great Grandma.
• Dressed up like a cow for free food at Chick Fil A.
• Dressed up like a sandbox for Halloween.
• Sent your first Operation Christmas Child box.
• We had a huge snowstorm with almost 2 feet of snow.
• Fun baseball themed birthday party!

I love you to pieces, my sweet boy! Happy Birthday!

Mommy

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