--After you read my letter, click the link to see Michelle's letter to her children. If you keep clicking from there, eventually you'll be right back here!--
Mason,
I think you’ve had a good start to your year of being a four-year-old. Last week was the awards ceremony where you got a ribbon for finishing your first Cubbies book. You did a great job memorizing all those verses this year! We had a combined birthday party for you and Rylan in mid-May (to make the whole party thing a little easier for Mommy), and you had fun playing with your friends despite the unseasonably cold weather. We were able to eat our food in the shop and open presents inside the house. You liked the theme of pizza (regular pizza, vegetable pizza, and fruit pizza for dessert!) and the fruit pizza was your favorite. You played on the Gator with your friends for most of the party, though.
You also had your first dentist trip this month. And by that I mean....you played in the water dispenser thing and squirted soap in water-filled cups (to make them smell good) while I got my teeth cleaned. Then you barely sat in the chair long enough for the dentist to peek inside your mouth. Peek is not an exaggeration. Hopefully in 6 months you'll feel a little friendlier with the dentist and you'll sit in the chair a little longer. You still came away with at least 2 new toothbrushes, toothpaste, and a pair of dentist gloves. They were very gracious and nice to you, despite your less-than-impressive cooperation. :)
Getting ready for our trip to Africa has kept us really busy this month. We’ve had several fundraisers, and they have all gone really well! God has been showing us how powerful he is as we’ve been getting everything ready for the trip. You’ve been talking about Africa a lot, and I know you’re especially excited to play with Mikayah and Lilli.
We also found out last month that you are going to have a baby sister! You talking about “the girl baby” has been very cute. The other day, when I said that I was excited about my new camera bag that I got, you said, “You know what I’M excited about?? I’m excited about the baby!” I know you will be a great older brother.
You have been going through a phase of being really attached to Mommy and Daddy recently. You don’t want us to leave you in Sunday School or Cubbies (although that's only an initial fear that you get over almost immediately after we leave). You don’t even like playing outside on the Gator by yourself. Recently you’ve been trying to drag Rylan out with you if he tries to come inside without you. (But now that I think about it, it’s pretty good timing for you to be concerned about not running off when we will be in international airports and in foreign countries this month!) Of course it does make us feel special when you tell us the reason you’re upset is because you love us so much and you miss us too much when we’re not with you. You’ve decided that you’re scared at night with the light off. It seemed like you’d gotten over that, but it's been bothering you again recently. There also isn’t a night that goes by without you asking for us to listen for scary noises.
You love spending time with friends and playing at “fun places.” Sometimes you tell me, “Mommy I was thinking of something really special we could do....” and your idea is almost always to "watch something.” Hopefully you'll be extremely entertained by watching things on the loooong plane rides we have coming up.
You are thoughtful and logical. You're sentimental (we bought a new van this past weekend, and I think you almost cried several times because we told you we were selling the old van.) You are silly. You’re aware of others’ feelings. Some of the few healthy things you really enjoy to eat are cherry tomatoes, green beans, and pickles. You have recently developed a strong twang on certain words, like “now” = “nay-owh.” You’re also still using creative grammar like “willn’t,” and apparently the past tense of “drive” is “drewv.”
Here's your quote of the month: "Mommy, I want some caffeine!! Can I have some caffeine?" [worried face] "...Oh wait.....does it have coffee in it?"
I love you so much, you smart, sweet, cute boy.