Dear Anand, you are four today! You don't actually know that yet -- your party will be Saturday, and I am tempted to just wait and do all the birthday hoopla then. But I know and your dad knows and the universe knows. You are four, and you are getting very big. Here are some of the things you love to do right now:
snuggle: you are much more snuggly than your sister was at this age, and sometimes I wonder whether that is because we started you in full-day preschool much earlier or if it is simply your nature to glom onto the nearest human being and climb into their lap, preferably with a blanket tucked around you both
play video games: when you were smaller, I worried more about this, about the way you would throw tantrums if we turned off the game. But now we've learned that it is relatively easy to redirect you to other activities if we think you've had too much screen time, so I worry less. You were obsessed with Angry Birds for most of your third year, which only really made me fret when you watched all the videos on YouTube, but I think the cursing in some of them went right over your head. Now you are on to Plants vs. Zombies, which I admit, mommy likes almost as well as you do. I am sure Minecraft is in your near future, and the only likely problem will be whether it keeps mommy from doing her own work. Which is my problem, not yours.
play with your sister: boy, we thought it'd be a good idea to have two kids so they could play together, but for a few years there, I was seriously questioning our sanity. We are old! And tired! And infants are hard! But now, thankfully, you two play together a lot, and mostly without fighting, and it is awesome. You like it when Kavi plays pretend with you -- that's your favorite game.
eat sugar. No elaboration really needed here. But left to your own devices, you would eat candy until you got sick. I am not sure if lollipops or ice cream is at the top of the list; it may be close.
Generally, Anandan, you are a remarkably sweet and cheerful little boy, although you do seem to be hitting occasionally now. Hopefully you will grow out of that soon, because it is just not allowed around here. Your sister does not appreciate it. Although, I will grant that she can be thoroughly exasperating sometimes, especially when she's ignoring you, so I can understand the impulse. But really, you are not allowed to jump on her. It is not safe. You are also not supposed to put so many random things in your mouth, or destroy all my garden tools, or draw on the walls, the floor, the couch. Let's work on that.
But mostly, sweetie, you are just a delight. I like you better every day, and I hope the next year is splendid. Happy birthday!
love,
Mommy
