happy happy birthday, my dear sweet sweet owie bear!

4 years old.

my 4-year-old who still cuddles with his green blanket and sucks his index finger. my 4-year-old who still tells me "thank you" for all the little things. my 4-year-old who is still my tiny baby boy and still as sweet as ever. my 4-year-old who kisses my shoulder and smiles up at me just to see me smile back. my 4-year-old who tells me that he knows the baby in my belly is a girl because it eats salad.

i have the following conversation with owen often:

owen do you know that i love you?
"uh-huh."
how much do i love you?
"five."
is that the most?
"uh-huh."
i love you more than that!

he buckles himself into his own car seat all the way in the third row of the car. there are three things to buckle and we get a count down. "three more!" "now, two more!" "all buckled!" sometimes it takes a while. it's always smart to let owen in the car first.

there is a huge improvement in his "school work" since he started preschool in september. he colors inside the lines and uses several colors on one page. his handwriting has improved and he can spell/write his own name very well. we are still working on our letter sounds, but he is leaps and bounds better than 3 months ago.

one day he came up from the basement after having played games on the computer saying sadly, "mom, i really need to learn my letter sounds." he was so sad he couldn't play a game because it required him to know his letters. being the sucker that i am for my sweet sweet little boy, i promptly went out and purchased a leap frog phonics video to aid him in his quest to learn his letter sounds. there have also been worksheets upon worksheets on letters and recognizing letter sounds. he is so proud of his worksheets. owen, i am going to get you some special stickers to put on your worksheets because you have really worked hard and did a great job. so of course owen takes the entire book of stickers and decorates the *entire page* with reward stickers. and of course they need to go on the refrigerator. :)

he is having an indiana jones birthday party. tito ryan celebrated a little early with him and showed up dressed up as indiana jones. owen also put on his indiana jones outfit (complete with hat and satchel along with the sound-effect whip given to him by tito ryan). i think he had a blast. we played the indiana jones theme song and watched the video that came with his new whip.

i love when owen dresses up. when he puts on a costume, he is all in. indiana jones. knight. power ranger. sonic. bob the builder. fireman. optimus prime. so serious. so stinkin' cute!

i love this kid so much! happy birthday, owen! i love you with all my heart!!!!