Dearest Max,

Wow it has been so long since I have sat down to write your birthday letters and even blogged about how much you have changed and grown. You are doing an outstanding job at your new school. You are making friends with so many kids and you are really are making this school a home for yourself. December was a special month at school because your teachers and classmates did the Birthday Celebration for you where I made a poster of all the years you have been alive and told a little about each year you have been around in this world and they read it to your class. You lit candles, sang songs and walked 4 times around the “world” candle in the middle of your classroom. It was a beautiful and amazing celebration. You answered questions about the sun, the moon and all the planets. You did a great job. You were so proud and I was honored to be there with you. I think your favorite part of the celebration was handing out my special gluten free, egg free, dairy free cupcakes with dairy free and egg free icing at the end plus dairy free chocolate chips..the kids and the teachers were so excited. You were helping the teachers put them on the kids plates and all of the kids with allergies could eat them, which made you so happy too.

This is a picture of you next to your proud cupcakes that your Mom makes!

You have been doing a great job with practicing writing letters and Daddy bought you a book that you practice tracing your letters and then writing them on your own. We also started to work on reading at night. We are looking at the letters and then sounding them out and reading the word. You really enjoy this even though it is tough work. You LOVE all the Richard Scary Books right now and Daddy just bought your 3 more because we had read the 2 we own about 150 times already. You were so excited when they came in the mail. You are just growing up. You can put yourself to sleep now all by yourself at night and your hold onto Running Bear, Eagles Bear and Singing Blue Bear. They keep you company.

You are very proud of your room and your books. You are very proud of being an Eagles fan and often ask why everyone is not an Eagles fan. You room has a bunch of Eagles Jerseys hanging up and pictures of the Phillies and the Flyers. You, just like your Dad, are die hard Philly Fans. You an your sister both have your Eagles gear that you wear for game day but the season if over so we will wait for next year!

There is a great playground near us that has these water machines that you can aim at each other and shoot water. We went there with friends from out of town and you had a blast. You were soaked from head to toe but you enjoyed yourself so much. You love to play. You are also really into your imagination Playmobile castle and school. We sit for hours and play. You and your Daddy sit for hours and play with all the figures and just play pretend imagination. You have always been great at playing and you love to just have time to enjoy your toys and cars.

a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxsmom/5377217649/” title=”IMG_8153 by Maxsmom, on Flickr”>

You are definitely going through the 4 year old..”I want it my way stage” but seriously you are the sweetest boy with the most open and gentle heart. You may hit here and there when your sister annoys you or takes your car or destroys your castle or messes up your game..but I don’t blames you even though I need to discipline you and your sister for messing things up. You have a HUGE heart and you just want to love. You enjoy playing, baking, cooking, painting, drawing, snuggling and watching Dino Dan. You love to play with other kids and you have really stepped out of your shy shell and taken on your power and your voice.

This year you and your sister painted the most amazing picture in December that is hanging in our living room. You guys worked on it for 2 days. The canvas was 4 by 6 and it was bigger than the both of you but you worked and worked and it is so beautiful. We will have it forever. It reminds me how colorful you are and how much brightness you bring to the world. Don’t ever stop asking questions. Don’t ever stop playing even though I tell you everything is not a game. You teach me so much. Thank you my dear boy.

Love you always,

Mom