F-O-U-R

It's hard to believe but Will turned 4 earlier this month. Where has the time gone? I still remember bringing newborn Will home from the hospital in San Diego. And now, as we prepare to return to San Diego, I have a feeling our experience will be entirely different. But in a good way!

Will's really in to the Busytown show; it's based on the books of Richard Scarry, which I remember from my own childhood. Naturally he wanted to have a Busytown birthday party. Unfortunately there are no Busytown decorations to be had so I was forced to get creative (for instance, using game pieces to decorate a cake!). We ended up celebrating with his playgroup pals, enjoying pizza and cake, playing Pin-the-Bowtie on Lowly Worm (one of the characters from the show), and even solving our own mystery: The Case of the Missing Candy. It was not quite as imaginative as the show but the kids had a good time. But that's not all the birthday fun! The weekend prior, we celebrated with Aunt Jill and (soon-to-be Uncle) Matt at the beach. It seems that beach birthdays are turning into our new custom. Not a bad one at all!

Since he's turned 4, Will is really interested in things he can do now that he's a "big boy" that he couldn't do before. Flag football is one of those things. The Y offers a flag football program for ages 4-5 so he's going to play. I'm pretty sure he'll be the smallest one on the field (no linebackers in this family!) but maybe he'll also be the fastest. Or maybe he'll transition to kicker or water boy really quickly! Either way, I'm sure he'll have a great time.

Will's imagination continues to amaze me. He loves coming up with new uses for everyday things. Hence, the picture of him "cutting" Matt's hair using his superhero cape and a caterpillar toy. Makes complete sense to me! (Matt's a very good sport; he earned his beers that day!)

Will is also starting to read, which is fun for me to watch. He's really interested in words and knows a few sight words already. He is starting to sound out words (man, I love phonics!) as well. I hope they expand on these skills in preschool this year. He goes back the week after Labor Day. He'll be going 5 mornings a week...such a big boy indeed!

Archer Dean is doing well also. He is starting to walk more, even without our prompting. As you can see, he's quite pleased with himself! He continues to babble a lot and practice the handful of words he's got down. Unfortunately he continues to scream a lot as well. Ugh. The kid has got some lungs. It can be utterly ear piercing. I was hoping this "phase" would be quick but it's been here a long time already. Oh, Archer!

Finally, I ordered Will his very own personalized superhero gear for his birthday, thinking he'd be really into it. Alas, he's not at all. But Keith thinks it's pretty cool!