Four is fun!

I know it’s totally cliché to write this, but I can’t believe my Elliot is 4 years old! Monday was his birthday, and while I was emotional, as I expected, I actually handled it better than I thought I would.

In honor of such an important milestone, I decided to highlight four of the ways Elliot has changed in the past year.

1) Soon after we moved to Morgantown last spring, I bought a stool for the garage. I placed it on the floor under the button that, when pushed, opens the garage door. Elliot desperately wanted to be able to open the door because he enjoys doing this at my parents’ house. Unfortunately, when I first bought the stool, he still could not quite reach the button. After a couple months, however, he was able to stand on his tip toes and stretch his right arm as far as it could go to press that button. Now, he easily can reach his goal.

2) Elliot has been potty trained since he was 2 and a half, but he needed nighttime pull-ups for a long time after that. I was never worried about it, but I did often wonder when he would be able to sleep through the night without them. In fact, until a couple months ago, he would still wake up with a wet pull-up almost every night. For a couple weeks in April, though, Elliot arose dry, so we decided to chuck the pull-ups for big boy underwear. There hasn’t been a wetting incident since (knock on wood!).

3) For about three years, almost since Elliot could talk, he has called me “Mama.” At first, I thought I wanted that to change to “Mommy.” But, I came to like being called “Mama,” even paying homage to Elliot’s moniker for me by titling this blog “Office Mama.” Within the past few days, however, Elliot has begun calling me “Mommy.” I don’t know why this shift has occurred. I asked my 4-year-old who “Mommy” is, to which he replied, “You.” Alas, the days of “Mama” may be gone.

4) In recent weeks, Elliot has become very opinionated about clothes and shoes. It's no mystery from whom he gets this characteristic! I already blogged about the T-ball uniform meltdown, and Elliot often protests donning certain shirts, shorts, flip-flops and other items. For example, this morning Elliot was sure he wanted to wear pants instead of shorts. "But, you'll be hot," I explained. "I like to be hot!" he shot back at me. I was able to convince him that shorts were the best option. And, if Elliot was allowed to wear flip-flops every day of the year, with every outfit he owned, I think he would. Flip-flops are not allowed at day care, which is a wise rule, especially considering Elliot trips over himself every few steps when he wears them. That rule doesn't stop him from asking, almost every day, if he can wear flip-flops to school.

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And, now, four of Elliot's recent verbal funnies, three of which reflect badly on me.

After I tucked him into bed, Elliot called me back to his side to tell me a secret: "When I was a baby, I had two chins. That's what Daddy told me."

Elliot was playing outside when he scratched his toe. This minor boo-boo produced a tiny amount of blood, causing Elliot to freak out. He blurted out this request: "I need a Band-Aid, so it will stop this frickin' blood!"

While stopped at a red light, Elliot yelled, "Let's gooooooo! These people need to get out of the way!"

I had told Elliot to clean up his garden toys in the yard three times. Raising my voice, I told him again -- sternly -- to pick them up, and he replied, "Quit freaking out, Mommy. You're being ridiculous!"