Dear Lucas (4 Years 1 month and 3 days),

I catch myself staring at you just about everyday and thinking "how is it possible that he is so grown up?" Everyday you seem bigger than you were the day before. You always wake up happy ready to face the day. You always want to know where we are going and what we are doing. You always want to be on the move and HATE days where we stay home.

We had your fourth birthday party on August 1st and you got to celebrate turning 4 with your family and friends. The party was a race car theme that you decided on yourself. You've already started planning your 5Th birthday and anytime anyone mentions someone else's birthday you have to remind us that you will be 5 on your next birthday and that you think you want a Batman birthday. I am constantly reminding you to stop being in such a rush to grow up already, you JUST TURNED 4!!!

You are one lucky duck and got to go to Disney World this summer not once, but twice! Our last trip in the middle of August was totally unplanned. We went so that I could take care of your Great-Gram while Grandma was in continuing education nursing classes. One of the days we were there we all headed back to the Magic Kingdom. You were SO excited to be there. One of the things you loved seeing was a big show in front of the castle because you got to see Peter Pan fight Captain Hook. You are still talking about it. You LOVE Peter Pan right now and beg to watch the Disney movie ALL THE TIME. We often read Peter Pan at bedtime and you want to be Peter Pan for Halloween. It's a little funny to me that the kid who can't wait to get older is obsessed with the Boy that never grows up.

You spent a good deal of the summer playing with your friends David and Gabe. They were usually over at our house at least once a week while their parents were at work. Back in May when they first started to come over you guys used to fight ALL THE TIME but as the summer marched on the fights were few and far between. You spent lots of hours with them in the sandbox and sitting on the front porch eating popsicles talking about hot wheels and super heroes. At the beginning of the summer you guys planted zinnia seeds and you all loved watching them grow and helping water them. Last week was our last time watching the boys on a consistent basis since you and David will be starting school on September 1st.

On Friday night your school had an Open House and you were so excited to go and see your school and meet your teacher. There are 2 Pre-K classes at your school and they had everyone meet together and then the assistant teachers took all the kids to their class while the teachers talked to us parents. You excitedly lined up and followed the other kids out of the room. I couldn't help feeling just a little bit like I had just turned my baby over to a perfect stranger and I started to cry as soon as you were out of my sight. I know that you are going to love school (you've been BEGGING to go for so long) and that it will be good for you but I am going to miss having you as my sidekick during the day. I ended up buying a charm with your name on it and making a necklace for myself so that I can feel like you are with me when you are school. I am also planning on wearing big sunglasses when I drop you off for your first day, so that hopefully you can't tell that I am crying.

After the teachers were done going over the basics with us (reminding us that everyone is expected to wear red or white khaki shirts and khaki or black pants and have a clear or mesh backpack) all the parents headed over to the Pre-K classes. You didn't see us coming in the door and you ran out another way. Turns out you had to go to the bathroom and didn't know where it was or who to ask so you went back to the room where you had left us to ask for help, only we were no longer there. By the time we found you, you were so upset because you were lost and had an accident in your pants since you didn't know what to do. You were so upset. Your Dad took you to the car to get cleaned up and when you came back you were still crying. Daddy tried to distract you by showing you the alphabet that ran across the wall. It worked for a second but when it was time to meet your teacher you hid under the table. I hate that your Open House went like that but I hope that since "all the bad stuff" already happened that your first day will be smooth.

We just found out that you need glasses. Turns out that you are extremely nearsighted and can only see things close up. This explains why you always stand right in front of the TV no matter how many times we ask you to move. I feel like I should apologize for all those times I pointed at something across the room and told you to please pick it up and you said you couldn't see what I was talking about and I would get frustrated. I thought you weren't looking, and it turns out you really couldn't see from across the room. You are very excited about wearing glasses like Grandpa and Daddy and you I let you pick out your frames all by yourself. They might not be here for a couple of weeks so you have to start school without them. I can't wait for you to be able to REALLY see. Last night you looked up at the sky and said "Mommy, the sky is so beautiful." All I could think to myself was just wait until you get your glasses.

Little Boo,I love you to the moon and back,

Mommy