Calvin Commendation

In honor of Calvin's birthday this week, I thought I'd spend a couple of moments jotting down what I love about this kid at age four.

• He is unbelievable adorable. His little dimple in his right cheek turns me to jelly every time he flashes it my way. He has the longest eyelashes ever recorded and beautiful blue eyes. He has a lot of freckles and we like to count them together.
• His pronunciation is hysterical. My current favorites are "colcano" (volcano) and yetherday (yesterday).
• He is unintentionally funny all of the time. When we were camping, he looked over at me and said "mom, last night I was freakin' out about my dream!" He also likes to say "what the heck!" at everything - I'm not sure who he got that from. When people get too loud in the car he yells "shut it!" He's very helpful that way.
• He likes to dress himself now and can even buckle his overalls. He cannot figure out which feet his shoes go on.
  
• When I try and teach him his letters, he looks at me all serious and says "I can't know that mom."
• He loves to close the garage door.
  
• He is still extremely loyal to Thomas the Train. He likes to have a train with him at all times and every time I go in Michaels or Barnes and Noble he is tugging on my leg telling me he needs a new train! He is also loyal to his stuffed tiger Hobbes. He still spends a lot of time looking through Calvin and Hobbes books.
• He is a backseat driver.
  
• He loves the library (especially playing computer games on the computer and doing puzzles) and he calls Half Price Books and Barnes and Noble and the library "the bookstores."
• He can now actually pedal his tricycle as opposed to pushing it along with his feet on the ground. He loves to tear around the cul-de-sac in hot pursuit of Sophie on her much-to-small for her bike.
• He loves to get the mail.
  
• He is very attached to Johnny and misses him when he does not come to our house. Like siblings they love each other and they play hard together!
• He is so excited for preschool to start! He is getting better at sitting with his primary class though I still have to occasionally bribe him with candy to get him to go to class.
• He has Johnson ears.
  
• He loves strawberries and pancakes, cheese sticks and milk and mac and cheese. He loves to help me cook in the kitchen. He does not like to help clean up.
• He sleeps in a blue car bed - most of the time - in a room he shares with Max.
• He is my cuddliest of children. He loves to give kisses and hugs and pats and he loves to kiss my nose. Even at age four, he wants to be held whenever Mommy sits down. I love that.

He is just a great kid and we love him.