Almost four..

 It’s a mad rush this week. I knew it would be. The snow frittered away in hours. I’m ready for Q’s birthday tomorrow. I am ready for Easter on Sunday.

 Four years ago, I spent my last hours pregnant with my tiny third child. I don’t even remember the night before. I remember the morning. I remember feeling him inside me as I lay at the hospital with a monitor strapped to my belly. I remember the doctor laying a cool hand on my forehead as I wept my fear that still…something…might go wrong. And then not too long later, her voice as she sang out, "Oh Chrys.. He is beautiful!" And perfect. His little cries, "La, la, la!" then a noise very much like the bleating of a tiny lamb or goat.

Now.. He will be four. He is tall and skinny, like his father. His eyes are slightly slanted and thick lashed like mine are..well, were. He is all boy with a deep abiding appreciation/obsession with cars, trucks, and pipes. He is quiet and a bit dreamy and yet loud as the next child. He loves to be read to but hates coloring. He has a great vocabulary but somewhat poor motor skills. Most likely he is left handed but could still be "undeclared". He hates potatoes but likes bread (bagels!!) chicken, popsicles, milk, and cake.  He loves to sit on my lap and have me sing "hush little baby" though the times he asks happen more and more infrequently. He still loves his orange baby blanket. And Cars and Team Umizoomi.

These are the things I didn’t know about him four years ago.  The fun and the magic in raising him is learning bit by tiny bit who he is and who he will be.

Happy almost birthday, my Quincy. I whispered in your ear it was for the last night I tucked in a sweet 3 year old. In the morning, you will be four. And another year of getting to know this new little man will begin..