“Mommy, is it okay if you be Ariel and I’ll be Erik?”

I have an outstanding imagination and I love to pretend! I love to follow Mommy around and ask her to act out stories we read, hear or watch. She’s really good at following my very specific instructions. Some of my favorites are: Prep and Landing, Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Peter Pan, Jungle Book, Three Little Pigs, Tortoise and the Hare, Cinderella and The Prince and the Pauper. I frequently ask her to be villians in need of reform. And then I stomp in as a friendly T-Rex and convert her. I also have Mommy talk for animals, toys and objects. Once I accidentally broke a glass and had Mommy talk for it so I could apologize to it and explain where it would be going so it wouldn’t be scared.

I am very, very sweet, polite, kind, affectionate, intelligent, polite, thoughtful, honest, positive, strong, creative, logical, good-natured and hard-working.

My five favorite things are: trains, construction machines, dinosaurs, caves and volcanoes. If I come around the corner with two claws, I’m a T-Rex. (But don’t worry! I’m a friendly “scabenger” T-Rex.) If I come around the corner with three claws, I’m a spitting dilophosaurus. (But I don’t hunt my friends!)

In my free time, I enjoy our trampoline, books, building with blocks, digging in my bean table and sandbox, driving the tractor, riding on Thomas, spelunking, building train tracks, pirate swords, snow, “One Jump” and “Capture” with Sir Boots, giving talks at church, and wrestling Daddy and Boots. I watch Boots’ storytime lessons with Mommy and love Matt and Molly stories.

I have a special gift for speech, language and learning. I’ve learned to read, write letters and numbers, spell, add, subtract, name the planets, etc.. In my lessons with Mommy, I’m expanding my language, reading, writing, spelling, math and cognitive skills. I asked to quit my social preschool once a week to stay home with my best friend, Mommy.

I insist I’m going to marry Mommy when I grow up, but once I told Daddy, “When I grow up, I’m going to date a lot of girls and see who’s the best. Then I’ll marry one just like Mommy. Only she won’t be as kind as Mommy, because Mommy’s really kind and nobody’s as kind as her. But my wife will almost be as kind as her. And she’ll look like Mommy and have hair like Mommy.” That made Mommy’s night! :)

I found out I have bilateral Radio-ulnar Synostosis in my forearms after Mommy saw that my hands don’t fully rotate and took me in for x-rays. We saw lots of specialists and they said I won’t be limited at all by it, so that’s great! And I hung my x-rays on my wall. :)

I’m a fantastic help and incredible older brother. I adore Baby Potatoes and am so good at making him laugh! My friendship with Boots is so great now and I often request to wake him up from naps so we can play! I love Daddy and my favorite days are Saturday and Sunday when he stays home from work!

Mommy loves my absolute sweetness and goodness, our dear friendship, making me laugh, hatching my dinosaur egg and then cuddling me as a baby dinosaur, digging up my dinosaur bones and watching me come to life, and when I request extra “alone time” with her every night.

Daddy loves the walks we go on at night, reading books with me, hearing me pray and give talks and playing with me. He’s amazed that I can read, write and count and looks forward to every minute with me. He says I make him very happy!

• Age: 4-and-a-half
• Nickname: Brother (Boots says: “Bwuduh”)
• Special Talent: Perfectly quoting books/movies in really funny and adorable contexts
• Special Buddies: Ruff-Ruff, Pee-Paw, Green Blanket, Giraffy, Ducky and Racoony
• For Christmas I want: A toy excavator with crawler tracks and a cab that swivels!!!
• When I grow up: I want to drive real excavators. (And dig up dinosaur bones.)