Home of the Four Trans

Yes. Everyone.

Even at the Korean restaurant, to the lady who asked us what we’d like to eat, at which he responded, “I’m four,” and splayed all four fingers on his right for her to see.

“Ohhh!,” she replied enthusiastically. “Today is your birthday?”

He nodded his head with sharp certainty.

As if that were not enough, he repeated again, while scooping bits of free frozen yogurt into his mouth, to the lady at the cashier who was tending our change, “I’m four.”

I could tell, by that time, my son felt quite special being four. As an mother adult,  I could not understand the significance of turning four. I mean, four is a pretty big number, and it is another year closer to turning into a kindergardener, and him going off to college, and leaving his Mama…But, it’s not exactly five, you know?

It was not until I saw my little boy climb onto his first big boy bike for the first time when I realized how much my little boy has grown into his own. And, boy, how age four suddenly became so special to this mom. A year ago, when we had contemplated getting Nathan a bike, he was noticeably uncoordinated and too short for any of them. This year, when I watched him climb onto the bike with such ease, and pedal away without any assistance, it was like seeing my boy grow right in front of my eyes. In fact, his preference is to go fast! As far as reasoning with him about hurting himself if he drives too fast? Forget about it. His plan is that as long as he has his helmet and pads on, he’ll be fine. And, so it begins…

This year is also the first year Nathan understands the concept of birthdays, meaning birthday equals presents and special treatment. He requested to go to Disneyland, but not really for Disneyland. He had noticed that both my sister and mom received birthday pins for their birthdays, so he wanted one, too. Afterwards, he wanted to shop for his gift. Then, by 10pm, when it was time to head home, he wanted a treat. He chose a box of jumbo sized, chocolate dipped Mickey ears pretzels that ran along the lines of $16. I said no. He replied in his know-it-all tone with, “It is my birthday.” My sister and I looked at each other with our eyebrows raised and smiled with our mouths open–in disbelief. Luckily for us, Nathan also acted like his grown boy’s age, and agreed to put it back in exchange for a the small Mickey ears pretzels. Four years will give a boy that sense of maturity…ha!

It’s like I knew it was coming, but it came so fast I didn’t know what hit me, until it did. My baby boy grew up. He’s four.

Here’s my advice from one mother to another: cherish your time with your children because they sure grow up fast. I should know. Did I mention I have a four year old, now?

I love you, Baby! Yes, you’ll always be my baby…Love, Mama.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 1:21 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.