Dear my beautiful boy Elliot,

A couple of weeks ago you turned four. Four whole years old. Even as I write this I can’t fathom how these last few years have passed so quickly, yet equally I can barely remember a time before you.

Four years ago you made me a mummy, and I’ve loved every minute (or most of them anyway!)

In order to stop time for a second, I want to capture you right now – the things you like and what we really love about that quirky little personality of yours. So here goes. 4 things about Elliot aged 4:

1. You LOVE your friends and family. Your absolute favourite thing to do is to visit your cousins, see your grandparents, or have play dates with your friends. You regularly try to plan these – “er, mummy, tomorrow can we go camping with Ben?” or “I’m going to visit Una tomorrow. We’ll go on the train” Normally this is mid week when it’s not possible to fulfil your dreams, but we do try to make sure you spend time with everyone you love most in all the world. And guess what? I think they all love it too!

2. You are an AMAZING big brother. Alexander thinks you’re the bee’s knees and I suspect the feeling is mutual. You both seem happiest when you’re together and I’ve loved seeing your relationship grow and develop over the past year. I can’t believe I was ever really worried about how you’d cope with a new sibling. You’ve blown us away with how well you’ve handled it all.

3. You love books, and spelling – who knew three year olds can spell?! You’ve absolutely mastered reading, and can now read any word on sight, including dinosaur names (which you’re slightly obsessed by!) I’m so excited about you really getting into books as I have always had my head in a book and feel that the escapism it offers you will set you in good stead for the rest of your life. I hope you continue to grow more in love with fictional worlds and the vast amount of information you can find for yourself in the pages of books!
In a conversation the other day, I mentioned to you that most 3 and 4 year olds can’t read as well as you do, and you just said “oh” and then when I said you were clever you replied with “I know” and a wink!

4. Sense of humour. You find the funniest things funny and your laugh is absolutely addictive! Coupled with the cute little dance you do when you’re happy, you really make it clear when something you like is going on!
I really hope that in the next year you develop even more in terms of self confidence. We’ve already seen lots of changes in this regard in the last few months so I’m hopeful that the next year, including starting school next September will be the turning point for your confidence levels. You’re loved by your close group of friends, and I’m sure you will be loved by many more in the months and years to come.

Here’s to the next year my little big boy. You make me proud every day.

Lots of love always,
Mummy xxx