Prince Alex and Princess Isabella's Momma....and Zachary too!: Zachary turns 4!

Dear Zachary,

My baby. My youngest. My boy. Last week you turned four years old.

Sorry this letter is late, but we have been very busy celebrating you! For your birthday, you wanted a Toy Story Party at home with your family. We had a great time eating pizza from Pizza Palace (also known as GT), alien cookies, and Buzz Lightyear cake. We had an awesome magic show. At the end, you stole the show in your magician's outfit when you made the bunny appear. On your "real" birthday, we had dinner with your grandparents and you kept asking me, "Am I actually four?"
Daddy bought you your very own BIG BOY bike. And to round out the celebrations, we had a friend party at Kiddie Crusoe, one of your favorite places to play.

Zachary, my love, you are the cuddliest little guy in the world. You love to give kisses, if you are in the mood. You follow your brother and sister around, never wanting to be left out and always wanting to be like the big kids. You love having playdates with your buddies and Thursdays have become what I like to call "Third Child Thursday." The mommies take turns taking you, Miles and Grayson to bounce houses, playgrounds, the movies, and out to lunch. Isabella always complains, that she never got to have playdates like that! But I guess that is one of the perks of being the youngest.

You are in school three mornings a week and you also go to My Gym with Nana on Tuesdays and play lacrosse. We spend pretty much the rest of our days together. You are not a huge fan of running errands, but will agree to go to Wegmans if I buy you a pumpkin muffin. You are a homebody and love playing with legos, my potato head, and watching movies on 'the big tv.' As soon as you come in the door, you either put on a costume of some sort or take off your shirt and put on shorts. You are so much like daddy in many ways, but especially in the amount of clothing you each put in the dirty laundry on any given day.

You are fiercely independent and so strong willed. Not always the easiest kid to get along with. You want what you want. Bribery and threats do not work! You aren't a big fan of compromise. But you are very bright, have an amazing vocabulary and your imagination is endless. You are hilarious, everyone says so. I agree, most of the time! I believe that with that strong personality and conviction for what you want, you will be very successful in life!

Even though you are a big kid now, you are still a Momma's Boy. You always want me. To read to you. To sit by you. To lay with you until you fall asleep. No one else, just me. Like I said, we spend a lot of time together. And sometimes, at the end of the day when I could use some time to myself, I remind myself that these moments are fleeting. Just like it happened with Alex and Isabella, one day you will get ready for bed all by yourself and read to yourself and fall asleep without me laying right next to you for five more minutes. Sometimes I tell myself that I am ready for that, but deep down, I know I am lying to myself. I'm going to miss those moments when they are gone, because I know you are my last baby.

So sweet boy, you can have all my minutes of every single day. And as much as we butt heads, I wouldn't trade your tough, smart mouth exterior for anything. You are the one who challenges me most, but I know you love me with the same fierceness that I love you. And underneath whatever costume you are wearing at that moment, is my baby, my youngest, the one who filled that last missing piece of my heart and made it full.

I love you,
Mommy