I smelled snow in the air yesterday.  I tried very hard to not do a little happy dance out on my front porch, in front of all the neighbors, who already think of us as the crazy Americans.  I love snow.  A couple more weeks and we’ll be playing in the snow.  For now, it’s cold & rainy & very, very dark in the mornings.  So dark that Dane is having a hard time getting up.  I wake him, he strains to open his eyes, barely lifts his head;

“It’s dark.  There is no school in the dark.” And lays back down.  Every morning it’s a long, slow process getting that boy up.  Thank goodness kindy is not strict on getting-there time.

This brings me to; my boy is a boy.  Dane is no longer a baby.  He was late to potty train, but he is fully out of diapers since summer.  Earlier this month we tossed out all the sippy cups and now we have matching mommy & son glasses from Ikea.  I have the big 16 oz. ones, he has the small 6 oz. ones.  This week we finally tossed out all the “M” socks, he really fought us on this, and now we have 16 pair of brand new “L” socks in his drawer.  For the first time I bought his new jeans not in the baby department, but in the boy department.  And he is out of our bed, out of the toddler bed, and in a big boy bed.

This age, he is four, is one of my favorite ages.  Granted he talks too much, and I’m very thankful when Dave is home at night to take over the listening, but I love his talking.  I love his thought processes.  I can almost see his brain grow. I can almost see the new connections and understanding inside his mind.  He is truly learning the consequences of his actions.  I’ve seen him stop, think and change what he is doing.  One of the best examples is his desire to make my life easier.

Dane chooses to do chores for me.  Not because I asked, but because it makes my job “easier”.  His words.  Because I “do stuff for me”( for him).  Like Cole, Dane is a giver.  It is not something I did, but something God has placed inside him.  Dane, and Cole, both are the first to walk over to a crying child, to have sympathy, empathy.  Both are quick to give hugs.  And Dane thinks ahead to what will put a smile on my face.  Right now I’m loving his determination to keep all the shoes out of the front hallway, and tidy them up in their cubbies.  I hate tripping over shoes.  Dane knows this and is now the official Keeper of Shoes.  You should see him beam with pride every time I say thank you.  I say thank you a lot.

Dane & Dave had a man date on Tuesday.  They both got new hair cuts.

Dave & Dane