Dear Tristan,
Happy Birthday Bugs! YOU ARE 4! This is a big year because you are 4 on 4/4!! So kinda cool eh?
What a year. You have by far and away changed the most this last year. So many things have come to mind…the adjustments in your bedtime routine, the move from Lehi to Draper( which you still say you like the old house better…) scooter riding, bike riding( albeit with the training wheels still). As for the training wheels its more for me than you. You were ready last year to take them off but for some reason I didn’t think it was time. Your “collections” as you call them. I notice just like with most children, you have a current obsession. For Elijiah it was Star Wars for YEARS. While you like star wars…I think that you wanted to do something different than your brother. It was dinosaurs, then regular figures ( any kind) and now you have narrowed your requirements to SUPER HEROS. And I mean you live and breathe super heros. From TV, to coloring books, to figures, to costumes etc. You have to have your super heros with you day and night. In fact we recently took a camping trip and you had to have a special backback with your super heros to take with you. You give them “baths” at night and special “hot tub” dips( I don’t know why..) but in any case its all you think about, talk about and dream about.
The other thing that I think is worth mentioning is your other obsession around “scary” things, Halloween things. Its been this way for a couple of years, but its becoming more and more of our daily routine. You draw only scary stuff and only want people to draw you scary things. Ghosts, bats, witches, vampires, pumpkins, cats, etc. You like to read books about any of those subjects over anything else and you talk about Halloween all the time. You are adorable.
Your behavior has been a tough ride for us. As with every year we run into different challenges, but this year you matured, grew, gained incredible vocabulary and it became apparent to your dad and I that stuff was up. You were having severe behavioral issues, temper tantrums etc. After some serious reading, and talking with folks, it seemed that you have ADHD. While you are still too young for a professional diagnosis according to the medical texts you have every single symptom. We found some good resources as to help you and in implementing some small diet changes your behavior has improved 10 fold. Sugar being the main issue its in tons of foods, from the obvious baked goods and kids treats, but also in spaghetti sauce, mayo, bread etc. So we are reading food labels, making different food choices, and we are hoping in the long run it will continue to help you in this challenge. Your preschool teacher has mentioned that this change in diet ( no sugar) helps to keep you focused and on task. Huge when it comes to dealing with social situations and school like environments. We do worry about you and hope that we are doing everything we can as parents to ensure your success in life. We love you so so much.
Tristan also this year you have been more and more cuddly and affectionate in your interactions. It’s a joy. For the first year of your life you were not a calm affectionate child. I missed having that cuddle time and while you weren’t like that then, you are now. You are happy to come to our bed in the am and ask to “cuddle” as well as watch movies and sit quietly and close when reading stories. You give fierce hugs and “long” kisses( which we have to tell you is inappropriate) but its still funny as you are generous in giving those out. You are a bit extreme in your moods still. One minute im the best mommy in the world, the next I am the “worstst mofer in the world”. More often your dad and I get a chuckle and a good laugh at all your moods, its only during the meltdowns that we wonder how we can change the behavior and what we could do better. In all however you are getting more predictable in your moods, and easier to handle. In fact- we left you for the first time with a babysitter that wasn’t family a few weeks ago and the house was still standing when we got back!
We are so excited to see you learn and master skills from making your own toast and playing on the computer by yourself. We love how you and Elijiah are growing up and interacting a bit more. While you cant completely keep up with him, boy do you try and soon Im sure you will be able to…dispite the 5 year age difference!
One final thing…you have almost perfect recall and memorization skills. After only 3 months in primary you know more primary songs than your big brother. You know first and second verses to songs that even I forget. You have memorized a LONG book just by us reading it ( your favorite- Halloween night- its an offshoot to night before Christmas) Ive read it to you dozens of times but don’t have it memorized…the other night…I asked that you start it off, and you did, each page, each word the entire book. You aren’t reading yet so as I sat in amazement I had to call your dad for him to hear you. Its actually astounding your ability to memorize poems, songs and books.
Each year we marvel at you and what you are doing. We all love you and look forward to each of your milestones and successes. You mean the world to us bugs…happy birthday!
