He thinks he is big, but he's still our little guy

My littlest son is about to turn 4. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. I can still remember assigning jobs to his two older brothers right before he was born. We didn't know our third child would be a boy but we had a blue blankie all ready and a nuk all picked out and ready to go. D, who was still 3 at the time, had the big job of bringing the blankie to the hospital when he came to meet his new sibling and A, who was only 2, got to bring the pacifier. These were their "gifts" for the baby and they felt very big having jobs. We even got them big brother gifts, which of course, they were even more excited about.

When he was only 6 days old, we took baby W to the beach near our house. He got a sunburn despite being in the stroller with the hood up and in the shade of a huge tree. I had no idea the sun could reflect off of grass and leaves as much as it did and he was quite tan after that. What a trooper. I remember I just kept expecting him to cry because his skin hurt but he never did. He was a very easy baby and I was quite thankful to finally have that after the first two were not so easy.

Well, now he is the typical little brother trying to keep up with his big brothers and attempting to do EVERYTHING they do. He does pretty well most days. It is funny because he gets so tired out trying to keep up and denies needing a nap but will fall asleep on the floor in his room or on his bed by 4 p.m. some days. He still lugs his blue blankie anywhere I will let him and takes a "nukie break" in his room when he is feeling tired or sad. He is constantly saying things like, "I will do it myself" or "I don't need help" but, in most cases, he really does need a little help when it comes to putting on socks, clothes or tying his shoes.

He is definitely growing up though and has started making his own decisions in some areas. For example, last week I was inside and he ran in the front door, said, "Mom, I need to pee like the wind, I am going out back," and ran out the back door to pee in a bush on the side of our deck. I would have preferred he used our bathroom but he was so confident in his decision and I was in shock so I just sat there and did not say anything. I just shrugged and off he went. He is still a little boy to me though and a year from now when he is getting ready for Kindergarten, I will probably be writing a blog post with this same title. For now, I will just enjoy our little boy.