Four!

He refused to sit next to the moose. In fact, it took me three days just to get him do this.

Christopher went out front to wait for Clare's bus. I heard him calling "hi, hi!" to everyone who walked by. Then silence. I go outside to find he has stopped a woman walking her dog. He was petting the dog and telling the dog's owner that he has his own dog. He says his dog has the same name as the dog on the sidewalk. I explain it is stuffed. He runs inside to find the dog to show the person on the sidewalk. He has never seen this person before, but has no trouble carrying on a five minute conversation about whatever comes to mind.  We were at the park last week and he did the same thing - this time cornering a mom who was playing with her daughter to tell her all about his upcoming birthday. He is so different from Clare in this way. I needed him four years go when both Clare and I were too timid to make friends at the park.

We discovered on Labor Day that Christopher is allergic to cashews. One trip to the ER at Children's and a prescription for an epipen later, Christopher joins the ranks of the allergic in this house. I took him to the allergist earlier this week, so we'll know in a few days what other allergies might be lurking. When we were at the doctor, he charmed everyone as usual, including an old woman in the elevator who loudly cried, "He's cute!" when we got on.

He is currently into superheroes, especially Batman and Spiderman. He is dressing up as Batman for Halloween (Clare is going as Super Girl). He still loves trains and dinosaurs. His favorite book is "Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever," which was also my favorite book when I was his age. (Yes, payback, Mom.) He also likes many other books and happily sits and snuggles to read. He also likes to listen when Clare and I read chapter books together (currently the selection is "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.") His favorite TV shows are "My Little Pony" and "Octonauts." His favorite movies are "Mary Poppins" and "Cars". His favorite food is pizza (or pizz-ya, as he pronounces it. He also pronounces piano pi-pano.). He also loves all fruit, and was very excited when they made fruit salad at preschool on Monday. ("We made fruit salad, Emily! And it had strawberries and apples and BANANAS and MARSHMALLOWS. You should make it sometime.")

He loves playing at parks and petting dogs and running around. He is finally old enough to play with other kids, and is excited to have his own friends (rather than just my friends' kids, although he loves them, too). His best friends in the world are his sister and his cousin Josie. (Clare came home from school on Monday and said, "Christopher, I actually missed you when I was at school today. That's never happened before.")

Oh, and blankie. Christopher's beloved blanket is now in four pieces. All of those pieces are slowly getting smaller, as new holes appear every day. The partner of Clare's piano teacher mistook it for one of their dogs' chew rags. That's how pathetic it is. Despite all of this, it is still his most beloved possession.

He still loves music. He plays his guitar and sings along to any song he knows. He loves to dance.

Whenever Clare is not listening or giving me grief, Christopher instantly turns on the charm. "Mommy, I love you. I am listening, Emily. Clare's not listening." It's pretty funny. He is really a sweetheart, though. He'll wake up early in the morning and come and snuggle with me in bed. He is helpful around the house. He especially loves cracking the eggs when he make pancakes with Ben.

And of course, he is always a comedian. He loves to make people laugh. I love it, too, because it definitely cheers me up.

I still think of him as my baby, and I suppose he'll always be my baby. He is just such a little boy, now, though. Happy birthday, Christopher. We couldn't love you more.

Edited to add this video: