malachi is 4 years old

malachi is 4

i am realizing each day how much of a boy malachi is - not a little boy, but a boy. i look at his face and see a boyish grin, not a toddler. today we were playing "chess" together and he kept on telling me, "actually mom..." the phrases he uses and the way he negotiates makes me realize how old he is.
we love everything about our oldest boy. we love that he can be quite shy around new people and also very wild and crazy when he is in a familiar setting. he has a great imagination and enjoys helping us tell stories the way he wants them to go with the theme he chooses and the outcome he desires. sometimes i ask him if he just wants to tell the story but of course he doesn't...he loves to snuggle still and lately wiggles his way into our bed each night with some excuse about why he needs to be there and not in his own bed. he loves to sing although not with a lot of people or when asked by someone else, like the teacher. preschool has taught him to listen to instructions from his teacher and be agreeable about following those instructions. he loves doing puzzles and playing with legos. did i mention he loves legos and looking a legos, being on the lego website, watching lego movies, reminding me that he needs the next lego set of whatever he doesn't have and in general thinking about legos all the time. he also loves riding his bike or scooter.
we have also enjoyed seeing him grow in his understanding of jesus love and care for him. malachi was having a lot of "scary" dreams this past fall, especially about clowns?! so we prayed with him about this and he asked jesus to take away the dreams and God answered his prayers. as malachi learned to trust Jesus to take care of him we also learned to trust that Jesus would take care of our little boy. when malachi had a seizure this past spring i experienced such an intense fear of losing him and was reminded that he is jesus little boy and a gift to us. we are so thankful he has remained healthy and not had another episode after that one.

tomorrow morning i look forward to malachi waking up and finding his way in to snuggle and then enjoying our morning together. usually reading books, playing with his brother and of course asking if he can play on the computer (a day doesn't go by). we love our 4 year old little (kind of tall) buddy.