Four Years Eve

Q,

You are on the verge of your 4th birthday. You are entering an age of which I can recall moments in my own existence. This really freaks me out. It means I need to become the father that I want you to recall when you're my age. Maybe something like Liam Neeson in Love Actually. Conveniently your birthday comes along every year at the same time as New Years Resolutions.

These last four years with you have been a life altering blast. No one makes me laugh, work, or play harder. To simply say I love you would be a huge understatement. You are like water to me. I couldn't survive without you. Sure, I can be apart from you for a while, but dehydration gets pretty damn miserable.

Everyday you manage to say or do at least one thing that knocks my socks off. The other day you were sneaking some treats off the counter and feeding them to Ozzi because, "He was a really good boy today." Or when the Dr. asks if you are around anyone that smokes you say, "Grandpa does, but that's naughty." And then today you tell me, "I really like this song."



Though you continue to say you want to be a "Firefighter in Space" and I will always have my fingers crossed for a Doctor Without Borders, you are certainly showing promise in the engineering department.

You continue to be the most compassionate person this side of the Dalai Lama. You are almost always willing, if not eager, to share. You readily help care for your brother, little cousins, or any other baby you encounter. You tell you're mother and I to "Calm down." and "It's not a big deal." more often than we have to tell you. I hope you never loose that.

Q, Happy Birthday. I love you. You are as awesome as awesome gets... even if, or more likely because, you insist on making goofy-ass faces every time you know we are taking a picture of you.

Edit: Thanks to KristenMary for reminding me that there are ways to put Q's engineering skills to good vicarious karmic use some day.
Engineers Without Borders
Architecture For Humanity