Happy 4th Birthday Vincent!

Dear Vincent,

It is now exactly four years ago you rushed into the world to see us and you’ve remained so ‘you’ even though your third year of life has seen so many changes – starting school, learning to use the potty and the birth of “County Vincent.” You remain the weirdest, coolest, most off-beat little guy ever and we are so happy to have you in our lives.

We love how protective you are of Myra. You take it upon yourself to look after her and make sure she is always safe and happy. You hold her hand when she’s scared or to slow her down when crossing the road.

You are very concerned with justice and fairness and enjoy sharing what you have with your family, even if it’s your favourite candy. You have the biggest heart and feel things deeply and with your whole being. You are especially in tune with the feelings of others and know just what to say to make things right or what to do to make things better.

You love little rituals and embrace routines and rules. You are GPS boy and recognize a cue in the landscape and know instantly where we’re going. It’s remarkable how you can remember minute details about places we’ve been and what happened there the last time we visited.

We love how outdoors Vincent is still the happiest Vincent. You light up when at the beach, throwing stones in the water. You like to go on ‘adventures’ exploring new places and seeing where paths go…straying off the path but finding your way back again. Of course, in a corn maze you would rather wander into the plantings than follow the established path, always looking back mischievously to see if we are still with you. You love to ride your bike and have become very confident at turning sharply at speed and riding up the ramp at the Milford church. You haven’t mastered braking yet which has made for at least one good story about the time you landed in the bush without a helmet.

You are a thrill seeker. Whether it’s an unfenced outcropping of boulders several feet above a rushing waterfall, or a giant new slide at the playground, you delight in adventure and don’t have the same regard for danger as your mum and dad. Yet you also surprise us when demonstrating that you are aware of limits and tell us that something is “not safe.” For a while you thought the expression was “that’s too safe.”

You are incredibly good at puzzles and building elaborate train tracks. Trains make you lose track of time, and you are very serious about them. You continue to show a real love for dance and have developed some incredible floorwork. Lately, you’ve been obsessed with learning to tell time and reading. You update us on what time it is throughout the day. Going to the library remains one of your favourite pastimes. On library day at school you have been working your way through the Little Men series. You are becoming such a big guy -- always eager to go to school and see your friends each morning (even weekends!) And you like to recount your favourite parts of the day, and tell us “That’s what I like!”

Vincent, thank you for being you and sharing yourself with us every day. We are so glad you chose us as your parents. Happy 4th birthday Vincent. You’re the best.