Joel wrote his first letter to Santa and stopped by to show me. I like his style, keeping it simple & to the point.

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“Mom, what’s a dream job?” he asked the other day.

“Well, a dream job is the kind of job that if you could do anything you wanted, that’s what you would do. What is your dream job, Joel?”

“I want to take pictures.”

Honest to God, that’s exactly what he said. We hadn’t been discussing photography or cameras at all and I don’t think any of the shows he’s watched recently feature picture taking prominently. So, I dunno, I think this was an honest, gut response answer to the question. Sarah dug out our old G1 iPhone and showed him how to use the camera. Below are some of the results.

He’s 4.

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Four years ago we first met Joel, and nothing’s been the same since.

He is talkative, imaginative, playful, sensitive, tenacious, intense, cuddly and finicky all at the same time. His favorite thing these days is playing make believe. He’s a superhero or a transformer or a cartoon character or Lord knows what else. His least favorite thing is probably dinner. He loves cupcakes & cheeseburgers, broccoli & cucumbers, but hates chicken or mac & cheese. He still sleeps with his best friend Pooh.

Happy Birthday Joel.

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Today was Joel’s first day of preschool, well actually his second first day of preschool. We started him last year, but because his birthday is in late September he ended up in the Pre-3 class and only went once a week. This year he’ll be going twice a week and be in the 3s and 4s class.

We nearly didn’t get him there in time today because we all slept in. Poor Isaac has been teething pretty seriously the last few days and was sporting a fever of 101 which resulted in poor Sarah getting up every hour with him. All of us were drifting in and out of sleep when the little guy finally perked up his head in a “OK, now I’m ready to start the day” fashion at 8:15, and school starts at 9! Of course Joel was sleeping like a champ (as usual) so I went in to wake him. I pulled the sheets back, opened the blinds and told him to get up and get ready for school. Wouldn’t you know it, I checked on him 2 minutes later and he had pulled the sheet back over his head like he’s a 16 year old or something!

In the end everyone got dressed, fed and out the door on time. I’m only hoping that his teachers weren’t too confused/annoyed by his constant identity changes. I’m Luke Skywalker! I’m Buzz Lightyear! I’m Andy (also from Toy Story)! Dude, I think at school you’re just gonna have to settle for being Joel. At least for a few hours.

Posted from Benaar’s posterous