Number 4

Wade wanted to stay up with Peyton and his friends to watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail on Saturday night, he regularly watches documentaries on ESPN with his brothers and is looking forward to the new Hobbit movie coming out.  And yeah, he just turned five.  

I never would have let the other kids watch these shows when they were that age.  I also wouldn't have let them play football in the back yard with sixth and seventh graders or rap along to an Eminem song on the radio.  But Wade is different, he is number four.  He is the baby of a big family, and actually a decent rapper.  

Although he may be exposed a bit early to teen humor and I had to have a talk with him about how his new friends at Pre-K may not have watched the documentary about Herschel Walker over the weekend, there are benefits to being number four.

Wade is a mixture of a relaxed confidence and an urgent desire to get in on all the action.  He wants to play with the big kids and show them what he is made of (and his brothers rarely give him any breaks for being the little guy).  He is fearless and tough and happy.  

On the basketball court, with the whole family cheering him on, he goes after the ball with all his might, all the time, every minute he is in the game.  

Being number four isn't always about being aggressive.  It also means you are everybody's little brother.  Everyone in the family has a soft spot for Wade.  He has a bad dream or a bad day, he has three siblings who comfort him and try to cheer him up.  Even friends of his brothers and sister look out for him and take care of him. 

Wade loves the weekends when the family is together a little bit more even if we are running around to different sporting events and parties.  He loves being "all together."

Wade watching the ESPN documentary about Herschel Walker, and snuggling because it's Sunday afternoon and they are together.

This is how we watched Lucy's basketball game.  

Wade also makes it okay for all of us to act like a little kid.  Like getting so excited about the first snowfall of the season you run outside in your pajamas to catch snowflakes on your tongue.  Or when we are all forced to watch/enjoy Toy Story 3 again because Wade loves Buzz and Woody as much as Peyton did when he was five. We all get a chance to read beloved books like No! David and sing silly songs together because he loves them.

I looked outside yesterday morning and saw this little elf...
it was 7:15 a.m.

Sure Wade will probably get a iPhone when he is eight and all the parents will be all "don't let your kid go to his house for a playdate he has three teenage siblings!" But being number four is pretty great right now.  He is everyone's little brother, a pretty good rapper, a great snuggler, and just a pretty great kid.  A sweet, messy-haired punctuation mark to our family.

Yeah, they are watching the trailer for the new Hobbit movie.
But look at how his arm is around her? So sweet.