Now You Are FOUR!

(A week late, but better than never.)

Long gone the cuddly baby days

replaced with all your little boy ways.

First one, then two, next three, now four!

"Hooray!" you shout, "Today, I'm 4!"

Riding a bike, even roller skating,

putting out fires and lots of pretend-making.

Baseball, singing, climbing, swinging,

Laughing, growing, learning, being.

Becoming you, changing fast,

before we know it another year will have passed.

Today as you're four you should know we're so glad,

our hearts burst with pride that we're your Mom and Dad!

Happiest birthday, and have an amazing year, Dylan!

Love,

Mom and Dad

All the cool kids have 'em

The other day Dylan got a hold of a dead Blackberry in his preschool classroom. He decided it was his for the day and carried it around in his pocket. His teacher let me know after school how useful it was to him.

He had several random phone conversations throughout the day.

On their way to music class, he asked everyone to hold on a second and announced that he had to switch the phone to vibrate.

During music class, he pulled the phone out to view the text message that his dad had sent him.

Giving it up at the end of the school day was a tough sell, since he had scheduled a conference call with some colleagues.

Likely gift for his impending 4th birthday? Um, no. First of all, I didn't know he even knew about all those cell phone functions, let alone how to use them. Second, he can't quite even really read a text yet.

But it got me thinking about technological advances since I was a kid. You know, a la all those emails going around titled "You know you were a kid in the seventies/eighties if..." you remember things like the VHF dial on the TV or how to actually use a rotary phone. And wondering about what kinds of gadgets will be obsolete by the time my kids are my age. And at what age is it okay for a kid to get a cell phone, or will they even be around by the time mine "need" one?

So tell me, what is your favorite obsolete item from childhood? What current technology can't you or your kids live without?