As hard as working & mothering is at the moment, I have absolutely loved spending time with and relearning about my 4 year old. Here are some things I'm really diggin about the kid:

He's so social. He navigates the world confidently and is a real people person. You could see it in him from he was a tiny baby. Now he thrives in it.

He's so tender, loving, affectionate and playful with other children. I know being out of nursery has been challenging for him as he misses the staff and other children. The way he is super attentive, considerate & caring of others truly warms my heart.

His vocabulary amazes me. I think it's partly because he's so inquisitive and curious. I love the questions he asks. I love how we work things out together. And if we can't, we give it time and come back to it when we can.

He's learning to communicate his frustrations. Toddlerville is a testing place & time. But he's learning to give himself space. He might scream or cry. But then he takes himself to a quiet place, gathers himself & works it through. So he is ready to return and articulate himself.

His laugh, oh my days when the kid laughs or cracks himself up, I'm gone. Another part of his beautiful, infectious spirit. I love to learn what he finds humour in. At the moment it's a mix of silliness and deadpan comedy.

You could not get this kid to sit down for 5 minutes a year ago. Alphabet? Phonics? Writing? Puzzles? Forget it. He was all about ramping & being outdoors. But he has found a love for it & after each activity, he tells me how proud he is of himself. I tell him he makes me proud.

He looks me in the eye when he apologises. It reminds me when @JasonReynolds83 spoke on how his mom would encourage accountability: stand across the room, raise your chin, speak to be heard. My son is learning to speak his feelings & his apologies with his chest.

The way he loves books and reading time. My parents tell me regularly how much of a book nerd I was at his age. My childhood rebellion was using the street lamps past bedtime to keep reading. I see the same conviviality in him & I love it. We're now on 3 stories a night.

The way he slips between languages. I want him to feel confident in speaking more than English. At home, he loves watching Spanish cartoons and listening to music. He's great at maths in multiple languages and it blows my mind.

Our daily walks are a highlight for us both. I waddle along. He runs towards the sun. Then he turns back & says "I love our walks mommy." We return, have an icecream sitting on the wall outside our home. We chat about everything. He speaks to the neighbours passing by. We laugh.

And I wonder if he will look back on this time - through all the difficulty & sadness - and see the joy and beauty in it. As I do now. As I always will.

Raising a joyful, confident, playful, curious, loving, unafraid young Black boy in this world feels nothing short of radical in and of itself. What a privilege to be his mama.