Four on the . . . Dash?

Where one turns four, the other is sure to follow. It's about the only instance in which they follow each other. Dash has grown from the clingiest of the ducklings to the one who will be off playing alone outside for hours. He loves being outside, loves dirt and trucks and riding bikes and moving rocks and waving sticks. (Dot does sometimes join him, in her alter ego as Rose Redhand.)

He can be very happy, or very upset--but whatever he is, it's very. He also love stories, especially Winnie-the-Pooh, but he identifies with Roo. We tried to pin him as Tigger, but he prefers Roo--which is, after all, a small, cuddly version of Tigger. He's listening to The Hobbit and waiting eagerly for the appearance of the dragon.

He's impatient for me to buy him a new pair of boots that don't leak.