Four

Cubby's preschool is vaguely Waldorf, and apparently one of the Waldorf traditions on a child's birthday is to light a candle for each year of the child's life as the child's parent tells everyone something about that year of the child's life.

That would be Cubby. Today is his fourth birthday.

Cubby's teacher was kind enough to tell me about this ahead of time, so I won't be stammering and stuttering and then coming out with something lame like, "Uh . . . I think he learned to talk that year? Maybe?"

But what I thought was very illuminating were the things that first came to mind when I tried to recall landmarks for each year of Cubby's life.

First year: Baby Cubby was such an aggressive eater that he would lunge at me to get milk, so we nicknamed him the Cobra (I will probably not share this at preschool). Also in this year he learned to walk before he learned to crawl. He was eager to get going, I guess.

Second year: Cubby started going into the woods with his father, thanks to the pack. He also began to talk, and pretty much hasn't stopped since.

Third year: Cubby went camping for the first time and thereafter (unsuccessfully) requested a camping trip with Daddy every weekend. He also went fishing almost every week, eventually learning how to cast well enough to catch Daddy's face.

Fourth year: Cubby started school and discovered that he really enjoys enforcing the rules.

So essentially, Cubby's life thus far can be marked by his motivation for independence and outdoor accomplishments. That's about right.

Happy birthday to Cubby the mountain man. We broke the mold with this one.