Four. Four children. Four corners. 1. 2. 3. 4.

There is a certain beautiful symmetry to having four children. Two boys, two girls. Everyone has a buddy. Four pairs of shoes lined up by the door. Four portraits hanging on the wall. Four toothbrushes waiting on the bathroom counter.

We wouldn’t have guessed that the final number would be four, but it was the right answer all along. Blessings too numerous to count can be summed up by counting to four.

Each child has unique characteristics. Seth likes to read, to create, to tell stories. Evan likes to build, to solve puzzles, to be snuggled. Nora likes to sit in your lap, to jump, to be the only one sitting under the bathtub faucet. Maya likes to talk in silly voices, to play jokes, to pick a book.

Yet these characteristics intermingle and can apply to the other children as well. As a group and in different configurations of pairs, they have so much in common, so much they love to do together. Sing, have dance parties, play ring-around-the-rosie. Read books, laugh, play outside. Eat brunch, run around, go for a walk. The boys and the babies. The older kids and the little girls. Seth and the girls. Evan and the girls. Evan and Maya. Seth and Nora. Seth and Maya. Evan and Nora.

What fun for us! And what fun for them!