It’s been a year since we got married, and following a tradition I’ve heard about but never known anyone to actually do, we defrosted the top layer of our wedding cake and had it for dessert after dinner.

It was delicious.

Jaden loves cake, and somehow he talked me into putting Hershey’s syrup on it, so he double loved it. But afterward he was agitated, looking though all my work and personal printed stuff for something. Finally he found our Holiday card from last year.

I thought this was part of his “how soon is Christmas” campaign. Now that his fourth birthday party is over he’s working on inviting everyone to a Christmas party he’s throwing. But no, I realized my four year old was showing me a photo of  the cake we’d just eaten:

I know everybody’s kid is amazingly precocious and smarter than everybody, but what four years old do you know who’ll sift through the old photos to show you what he remembers about a year ago?

Ever since he moved in, he’s been fascinated by family and friend photos. He wants to see pictures of us as kids. He wants to see our parents as kids, and great-great-grandparents. He shows us photos of when he was a baby and wore a cast. He’ll walk you through the Disneyland album, describing every attraction and offscreen event. This kid is a history buff.

An old soul, if you will.

When I was a kid adults would sometimes call me an old soul, and I never knew what to think. It sounded like a compliment, but one that might come with some baggage. Melancholy maybe?

But Jaden, probably unlike me at 4, will not be dissuaded from what he decides comes next. He’s a stubborn, ornery old soul. And thank god for him.