You turned FIVE years old. This is so amazing to me. I literally see you growing before my eyes. As you approached FIVE, I saw you grow taller, you reached 40 pounds, your hair grew longer, and your questions and observations grew deeper and broader. It is such a pleasure to converse with you and to talk about our day. At dinner time we ask each other "What was your favorite part of the day?"
You are a very, very social person; your teacher called you a "social butterfly." There are constant demands for playdates, and you love them every time. Most frequently you play with Cole...
...and Skylar. And of course you all think that superheros are awesome. You are pretty awesome when playing -- I can see you using your imaginations, role-playing, and problem solving all at once. Sometimes you and your friends make up really cool games -- earlier in the year Mama had made a few treasure hunts for you, with you following the clues to something at the end. You and Skylar one day made a combination 'Blue's Clues' and treasure hunt game, which was so neat to see!
Most days you are Mama's little helper. You are often in the mood to help cook, sweep the floor, pick things up, water plants, and other little tasks around the house. I love it when we get to do those things together.
Your second year of preschool at the Montessori school was wonderful, with you becoming more of a leader in your class -- a sweet one at that as you are so very kind to your classmates, and have been known to tell someone that they were missed after they return from vacation. Besides your classmates, your favorite part of school was "lessons from Teacher Lydia." Being shown how to do new things would often have you coming home excitedly saying "I had a lesson today!"
Earlier in the year you were really into numbers. On a daily basis you were asking us "what is five plus three?" and having us write them down (it was pretty funny when you would write "10,000 plus 1" and other such big but simple numbers. But this was all part of your learning about numbers, and it was so delightful to see. And you're READING! This is so exciting! You primarily read books and your High Five magazines, and have started reading a few baby books to Ryan which I adore. With Mama and Daddy you read a wide variety of books but your favorite of all is any of the 8 books in the Captain Underpants series. We don't mind because the books are fun for us to read, too. However, I am about to get out the Chronicles of Narnia and I hope you will enjoy me reading them to you! Other things you did this year -- you are funny about colors. For awhile your favorite color was red. Then yellow. Then it would change on a daily basis! When not doing numbers, or reading, or playing games, you love to watch Busytown or to read those books. But your most favorite new thing this year -- Legos. You are now building quite a Lego collection of your own, and you and Daddy love to build vehicles -- airplanes, cars, trucks, rocket ships, etc. with the Legos. You two have a fantastic time in that world together.
My beautiful, brown-eyed, five-year-old firstborn son, everyday you teach me so much. I love being your Mama. You are full of the need to cuddle, snuggle, kiss, and hug, every day and it is the sweetest thing. Ryan couldn't have asked for a better big brother -- you include him in all that you do and talk with him and sing to him, especially in the car. Mama and Daddy are so lucky to have you in our lives. We love you.
