It's hard to even know where to start. You're such an amazing kid and honestly, it's hard to imagine what life was like before you. And even more honestly, we love you so much, we don't want to imagine those times anymore anyway.
We love that you can watch the 10 WORST NASCAR CRASHES OF ALL TIME without a tear, but you bawl when see the cartoon Thomas-the-train fall off the tracks. Your sensitivity runs beyond TV, of course. When you see that one of us is upset, you try to comfort us or joke with us...it shows an emotional selflessness that's well beyond your 5 years.
We love how you truly are honest. Even with the small fibs that are starting to develop, you still always make sure you add "Just kidding!" or "April Fools" at the end. You're silly and fun and hearing your laugh makes the day, the household, and our crazy life so much better.
We love how you love your sister and your dog. How you play together and look out for each other. How you hug her and ask her if doing this or that "is a good idea?" How you clap your hands and lead Bailey into your room for story time. How you comfort J when she's sad.
We love that you're becoming more and more self-sufficient. How you can get your clothes and shoes on all by yourself. How you wash yourself and we rarely have to remind you to use the potty. And while these things make life easier, we ultimately appreciate how it's a glimpse of the kid and the responsible adult you're going to become.
We love how you've blossomed at school. How you used to cry at drop off and now you run in and are so excited to be there. How all the kids call your name in greeting. And the "sticky hug" routine where we hug, lift you off the ground, sighing "How am I going to get any work done with this kid stuck to me?" and then your giggles as you kiss one - two - three times to 'un-stick' the hug.
We love how you're drawn to projects and engineering. How your teachers tell us that your voice is the first and the last to be asking questions of how things work. And how your favorite toys and books and activities are all around building, making, or understanding -- even if those projects are labor intensive for you and us. You have a mind and memory that, even at 5, can be a force to be reckoned with.
We love how imaginative you are. There's not a moment in the day when you're not pretending to be a PJ Mask (your current favorite TV show) or playing on the GIANTS or being a robot or an airplane. It's fun to watch now, and it's going to be a powerful tool when it's harnessed to that problem solving mind.
We love how into baseball you are...how you know the GIANTS by sight, their numbers, and that you know how to tell the score. How you will watch an entire game. How you'll get inspired and have an entire pretend game, including the part where you belt out, "Now batting, number 28, E Baaaaalllllloooou. He hits it high" [dramatic pause] "he hits it deep" [another dramatic pause] "it. is. Outttaa HEERRREEE" and then careen through the house before "sliding" home.
We love watching you play t-ball..and we're pretty sure there's nothing cuter in the world than you in that batting helmet. We love to see how much you've developed from last year when playing in the dirt was more interesting than the game to now where the dirt is only interesting between batters. It also shows your ability to commit to a thing and stick with it, even on days when you're hot / cold and hungry (heck, those days we're all cold / hot and hungry).
We love how into camping and outdoors you are. How you love the idea of hiking and how we plan our upcoming trips...even our backpacking trips years ahead of us. We love your collection of rocks and leaves you always find. We think it's so cute how you love maps and will walk around Gilroy Gardens with one, finding our way or when you asked for the (free) Kirkwood ski area map as your souvenir.
E, you're growing into such a great young guy...one that we're honored and excited to have as our son and a member of the family.
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