Another year has passed! You're FIVE years old! Time has truly flown, and the three of you have really grown.
Dear Jackie,
What can I say? You bring so much to this family. You are clever, expressive, thoughtful, and sweet. I love to just sit and watch you play by yourself, which you could do for hours at a time. When the rest of your siblings are outside running around, you prefer to be alone in the quiet house with your cars. setting them up, moving them around, and building roads out of blocks for them. Most of your days are filled with this activity, and they are generally accompanied by your sweet little voice singing songs you have learned in Primary or your favorite songs from movies.
This summer, Dad bought a basketball hoop and a variety of balls to play with outside. You grabbed that basketball and kept shooting the ball for hours at a time. Over and over you would shoot, and pretty soon you got to the point where you could make most of them. You exhibited such determination and commitment. You also moved from your pedal-less bike to a 2 wheel pedal bike this summer. You were hesitant at first and asked us to put the training wheels on, but after about 2 weeks of training wheels, you changed your mind, hopped on Luke's 2 wheeler and took off. You also enjoyed your first round of swim lessons this year and proved to be fearless in the water. This summer has also seen a huge increase in dramatic play with you and your siblings. You have all put on a lot of plays for Daddy and I and you love to pretend that you are characters in your favorite books. The Pevensies and characters from Winnie-the-Pooh are favorites.
Recently you've hit a stage where you like to share your thoughts and ideas with us. It is so wonderful to have a little peek into the inner workings of your mind. And we are finding that there is quite a lot going on in there! Very recently you have enjoyed joining Charlie and Liv in really attending during our family read-alouds. And you very much enjoy snuggling up with a good book together. It has been so fun to watch you start making connections between what we have read and things that happen in life. I have also noticed an increase in your interest in math. Oftentimes you will ask me if 2 and 3 makes 5, or some other problem. The other day you told me, sadly, that you could only count to 20. When I told you that if you could do that you could count to 100, and explained how you immediately counted to 139 before you tired of counting.
Lastly, I must not forget to mention your love of nature and beauty. We have a nature shelf where we display the various rocks, feathers, nuts, shells, pine cones, etc that we collect on our nature walks and time in the park. You have contributed so many items to this, and find special excitement when you find more walnuts. You love to try and identify rocks, birds, and bugs in our various nature books. It is thrilling for you to discover something new and beautiful. Frequently you will point out beautiful things that you see, and you will show them to me with such awe in your voice. You even have ideas about beautiful ways to decorate our home or beautiful ways to dress.
Thank you, Jack, for continuing to bring light and beauty, compassion and joy, excitement and fun into our family and lives. It is an absolute pleasure to watch you grow, learn, love, and enjoy every moment of it. You are a wonderful example to me in so many ways. I am thankful for you, and I love you endlessly.
Happy 5th Birthday baby boy! Because you will always be my baby. :)
Love Always,
Mommy
Dear Luke,
Something wonderful has happened this year. From the very beginning of your life, you haven't been incredibly fond of physical affection. I couldn't nurse you because you didn't want to be held so close for so long. You wanted to move and explore and DO. But this year has brought you to a place where you crave and appreciate a good snuggle, especially with Daddy. Sweetness just oozes out of you, and you give kisses freely.
Another difference has come about recently. Just in the past week, you have started to look for time to play quietly by yourself. Generally with cars... if you can find a time when Jack isn't using them. :) The other day, Jack was telling a story while you were drawing quietly at the art table. Very politely you said, "Mommy, could you ask Jackie to stop talking? I need some quiet time." This was SO out of the ordinary for you, but I am grateful that you finding time to be still and think. In a house so full of busy people, and being a busy person yourself, it will do you so much good to have those calm moments.
But you still enjoy playing with your siblings and seem to prefer that. Working together to create shows, dramatic play, and sports are some of your favorite activities. You spent a lot of time with Jack at the basketball hoop this summer, and the two of you really like playing "20" with your dad. This is one of the made up games that he created for you. Basically, you take turn shooting the ball until someone makes 20 baskets. The other game the whole family enjoys is called "Smear." Dad sits in his chair and throws the "quaffle" (an inflatable volleyball), and everyone tries to get it back to him. There are points and penalties, and I don't really have any idea what the rules are, but you love it! And of course, you have built one trillion tents. My sofa cushions have never been put to so much good use.
This summer has been a fun one for you. You transitioned from your pedal-less bike to a 2 wheeler in 20 minutes. You asked for pedals but were unsure of not having training wheels. After a few brief tries, you gave up and said you wanted training wheels. But after a couple days, we hadn't gotten around to putting them back on, so you decided to bite the bullet and ride. In 20 minutes you taught yourself to ride the bike. You also had a great time at swim lessons and really enjoyed the water.
Most of all, you still love to have a purpose in all that you do. Helping me cook, washing the dishes, cleaning the toilets, vacuuming, and sweeping when you feel so inclined, are incredibly enjoyable to you. If the job involves water, all the better. This has morphed into a love of writing. You like to write little notes throughout the day, and the same letters always get top billing. M, W, I ,O and T. Over and over I see these letters... I even noticed them on the wall in your bedroom. Ahem. But, I'm glad to see you enjoying this.
I'm really excited to see what this year will bring for you, Lukie. You are a very special guy, and Daddy and I love the pieces out of you!
Happy 5th Birthday, my love!
Love Always,
Mommy
Dear Wendy,
Our little princessy girl! You have done a lot of growing and developing this past year. You are talking up a storm lately, and doing a wonderful job using your words to express your needs and desires, and to just carry on same fun conversations. It has been wonderful to get a better look into your thoughts with this more in-depth mastery of language and communication. You're a pretty funny girl!You have cemented your love of beauty this year, and it is so refreshing to have around. If something is beautiful, you love it. And almost everything IS beautiful to you. Including yourself, which I think is fantastic. This year you have developed a great love of books, too. I will often find you taking a quiet moment to look through a beautifully illustrated book because, of course, those must be beautiful too. "Bootiful books" make you so happy.
A very closer relationship with Luke had grown this year, and spend a lot of time playing together. That is not to say that you don't also enjoy playing with your other siblings. You all get along - and argue - very well together! The relationships you have with everyone has grown, and it is so wonderful to see how close you all are. This year, Grandpa and GG moved from their condo and downsized in the process. Because of this, they could not take some of their furniture, so they gave you and Liv a new bed. You were both very excited about the prospect of sharing a bed after having bunk beds, but let's just say that this change has brought you closer together as well as solidifying some points of contention. Namely, the fact that you have such a hard time sleeping and letting Liv sleep. And though this causes a lot of tension (we probably should not have thrown the bunk bed away...), you are still very much loving sisters. Olivia comforts you when you are hurt or sad, and you seek out that comfort. It is such a sweet thing to witness. Lastly, it is official. You are a Daddy's girl. He is the one you want to comfort you and snuggle with you. When you are up late, it is Daddy who can calm you and help you sleep. And this relationship has also grown over the past year.
So it would seem that this year of your life has been a focus on relationships. You can still throw a mean tantrum, but your communication is improving and helping, and you are building strong relationships with your family members. It is good to see and it is vitally important to your life. And for that, I am exceedingly grateful. You are a bright ray of sunshine to our days, Wendy. You bring us such happiness, joy, and love. We are grateful for you, and we love you.
Happy 5th Birthday!
Love,
Mommy
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