Dear Kiran,
I cannot believe that you are 5 years old! Five years has gone by so quickly, and Daddy and I have loved every minute being your parents! We are so thankful that you are in our lives. It is so fun to think about each year with you, how you have grown and changed and become the sweet boy that you are today.
Your first year was all about discovery! It was so cool to see you learn how to do new things. Some of my favorite memories that year were your happy, happy smiles, your obvious love of learning, watching you take in everything in a book, and your awesome crawling abilities - you were so fast and all over the place!
Your second year was all about learning new big boy things - you especially loved construction vehicles and tools and "helping Daddy." Your vocabulary grew so quickly that year, and you amazed us all with your big words!
Your third year was filled with more tools. You also loved all things outdoors and would have spent all of your time outside exploring in our big backyard if you could have. You loved walking over to see Lois and playing with her rocks and watering can. You learned all of the alphabet. You loved dancing to Dan Zanes and playing guitar with Daddy.
Your fourth year was all about big motor skills: learning to ride your bike and playing ball and really learning to enjoy your friends in playgroup. You started wanting to be like the bigger kids around you. You were really learning about who you are, things you like and don't like, and the challenges of trying new things. You started really loving time with your sister as a playmate. You learned to spell and write your name.
Kiran, this year has been amazing! Every day with you is a wonderful new adventure! Each year, I can't imagine that it could be better than the year before, but it always is! You are such a fun boy and loving son and brother. As a four year old, you have just blossomed in school, you are doing amazing work and enjoying friends and opportunities to share your thoughts and ideas with others! You have become so adventurous, a real daredevil. You liked Superheroes before, but this year there have been times you thought you were one! You have decided that Mommy and Daddy are awesome targets for tackling, jumping on, and using karate techniques on! You love playing on the couch, running in circles around our new house chasing Ellery, and blasting your music upstairs. This year, you have called Ellery your "best friend" on numerous occasions. The two of you love being together. You have moved out of your room with her, back into a room with her at our new house during construction, and back to your own space again. You often ask Ellery, "Do you want your Bubba?" when she is hurt or upset, and especially when she is mad at Mommy! ;) She usually says "yes!" You have learned how to put things together by yourself, like new Playmobile toys, and you can spend hours with Legos! You also have learned about contraptions! You love taking some of my rubber bands, boxes, the suspenders Ma and Pa gave you with your fireman costume, toys, and anything else and putting them together to make something! It's awesome, and you are so creative! Today, you came in with a couple of black cloth belts I had given you, you had tied them together and made knots in them. They were wrapped around you with a flashlight, toy knife, etc. hanging from the knots - you had made your own tool belt, you had on a mask and nerf shooter was sticking out from the back of your shirt. You informed me that you were a bad guy!
You are beginning the process of sounding out words. You are doing amazing with your writing skills and coloring skills! You typically pick out your clothes and get dressed on your own first thing in the morning. You went to the dentist in Jan. and realized that you will need a retainer for your mouth due to thumb sucking. About 2 days later, you didn't suck your thumb again! You have really started helping out around the house and you even put together and served our entire taco dinner the other night! Great job!
You love to do comparisons of likes and dislikes among people, and if you have something in common with someone, you decide the two of you are twins, three people liking something is triplets, and so on. Your favorite comparison is who likes mayonnaise. Then, you like to torture those of us who like mayo by saying "disgusting," etc. You have become quite social once again, and you love giving things to others! You gave the chocolates for your teacher's Valentine gift to someone who brought us dinner, and when you couldn't find anything else in the kitchen to give Hannah, you handed her half of a cooked baked potato just because you always want to share something with people that come over!
You love Scooby Doo, all super heroes, and have taken an interest in Star Wars and Transformers, etc. after spending time with buddies at school.
You are incredible with your new baby sister, and you have been filled with joy about her coming into our family since the first day we told you! The latest thing is you saying that you will marry her! Yes, I am writing this just for your graduation day!
I love that you are so giving and want to share your world with as many people as you can! We live so far away from family, and yet, you have maintained an amazing bond with all of our extended family. You treasure each of them and are always talking about them and wondering about them. You have come full circle this year with giving out affection with us. There have been plenty of times you have run away from hugs this year, and now you just can't seem to get enough - I love this right now!
It is fun to see how you are really figuring out your close friendships. Your closest buddies right now are Connor, Jago, and Malon. You love our new house location and how you can find a friend to run and play with just about any day of the week. How special it is to see you seeking time with other kids and playing with such enthusiasm and such kindness! Daddy and I are so proud of you, so excited about who you are and who you are becoming, and we are excited about this next year with you - Kindergarten is just around the corner, and we can't wait to begin your school journey with you and see you continue to thrive and excel in so many ways!
We love you so much!
Mom and Dad
Here (flickr.com) is a link sharing a glimpse of the past five years with our sweet boy!
