Dear Jack,
I can’t believe it, you are 5! How did you get this old? How
did I get this old to have a 5 year old? Enough with the rhetorical questions.
You are an amazing little boy, today is your birthday, and this past year
hanging out with you has been one of the most fun ones to date.
Let’s recap: you traveled a ton, gained step-parents, and
were the center article on New York Times
webpage and front page of the Sunday business section in one of the most read
articles of that weekend, making you famous. Not to mention you learned to ride
a bike, play T-ball, AND started to learn to read. Not bad for a kid who still
can’t tie his shoes (and still insists I wipe his butt).
Your ability to put together Legos is amazing to watch. You
speed through complicated instructions with ease. I love watching your
imagination at work as you build a fantasyland, and then put the ‘guys’ into it
to conceptualize the reality in your mind.
You traveled this year. With me, we went to New York City,
Detroit, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, California. And your dad took you to the
beach in North Carolina. You are a pro at taking the Amtrak train, and know the
best things to order in the club car.
You also are so accustomed to airport security that nothing fazes you as
you zip through pre-check, while middle aged travels struggle to take off their
shoes.
Your resilience and ability to easily adapt continues to
astound me. You moved, twice, this year. Both your dad and I have new homes,
and while you still sometimes ask me when we are going back to our old place, I
think your love for your “superman blue” room and the big backyard you have
acquired has solidified our new house into home for you.
Your favorite songs are “Uptown Funk”, Queen’s “We Will Rock
You”, and anything by Katy Perry.
We have tried to expand your horizons this year with both
food and books. We started to read some Roald Dahl and Mary Poppins. You discovered you love shrimp, and have eaten your
weight in shrimp po boys and steamed dumplings.
You have won the hearts of many. At my wedding to your
step-dad, Adam, in January you took the microphone at the reception and thanked
everyone for coming to your wedding. You recited a poem during the ceremony
that didn’t leave a dry eye in the house. And when I told you it was time for
you leave because it was past your bedtime, you got very angry at me that I was
making you leave your party to go to bed.
This year is off to a big start, too. We travel to Colorado
for a week-long ski trip this weekend, and I keep telling you the mountains are
bigger than anything you have ever seen before. I can’t wait to see your face
when you see them and realize their magnitude. And, later this year, you get to
become a big brother. It’s something I had hoped for you for a while, but you
know we have had some plot twists along the way. I’m very excited that you get
to join the big sibling club now. You have already affectionately named your
sibling “Race Car Farty Pants”, a name that has totally stuck, poor kid.
As I say every year, while I can’t wait to see what this
year brings, I want you to stay this age forever. You are amazing and I am so
proud of you.
Love,
Mom
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