Oh my son, you are growing so much. I love to see the way you are gaining skills and developing as a fine boy, day by day.
Some of my favorite things of late:
- One day you sat down with your little brothers to read them a Bible story before naptime, and you decided to sing it instead of read it. Page by page, you sang through the whole story, your own creative little tune with the story words. It was absolutely priceless. You are also enjoying your second year of children's choir. I love it. Hope you always have days that just call for a song.
- You told me you wanted a pet. What did you want? A pet chicken. I asked you why, and (being quite pragmatic), you said we could eat the eggs and you would take it for a walk. Honestly, I can think of a lot of worse pets. We'll see how things go, bud, but maybe someday...
- You are excelling at school. I think you pretty much taught yourself triple-digit adding and subtracting (where you have to borrow from hundreds and tens columns)... you just figured it out. You also know the timeline memory work way better than I do. We're part of a Classical Conversations co-op for the first time this fall, and I'm really thankful for how you are learning--but also how you are helping your brothers. It is a huge gift to have you and Josiah work together reviewing multiplication tables and memory work. You're a good leader and a good teacher.
- I love watching you and your brothers come up with games that involve everyone joining together. You are definitely the director of ceremonies, but I love when you accept suggestions or requests from your brothers too. Your imaginations come up with a wide range of creative stories... sometimes you're a shopkeeper, sometimes the head of the household (with assorted children/pets played by your younger brothers). Sometimes you're super heroes. Sometimes Wild Kratts. Sometimes spies.
- You are very responsible. If you're outside with the boys, you know when to come running for me (for example, if Calvin decides to crawl up the garage stairs... but you crawl behind him until he gets safely to the top before getting me).
- You make friends easily and enjoy playing with other kids pretty much anywhere. You're excited when we have homeschool co-op, Wednesday Connection, small group, or get together with friends. You pretty much never tire of freeze tag.
- You will still cozy up next to me on the couch to read a book together or tell me about your latest ideas or surprises for your brothers. I love that.
- You are a great helper. You're a big help around the house, a big help with caring for your brothers, and a big help with school. You help setting the tone for your brothers to learn that being strong means serving and protecting others. May Jesus keep growing that in your heart day by day.
I love you, buddy, and I'm so glad you're our son.
Momma
Dear Josiah,
It is incredible to see how much you are growing and changing! And yet, you still have a brilliant smile that delights my heart!
What makes you tick these days:
- You have an easy-going and gentle way with those who are younger than you (especially girls). I pray that God will continue to develop that beautiful chivalry all your days! You are tender and kind with Calvin and absolutely love to engage him, find things that delight him, and share things with him.
- You are a good companion player. You and Elliot come up with little scenarios, and you are always open to suggestions and incorporating others' ideas into your play. You went through a phase of calling all your brothers by the first syllable of their name (Vic, El, Cal). Love it.
- You have a super creative mind! You love to pretend to be your present-favorite animal or some creative combination of animals you develop. You think of creative stories or scenarios. You see beyond the status quo and love to share stories, dreams, and imaginations.
- You are learning amazingly in school. Your reading is taking off! You love to imagine the end of the story we are reading or funny offshoots from the plot line. You are really tracking with numbers and math and do excellent work in your math workbook. You are in my homeschool class, and I love getting to learn with you there!
- You are doing great in children's choir, Sunday school, Wednesday Connection class, and homeschool co-op. You participate and engage with other kids, but you also like to have quiet, down time at home. I think you're a little more introverted than your big brother, but you still do a good job reaching out to others and having fun even if you don't know everyone in the room.
- You are agile, active, and bouncy! I love how you can run on all fours, jump, skip, leap, kick, and roll. I think you may be a very gifted athlete. You picked up riding your bike without training wheels so fast!
- You have very big emotions. These are like strong horses, and sometimes we need to work on pulling back the reins to be sure they don't run away with you, but they also mean that you can share big love, big excitement, and big encouragement.
- You see spiritual connections very often in real life. I love to hear you connect the dots between what we know about God and His story and the world around us.
You are such a joy and blessing to have in our family! Love you so much!
Momma
Dear Elliot,
You, my son, are a hoot and a honey. I often watch your antics and tell Daddy that this is what he was like as a little boy!
What you're up to:
- FABULOUS job potty training, my fine fellow! Pretty much without any help from me, you just clicked one day, and you haven't looked back! I'm so proud of you. (One funny memory back when you were still in diapers: you'd lie down for a diaper change and say, "Ahh... this is nice!" and begin pretend snoring!)
- You are just a ball of hilarious expressions and antics. You sing in your bed, strike a pose at the dinner table, crack jokes, and generally bring a sunshiny disposition wherever we go (normally).
- I love when you bring some books to me and curl up on my lap for a good read. Let's always do that, okay?
- You can be a really great helper putting away silverware from the dishwasher. You and Victor make a great team for different chores, and you are conscientious in what you do (until you get distracted).
- You give terrific hugs, and you are generous with them. This brightens my day so much!
- You have a super bright mind. You ask very astute questions and have a really great vocabulary. I pray that you use those God-given tools for learning, understanding, and pointing to Jesus all through your life.
- You had a hard time going to your Sunday school and preschool class for a few weeks this fall. But after some prayer, we tried a new tactic--bringing Josiah's little green bunny to class with you. And by God's grace, you are now a cheerful, confident little fellow heading to your class! You do a great job!
- When you're looking for your brothers, you'll say, "Hey, where are the boys?" I love to watch the friendships of you brothers growing.
My Elliot, I love you so much, and I'm so thankful that God gave you to us!
Momma
Dear Calvin,
I hate to say it, but I think you are officially no longer my tiny little baby... you big toddler!
In life these days:
- You eat pretty much what all the rest of us eat and pretty much as much of it as your big brothers. You can tuck away 3 pieces of pizza without breaking a sweat.
- You walk, you big man. I feel like just within the last week you switched from mostly crawling and sometimes walking to mostly walking and sometimes crawling. You are the sweetest little figure, toddling around, plopping down regularly and pulling yourself back up. You know precisely what you want and you are quite adept at getting it.
- You also have a very tender heart. Normally you will respond quickly to a "No, no, Calvin, no touch." Those occasions when you disobey a clear instruction or get too rough with someone and need a correction, your little heart is smitten. Then we shower you with lots of hugs and snuggles so you know that we still love you and all is well again.
- You love to be outside, riding in the Cozy Coupe or playing with balls. You climb up most anything and have gotten to be pretty adept at sliding down slides on your tummy with your feet poking out behind you. Even at a playground with big slides you'll surprise me by zooming down when I didn't realize you had made your way up to the top already!
- You love to be around your big brothers, in on whatever they are doing. Maybe you do wreak havoc on their train track designs or elaborate block constructions, but you can also be quite careful not to touch when they are in the middle of a big project.
- You have a big, sweet smile and thrilled whole-body wriggle when you're happy. And you are always happy when Daddy comes home! Oh, what a Daddy's boy you are now! It is precious!
You are a delight and joy to our family, and I love you so much!
Momma
