Five Years, Already...

You're five. How can that be? Weren't you just a little peanut of a guy? Yet here you are, so big, so full of humor and curiosity and affection. You're not a baby, anymore, that's for sure, but you're still my Sweet Smidge.
Five years ago, you were our "Baby", the youngest of three, our last child. In five years, you've learned so much (aside from the fact that your parents cannot count). Now, you're a Big Brother, yourself. You're smack dab in the middle of this crazy family, and you have us all wrapped up in those big, brown eyes, that contagious cackle, that dimple that has a stronger draw than a rare earth magnet. Gah, I can get absolutely lost in you, you know that?

Now, you can actually hang with the big boys all day long. Yet you can tumble with the little ones and enjoy a good picture book like nobody's business. You're so very good at being You.

You love to hold JT and make him laugh. You love to be the one to help EmBaby reach the things she cannot. You love to go to Scouts with your brothers, "just to watch," and you could probably tell me at any given moment how many days are left until you turn seven and can join on your own. You make us laugh. Sometimes without even trying.

You're so sweet. Such a sensitive soul. Sometimes you are so empathetic, and your kindhearted nature makes me want to burst with affection. And sometimes, like when you cry until you puke, it makes me want to burst a blood vessel.

And you are so completely genuine and easy-going. I don't know what we've done to deserve a child who is so willing to say, "I forgive you," or, "that's okay". (We don't deserve you, if we're being honest, but we're not giving you back.) You're usually the first to apologize, the first to suggest solutions to challenges. You're the first to find the silver lining while the rest of us are still complaining about the clouds or the rain. You always make us shake our heads and muse, "Man, he's a great kid."

When your brother wanted to help decorate your cake today, you didn't get clutched up over it (like some mother might...), you said, "Sure, you can help!" Wow. You're really cool. The cake looked great, too. But even better was the sight of the two of you, shoulder-to-shoulder, sharing exciting things and encouraging one another. I didn't get a photograph of it, but I'll have the picture in my head for a very long time. Your brothers had a really great time picking out your gifts this year. They knew just what you wanted, and just what colors you'd like the best. I think they kind of like you, you know.

And now, you have arrows, an armguard, a quiver... and you get to help make your very first bow. When did you get so big? You plan this year to learn to ride a two-wheel bike, and learn to read. You still want to go to the beach, "when the hurricanes are done". (Good call, by the way.) I think this will be a wonderful year for you. And I know, as long as you're with us, it'll be a wonderful year for us.

Happy Fifth Birthay, Smidge!!! We love you so much!

Love,

Mom, Dad, James, John, Emily, and Jason

*P.S. No, they aren't partaking of herbal medicinals in that picture. It's the opiate of cake icing that they're enjoying - it is evidently much more potent when sucked off the end of a candle than it is when eaten straight off the cake. I don't get it, but don't they all look completely taken up with - and wholeheartedly savoring - what they're doing?