Happy FIFTH birthday!!! You are so excited to be five years old, I'm in a bit of shock that you can possibly be this old. We are so incredibly proud of you and are really enjoying this stage in your life, but it's always startling to see just how quickly another year has passed us by.
Liam, you have grown so much this year. Your speech has evolved and has come a long way and you've just matured in every way imaginable. You stand 48 inches tall and weigh in at 50 pounds, they don't do growth charts and percentages here, but I'm pretty sure you're in the hundredth percentile by American standards. I'm amazed that you are now ten times the weight you were when you were born, well done!
You are currently really enjoying primary school. Every day you ask if you get to go to P-1. You are very independent about going into school and have done really well at adapting to the schedules and routines. You struggle a bit with group instruction so you sometimes get a bit of extra one-on-one help which really helps you to move forward. You have several friends that you talk about at home and you always tell us about going to the library and doing exercises outside so I think those are your favorite parts of school at the moment.
The most common thing we hear from other adults (kids church workers, cashiers, teachers) is that you are so very sweet. This makes me so proud, sweet boy. More than anything else I long for you to always be sweet and kind to others, so to send you out for an hour or so and to hear that you were giving hugs and using your nice manners and being sweet to everyone is just the greatest report ever. You are still our snuggle bug, I think all those hours of holding you while you slept has made you really comfortable with being close to us and I hope you don't grow out of snuggling anytime soon. You love to get into bed with Jude in the mornings and share the iPad while Daddy and I get a few more winks, and you always want to sit with us and relax after school. You still hold our hands readily and love to have rides on Daddy's shoulders when we are out walking a long distance.
Your favorite things to do are: any type of outside play, going for hikes, eating "blue surf" ice cream from Maud's, watching hobby kids videos on youtube, eating at "the french fry shop" (McDonalds), playing "Go Fish" and "hide & seek," and running around the house with your little brother.
Your love of life is absolutely contagious. If anyone asks how you are your typical response is, "I'm great!" And you are, my dear, you truly are. I am so proud of you and thankful for you, sweet Liam. You are our firstborn, guinea pig and I'm so glad to learn this parenting game through your (and God's) grace.
Love you forever, and ever,
Momma
