Caleb turns five!

Dear Caleb, My sweet boy, where do I begin?  I can't believe that you are five years old!!  This birthday seems like a huge one.  Five means you'll be starting kindergarten, which is the start of a whole new, big, long chapter of your life.  You're really a big kid now! You have been actually been a little apprehensive about the whole kindergarten thing, but I think it’ll just take a little settling in and you will love it.  You do seem to enjoy learning, and you continue to surprise me with your intelligence.  We haven’t made it a point to push you to excel at academics at the age of five.  But you just seem to soak things up without a whole lot of effort.  You’ve begun to read, and although you usually aren’t interested in trying to read new books (at least with an audience), you’ve been reading words on signs more and more lately.  Half the time I ask you if you knew what the sign said because you’d read it.  I’m not sure how else you would have known it, but I guess it just still surprises me. You say most things properly these days, but there are a few words here and there that you don't pronounce correctly.  My favorite is calipitter (caterpillar).  But even that one I recently heard you say the correct way.  Another sign that you are growing up, and some of those cute little things you do are disappearing as time passes.  The nice thing is that there are many new and fun things to come.  I am so blessed to be able to watch you grow into the man you will one day be. This was the year of superheroes.  It started here... You went to your buddy’s superhero-themed 4th birthday party about a month and a half after yours.  Prior to that you hadn’t known much about superheroes.  But it opened up a whole new world for you.  When you filled out your “All About Me” poster at the beginning of the preschool year, you said that you wanted to be a superhero when you grew up.  For Halloween, you decided to be spiderman.  For Christmas, you put a bunch of superhero stuff on your wish list.  And then you wrapped up your fifth year with a superhero party of your own... You continue to enjoy sports, but haven’t yet joined any teams or focused too much on any particular sport.  You did learn to ride a bike this year though!  Last summer you really weren’t interested in your big boy bike.  Dada had taken the pedals off so that you could use it as a balance bike, but you always chose your tricycle over your bike.  Early this spring, I guess you decided you were ready to give it a shot.  You started learning to balance on it.  Mostly on your own.  A few weeks later, we decided it was time to put the pedals back on.  Dada did, and before long you were pedaling away!  All we needed to do was help you get started for the first few days and then you were on your own.  Pretty impressive. It's also been an interesting year as I've watched you grow into your role as a big brother.   And oh the things your sister learns from you. There are moments when you are super sweet with her.  They are my favorite.    Those times when you laugh out loud together.  Those times when you decide all on your own that you are going to help her put her shoes on her feet or a barrette in her hair.  It's fun to watch how proud you are of yourself because you are the big brother and can do so many things that your baby sister can't do yet. There are other moments when you are a little less accommodating.  But having to share the spotlight has been a big adjustment for you, I'm sure.  And in the moments when I am able to step back a bit, I remember that I need to give you a little more grace.  Okay, a lot more.  This mama gig is not an easy one.  And you have the sometimes unfortunate position of being my firstborn.  I am continually forging my way through new waters with you.  And I make mistakes.  But you are helping me to become a better mama so for that I am thankful.   I love you to the moon and back, my sweet boy.  Here are a few more pictures from your fifth year.  And here's to a fun-filled sixth year!