FIVE

FIVE.

My baby's five. Where, oh where did the time go? I am in denial. He can't be five. After one, five is the first big milestone birthday.   His picture was made in the bluebonnets to commemorate the event. It is now hanging on my wall.  In not too many years, his 18th birthday picture will be hanging beside it.  Sigh. It makes me sad.  Years of praying to be a mom and now the answer that I thought would never come is five.  God is so good.

Grayson -

Now you are five. It seems like just yesterday you were an infant that I had no idea what to do with.  Then you were a toddler, into trucks and dirt. It seems as if overnight you went from that little one to a little boy. Trucks and dirt turned to superheros and capes.  Those have now been traded to Star Wars and Legos. Big boys like Star Wars and Legos.  You can't possibly be that big.

This picture captures it all. You always have a smile on your face and your eyes dance with mischief.  Even running, you are constantly smiling.  You are an expressive child.  We love to hear you tell stories as your whole face expresses the story. You are animated to say the least.

Little Man, you are a delight.  You have a sweet and sensitive spirit. Though you can pick unmercifully on Hope, you are a tremendous big brother.  You are always willing to help. You are quick to make sure that your sisters are taken care of. You are learning that your role as a brother is to love and to protect your sisters. We have watched you this year grow into that role.  You are Michaela's biggest fan and are already teaching her many things and looking out for her. We pray that all three of you will remain close in the years to come.  We often tell you that God has given you a big role in being the big brother of not one, but two sisters.  God is proud of how you take that seriously. I periodically hear you tell Hope, "a gentleman gets the door."

You love sports.  This year you took on soccer in the fall and baseball in the spring.  You loved both of them. You also progressed in your swimming and learned to use your arms. We spent many days at the pool and perhaps your favorite thing to do was to swim with your pops.  Uncle Justin taught you how to dive this summer.

Your imagination is going in full force.  You and Hope dream up games and play them; everything from lifeguard to football games to hide and seek.  The two of you also love to play "bikes and trikes" and we can often find you riding circles on the driveway. Just another sign of you growing up: your training wheels came off this year and you also picked up riding a scooter.

You love to build - whether it be Lincoln Logs, blocks or legos.  You love to create and to ask me to guess what it is you have built.  You build everything from towers to planes to bat caves.

You have also gotten into playing games with the family.  It seems as you have mom's competitive streak and hate to lose.  Games you love are Cootie, Battleship and Sorry!  You also talked daddy into downloading an electronic battleship on the I-Pad.  It's entertaining to hear how you sank the ships.

You love to sing and dance.  We crack up as you and Hope dance to "fast music" in the evenings.

This summer you have also learned to read.  I am so proud of you, although it's just another milestone to remind me that you are indeed growing up.

You love to learn and tell your Bible stories!

We are so blessed to have you as a son. What a wonderful answer to prayer you are.