Dear Sunshine,

To my oldest son,

You are now a big 5 year old!  I am so proud of you and the choices you make.

 You have such a compassionate heart.  You often compliment me and others around you.  You always ask to be my helper when I cook, or when I need to bring in groceries.  You are very thoughtful and notice when people need a helping hand.  Sometimes you will bring me a snack and a drink for no reason at all- just to be nice.

 I love watching you explore the world around you.  You are  not afraid to take risks, and sometimes you come inside covered in dirt and maybe even missing a shoe that got stuck in "quicksand!"  You like to plant seeds and see if they will grow, dump sand on the trampoline, run along the new trail by our house and just be outside.  In fact, you will stay outside for hours at a time when the weather's nice. 

 You are so independent but also love to play with neighbors and friends.  You tend to gravitate towards older kids and are very social.  When we go places you will jump right in with a group of kids you don't know, and join their game.  Since I was so shy growing up, I love watching you fearlessly walk up to anyone to say hi.  You are aware of the feelings of the people around you, and are careful not to tease anyone too much... well, most of the time!  You do have siblings!

 I do believe you have a tender heart, and sometimes you get your feelings hurt.  You just want to do the right thing, and hate getting in trouble.  You do make mistakes.  A lot of the time, you are just trying things out and figuring out the way they work...like trying to sharpen a pencil with a knife!  You try so hard to please your dad and I, and we appreciate your efforts so much.

 You love to have fun by singing in the car in your cute raspy voice, dancing around the house with your brother and sister, trying to make baby Sunrise laugh, running around with friends outside, doing gymnastics at the gym and at home, making up great adventure stories and finding props to act them out, and going with Dad to the store. You love your dad so much, and want to be just like him.  You do push-ups and follow him around outside to help him.

Tornado just loves you.  He follows you around and copies everything you do.  You go out of your way to include him, and share toys with him and let him play your games.  My heart melts when you two hug out of the blue.  You are also great friends with Cloudburst.  In fact, you wear the same size shoes (13) and now weigh more than her (51 pounds). You also have a special dance and song to make Sunrise laugh.

 You truly are a ray of Sunshine.  I hope you can feel how much we love you!

Love, Mom