Five

Earlier this month we celebrated our little man turning 5.  I still can't quite wrap my head around it.  I am certain I will always think of him as my baby boy.  But, sadly time can't stand still so we decided to embrace 5 and celebrate big.

Brooks woke up bright and early on his big day and we excited to see the birthday fairy arrived and decorated the house in balloons and streamers.

Sweet boy is very into nature and science right now.  All he asked for was a bug vacuum.  Big sis came through and he was mighty excited.  Other birthday hits were legos, a gem mining kit and an ant farm.

 

Poor guy came down with a high fever in the afternoon but, he mustered enough energy to blow out the candle on his requested cookie sandwich and give Nana and Poppie a huge greeting as they arrived that afternoon.  

 

Brooks requested a Pirate party and a bounce house for his birthday.  I had to search high and low for a Pirate bounce house.  This thing didn't disappoint.  It provided hours of fun, even Poppie joined in.

 

When Nana decided to retire this year she promised Brooks they would come for his birthday.  It was so fun having Nana and Poppie here to celebrate.  Brooks loved it and I sure loved all of the help!

 

The guests had to walk the plank before coming to the party.

 

Little pirate daddy attack

 

The sign of a happy Pirate.  Worn out at the end of his special day.

 

Brooks, we are so proud of you our big five year old.  You are kind, loving, smart and such an eager learner.  We love your imagination and how curious you are about nature.  Sometimes we say you live in "Brooks world" because your imagination runs 24 hrs a day.  I love this about you.  You have a great sense of humor and make people laugh all of the time.  You are sensitive and sometimes think that people are laughing at you rather than laughing because you are funny.  This makes me sad and I hope one day you will realize what a talent you have.  You are a great friend and meet new people easily.
You are a very competitive little boy and are very hard on yourself.  Sometimes you don't try things because you know they are hard and you don't want to make mistakes.  But, more often than not when you try you succeed and I love watching how proud you are when you take risks.  This year you played soccer with some of your best buddies and your daddy as a coach.  You were very scared at first and even cried during some games.  But, you persevered and guess what?  You were a star and we were so very proud.  It's been a joy to watch you build self confidence through basketball and now soccer. 
At your well visit we learned that you are above the 50th% for height and the 25th% for weight.  This doesn't surprise me because you don't like to eat much.  Well, except cheetos and all things junk as you would say.  You were very brave and didn't cry at all when you got a shot at your visit.  You felt so proud.

Brooks, we love you so much.  I hope you always stay my little snuggler.  I hope you always want to play "helicopter" as I throw you onto the bed and that you will never forget how we spend the majority of our days wrestling and having tickle fights since that is your favorite thing to do at age five.  I hope most of all that you always know you were created perfectly by God and that he loves you, your mommy and daddy love you and your sissies love you JUST THE WAY YOU ARE.  Never be afraid to be YOU!