60 MONTHS

Dear Parker,

You recently turned 5 years old... and before life gets too far ahead of us, I wanted to take a few minutes and remember every last bit of you being you.... at this glorious, wonderful, age/stage of your life. Right now you teeter between being my baby and being that big kid who is walking out the door to go to kindergarten. So for grins and giggles... let me tell you a little about Parker.

1. You like your back scratched. You actually demand it to be scratched. It doesn't matter if we are half asleep, ill, or busy... you still yell "scratch my back!!".  For the record... you'll take dad/mimi, but if I'm near... you way prefer that I scratch your back. Evidently I scratch it juuuust right.

2. You take every opportunity to crawl up into our lap. You are still our little 'nuggle bug... and I LOVE it. There are often nights that you won't fall asleep until someone is cuddled right up next to you. Okay, usually that someone is me, maybe you know my soft spot. But you will only be this age once... so I'm soaking it all up while I can and taking all the cuddles I can get!

3. You are a thrill seeker. Unlike your older sibling... you are not afraid of heights. You love roller coasters. You love slides at water parks (even though you haven't concurred your fear of swimming). You love the ramps at the skate park. You love being on your bike or your scooter... which reminds me... we need to buy you a bigger bike.

4. You love sports. You loved playing soccer. You loved playing t-ball. You are much more into it than another member of the household that will remain nameless.

5. You call Mason 'brother'. I don't know why this melts my heart. It just does. It shouldn't. You are only calling him what he is. Your brother. But it's different. It's not like you are referencing him... "this is my brother"... but instead of using 'Mason' you use 'brother'. "Brother come play with me". It's normal. I've heard other children do it. I just never did it. And I don't intermix your names with the name 'brother'... so to hear you do it... so naturally and effortlessly... melts my heart. I continue to pray for your friendship. I so desire for the two of you to be the best of friends. He adores you. Now if I could just get you to quit saying "I can't like Mason".

6. Another thing that melts my heart. You still reach for my hand. We could be walking through Legoland and you could care less about running wild and seeing everything... instead you reach up and grab my hand. I love it. I will hold your hand until the end of time.

7. You still sleep with LaLa (your lovey/blankie)... but now you also demand to have Izzy (or is it Easy?) and Bullet (or is it Allen?). Sometimes you want Whiskers and Cat-tee. But they are second fiddle to the dogs. 

8. This last one... I appreciate the most. Maybe, just maybe... it's because I don't have a daughter. But, you LOVE new clothes and new shoes. One of the most horrible things in the world... would be for me to bring home a new outfit/shoes for Mason and not have anything for you. Then, once I'm home with such articles... you must put them on. Right then. Right there. You are my child that wants to go clothes shopping. Okay. Okay. "Wants" is a strong word. You don't mind going with me and might slightly enjoying picking items out for yourself. Gosh. I love you.

So. That pretty much is you in a nutshell. All glorious 60 months of you. I adore you. Every last freckle... and am so lucky to be your mama. Happy 60th!

Love you doodle bug! - Mama