Dear Little Man,
I have not posted in a long time; life has been happening so there is so little time. I would rather be enjoying time with you than writing about it! I was a horrible mommy and completely forgot to do this last year, so you are probably going to get a bit of both year 4 and 5 in this one.
Year 4 had some ups and downs, but it was really more up than down. Switching you to the new day care was definitely a good decision. We watched you begin to love things you used to like coloring and painting again. Your teachers, Ms. A and Ms. S, were awesome because they supported you the whole way. We were really sad to leave them at the end of the summer for you to start kindergarten. You came such a long way with them. You also continued to love math and discovered of science as well.
Your best buddies since 6 month old moved back to Texas. You were always wanting to be with R and L, and you added in Miss Z to your group. It was the perfect circle of friends. When you talk about your friends those are the three you talk about the most.
You went from being an all Disney Junior kid with a Jake obsession to being the biggest Rescuebots fan. Then it was Ninjago and Superheroes. You transitioned from reading regular storybooks to chapter books with Daddy at night. You started out with Captain Underpants, and then we moved onto the Magic Treehouse series and Spiderwick Chronicles. You love to listen to books in the car which is the only reason you manage to stay awake on the way home. You absolutely loved the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe. Your two current favorites series are the Series of Unfortunate Events and Harry Potter. You are definitely are Potter obsessed now. You managed to convince Daddy to go onto reading the fourth book. Harry is of course your favorite character.
You still struggled some, and we started finding out why you are having some problems. In the spring before your 5th birthday, we got to visit with Dr. R, and we discovered that you were suffering from emerging anxiety which was most likely triggered by what happened at your old day care. This year has been all about trying to figure out how to help you cope with it. When we transitioned to the new day care, we had had you do play therapy which helped quite a bit. We return to start seeing Dr. J again recently to see what we can discover.
The highlight of last summer was your first trip to Disneyworld. We spent two years planning it, and you helped all the way through. We stayed at the Beach Club Villas, and we got a chance to visit all the parks. You made bracelets for each of the princesses, and they were a big hit. On our second Epcot day, you walked around with lipstick kiss marks on both of your cheeks and forehead for your effort! You were Mr. Thrillseeker because you wanted to ride all the roller coasters you could. Your favorite ride was probably Seven Dwarves Mine Train, and you loved getting a chance to go on the Pirates and Pals Cruise. You also loved that every single person who saw your birthday button wished you a happy birthday. It was such a magical experience that your first request for your birthday was to go back!
In the fall, you started kindergarten at the same school I teach at. You were like finally because you had been dreaming of going for so many years. You loved being a part of the International and Fine Arts Festivals. You also loved that all of Mommy's current and former students (I teach 8th grade at a K-12 school) would say hello and talk to you. You were a bit a ladies man because you had 3 girlfriends at one time! Little Miss F was definitely your number one though. You also discovered a love for soccer as well. Kinder was a bit of a mix bag. We saw you struggle again like before, and things were like being on a rocky ocean. Your teacher was very sweet, but we wish you guys had connected a bit better. We were proud of you that you still managed to grow throughout the year, and we know you will continue to in your own way. We hope next year you will be with a teacher who can help you bloom more as well. You are excited to be going into the main primary building next year.
Another thing you continued with is dance. Daddy figured it was a fluke, and that after one year, you would be done. However, you proved him wrong. You took another summer class, and you just finished up your second year last week. You got a chance to be in the recital which was an interesting experience. You loved your dance teacher, Ms. E, and her assistance so much this year. Of course, getting to be front and center on stage was exciting for you, my little extrovert. You cannot wait to get through another year of dance because you get a trophy at the end of the year, and you are looking forward to starting to branch out some more into different styles like hip-hop.
What will year six bring for you? Well, you know Disneyland is coming in November, but you have no idea that Daddy and I are surprising you with another trip to Disneyworld in October to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We are going to check off a bucketlist item for you and I by going to the Halloween Party as well. You are also excited about what is to come in 1st grade; I know with some stronger supports you will be able to show your full potential to your teacher. All these things are big and exciting, but I think there is something above all these things you are looking forward to. You are hoping to finally be a big brother. You have wanted to be one since you were 18 months old, and you have patiently waited while your other friends got to become big brothers and sisters. Mommy and Daddy are hoping you do not have to wait too much longer now that we are adopting. Once we got approved with our home study, you have been bursting to tell everyone how we are growing our family. You ask all the time when the baby is going to come to stay with us. While you will be happy with either, you definitely lean toward wanting a baby sister more than anything else in the world so she can be your princess. We are crossing our fingers we get matched before your next birthday.
I will wrap things up here at this point. Your presents are already wrapped and ready for tomorrow; you will have to wait until 12:12 PM this year to get them though! I am going to run and give you one last 5 year old hug and kiss, and then it is off to sleep myself.
Love,
Mommy
