Happy fifth birthday, Holden! Let me tell you a little about yourself at age five...
You are a ball of energy, almost always with a huge smile on your face. Sometimes you and Turner will literally run circles around the kitchen island for considerably long stretches of time. When you feel an emotion, you feel it all the way. Whether it's the joy of laughing at a joke you made up or crying because you don't want Daddy and me to leave for Elevate, you are completely present in the moment.
You've recently developed a love for Peter Pan and Hook, which totally delights your Mommy! You love pizza and tofu, coloring (and have become really good at staying in the lines recently), swimming, church, your family, and Jesus. I will often overhear you from the other room saying to your brother, "I love you, Turner." You have such a sweet heart that truly cares about how other people feel.
And you genuinely loves Jesus. Your prayer each night goes something like this:
"Dear Jesus, thank you for this day. Help us fall asleep quickly. I love you, Jesus. Amen."
Then we ask you what else you want to pray for, and you start over, adding a "thank you for Mommy, Daddy, Turner, Phoebe, etc." right after the "help us fall asleep quickly" line. You have also started initiating having a quiet time in the mornings. You bring your Bible to sit next to me. We pray together to ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins, take turns telling God the things we love about Him, read/talk about a Bible story, and pray again. I love that precious time together.
You never did love going to preschool all that much, but you learned so much! You can pretty much sound out any word and spell it phonetically. You were the very first in your class to learn your phone number and address (which I kinda credit to my cool song and rap). You're great at crafts and artwork--you really do have your PopPop's skill!
When you look back at being five, my hope is that you remember not the consistent, daily discipline, but digging in the backyard dirt, swinging high on a swing, cuddling with Mom or Dad during naps, becoming best friends with your brother, building forts with Dad in the dining room, taking weekend trips to San Antonio or Elevate retreats, and making a new home and new friends here in Texas.
I love you so much, with my whole heart, sweet boy.