Waking up this morning, it was the first time that I have not spent your actual birthday with you. Instead you have spent the week in Iowa at the farm with Nana and Papa and your cousins. And from the pictures and videos I get, you have been having an amazing time.
I love watching how close you are with your cousins, how well the three of you play together. It's so fun to listen to where your imagination brings you. You're all at such a perfect and fun age right now.
It's hard to believe it's been seven years since your dad and I welcomed you into this world. And as I look at the boy you've grown into so far, I can't help but be amazed. Amazed at who you are. To me you are perfect.
It also becomes more and more apparent how much of your dad you've inherited as you continue to grow. You have his love of talking, his great use of facial expressions and his flair for entertaining/acting.
You are clever and funny and goofy in all the right ways. You make everyone laugh. You make everyone fall in love with you. You are kind and caring, despite your continuing allegiance towards the "bad guys".
Your current obsessions include Superheros and Villains - Marvel, DC, Transformers, Skylanders - you love them all. You've also gotten into gaming (which your dad would LOVE) Your favorite games are Lego DC Villains on the Nintendo Switch and Skylanders on the Wii. You still love swinging and swimming. You're working on mastering your bike, but you LOVE the pull-behind tandem bike we've added to mine. You would spend all day and every day in your PJs if we let you. And you have no problem wearing PJs that are three-years too small. You love all things chocolate. And you still love books and reading.
And oh boy, your reading. Your reading skills grew fast this year and I love listening to you read books to me. I also love listening to when you "read" a book, but make up your own story. You are a very good story-teller.
You were doing so well at school with Kindergarten and it was fun to watch you learn and grow. COVID-19 of course threw things off track and you finished the year with distant learning, having me, Nana and Aunt Meg as your at-home teachers. But even through all of that, you continued to thrive and learn. You also absolutely got use to being home and the only kid around the rest of us adults. :) It was not how I imagined you'd graduate from Kindergarten, and even now, we don't yet know what this fall will look like when you start 1st Grade. But I do know that no matter what, you will continue to grow and learn and thrive.
Every single day I am thankful for you. I'm thankful for your smile and your giggles. I'm thankful for your hugs and your cuddles. I'm thankful for your questions and curiosity. I'm thankful for your imagination. I'm thankful that I get to catch glimpses of your dad in you. I am so thankful for the pure joy you bring to my life every day.
Happy Birthday, Jacob. You truly are my favorite and I love you, so much.
