Dear Little One...

This was you... 5 years ago! (The little one that would not be outdone by his siblings -- no way you were greeting the world on July... you waited until 1:30 am on the 1st of August so you could also be an August baby! )

And now, look at you!

In just a year you have grown so much.  You now are very out spoken.  You always want a piece of the action - and will nudge your way into any and all conversations taking place.  You are not as tolerant of your siblings as you used to be... so you always make yourself heard whenever possible.  I admire that about you... but I just wish you would use an indoor voice to voice your opinions in the house! :)

You still love to eat noodles, all fruit (even durian! Daddy is very proud!), chocolate (you will pass up dinner if you can get to it faster!), and root beer (you just discovered root beer floats this year - score!)!  You love to scooter - and you are quite good at it too!  You gave up riding the balance bike... so we have upgraded you to a bike without training wheels.  You and dad will have to work that out! :)  You love to play basketball with your brother -- perhaps the classes you took at the community center helped peak that interest?  You enjoy having light saber and sword fights with your brother -- and even getting him a few times!  Your latest interests has been building Legos, playing with your new breakable erasers, making up songs with your sister, playing with your newly adopted pet hamster (thanks to our dear friends, the Proell family who moved back to Austria!), running around the fields at the park, and camping with Auntie Clare and Uncle Jim.

Dearest Ethan, you keep our days interesting.  You make us laugh, smile, and sometimes frustrated with your antics... but you mean well and we know it.  I especially enjoy your constant hugs and kisses.  I know sometimes it's a bit overwhelming for me when you interrupt a phone conversation or an activity I am in the middle of doing to hug me and I am not always eager to return your hugs... But please know that I appreciate each one.  You never go through a day without telling me that you love me... and I really love that about you.  I hope you know how much I love you too...

Happy 5th Birthday, Ethan!

(birthday picture coming soon...)