A whole hand! Cinco. Cinq. FIVE.
Bryce, when did you grow up? You'll be starting kindergarten in a few months and get to play "real" baseball this year too. I know those are the things you are looking forward to the most this year but more than that, I am excited to see you blossom even more into your own little person and see what new things you will discover each day...week...month this year.
Last year, as I sat down to reflect on the 4th anniversary of your birth, I wrote about your funny personality, innate athletic ability and the sometime struggles of mothering you the way you needed. And while all of those things are still true today, you have developed in so many other ways.
Though you will always be cautious and adverse to risk (and a bit of a perfectionist), you are developing your leadership skills and don't shy away from new things as much as you used to. We still can't convince you to move from the 1-foot section and try jumping into the 2-foot section of the pool. But you had no problem or hesitation joining your first (and later second) t-ball team, learning how to play on a team and listening to & learning from the coaches. You absolutely love baseball and did great at all positions - but loved playing first base the most. I am sure there will be many more seasons of baseball in your future.
A new development this year was your love of drawing/coloring. Prior to this past summer you did not enjoy art at all and would often ask at school "can I be done?" after drawing a single line. But now?! You can't be stopped. The entirety of your freetime is now spent drawing - markers are your medium of choice. It seems like a switch flipped in your head and now that you have the skills, you want to draw everything you see - I think the perfectionist side contributes to this because you didn't want to do it "wrong" before and thus didn't try. Over the last few months, your skills have dramatically improved and it's amazing to watch your passion and art evolve.
You are just as happy, spunky, funny, loving and emotional as ever. Your smiles are the best and I love spending time with you. Don't get me wrong, you have your moments when you won't cooperate and still whine/cry more than we would like (notice some of the photos here where you are giving me attitude...).
Happy birthday, Bryce! Thanks for being you and continuing to give me grace as I learn more each day about how to be the mother that you need and nurture your spirit and skills. I can't wait to watch what you'll do next.
