william is 5!!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy, WILLIAM!!!!  I can't believe he is 5 already!  FIVE!!!  

We started his special day with a trip to the Kennedy Center, with our field trip group, to listen to someone play and talk about the fiddle.  Before the show, they had a little instrument lab for the kids to look at some violins up close and play them.

 Initially, William did NOT want to try playing any of the violins.  He hung back for a while and just watched.  After a little talk, he was willing to try.

 Playing a cello...

 Pretty soon, he was willing to give all of them a try!  (I was very proud of him for getting over his fear.)

I was grateful for this special opportunity to start his birthday off in a special way.

Watching William grow is so bittersweet... filled with so many mixed emotions.  How I wish I could keep him little for a while longer... so innocent and full of questions about the world around him.  Our car rides are filled with him asking me a gazillion questions.  And it always starts with him saying my name, "Momma...."  I love hearing him say Momma.  And yet how awesome has it been to watch him grow and to see his personality develop more and more.  

Some of William's favorite things... STICKER BOOKS!  William adores sticker books.  He loves putting stickers on scrap paper.  They are like his pictures and gifts to other people.  Most kids like to color and draw things.  He likes to put stickers on paper.  =)  William loves to watch Word World, Thomas, and Veggie Tales.  He has practically memorized all the lines to the Veggie Tales movie:  The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.  And he still loves to read books about cars, trucks, and trains.  We come back from every trip to the library with 10 books about transportation vehicles.

As we have been homeschooling pre-k this year, William has proven to be very conscientious about his work.  He works diligently (usually, but can get easily discouraged sometimes) and often will ask for prayer when he is feeling frustrated.  That has been such an area of grace in him.  I love how he desires to ask God for the help he needs to work unto the Lord.  His favorite subject is math, probably because it's all manipulative-based.  Writing used to be the hardest for him, and it sometimes still is, but he likes it now most times.  Part of our school routine is for him to do chores.  Well, his only chore for now has been to sweep under the table in the kitchen.  Have been wanting to have him earn his keep around the house more, but it's hard when I myself don't keep house very well.  He definitely can be messy like his parents.  =P  (But it's contained chaos.)

William is definitely our sensitive one.  He often compares himself to others, including himself.  For example, when we are writing our letters during school, he will talk about which letters he wrote that were better than others.  =)  We have been trying to talk him through not making unhelpful and sinful comparisons with himself as well as with others.  William also continues to be our shy guy.  He often will hang back and feel things out before getting involved in something.  So he usually will not want to be the first to try something.  He definitely is NOT very adventurous about things, although with food, he will at least try something once.

William is such a fantastic help to me.  I love that I can ask him to do something and know that he'll get it... well, usually.  (Sometimes I do forget that he's only 5 and assume that he understands more than he does.)  I also love that we can have actual conversations about things and know that he'll get it.  It might take a few times, but he almost always gets it.  This is one of the things I have enjoyed most with him... being able to talk to him about some deep things.  William also is in that stage where he cares very much about what we think about him.  He still is eager to please.

I have also enjoyed watching William and Josiah learn to play kindly with each other.  They still fight a lot, especially since Josiah is still so young, but they definitely have their tender moments where William will read a story to Josiah, ask Josiah to play with him, help Josiah with something, wait for Josiah to climb the stairs together, etc.  I do hope they become close.

My first baby is growing up so fast!  Wish so much I could hold onto where we are now for a little while longer.  My William is still young, thank God, but growing faster than I am ready for.  I love you so much, William!  More than you will ever know!