Remarkably Royal: Five. An Open Letter to Justus

Five. Years. Old.

I can't believe that five years ago today, I began this unbelievable and inexplicable journey known as motherhood. What is it about "five" that makes him seem like such a big kid? Is it because he will be going to Kindergarten this year? Is it because he doesn't need us to do almost any major life skills for him anymore? Is it because he'd rather play with his friends (real or imaginary) than with me? Is it because he says the funniest things, that sometimes make him sound so grown up?

Whatever it is, I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It's kind of a love/hate sort of thing. My little man is five, and I somehow feel like I couldn't think of him as a "little" kid anymore even if I wanted to, forget "baby."

Justus--

*You, my child, are ALL boy. Your favorite things right now are anything superhero, Star Wars, John Wayne, Cars 2, Hot Wheels...

*I love that you spend a good bit of time talking about what kind of "community helper" you want to be when you grow up. That lesson at school particularly resonated with you. We've heard policeman, fireman, oil well firefigher (thank you Daddy and John Wayne), and Interpol agent (you know, so you can catch bad guys all over the world).

*You are my chatterbox. I'm not quite certain how that could have happened, it's not like anyone in our house is long-winded (ahem!). I love discussing things with you, but you presently have this tendency to repeat yourself, and repeat yourself, and repeat yourself, and repeat... Let's just say your dad and I have looked for the "off" button. It's not there. Sleep is only a slight interruption.

*You play by yourself better than any kiddo I've seen. You can turn any situation into a dream world of fun stuff to do. You seem to prefer to play by yourself quite a bit too--mostly because not everyone else wants to play by your rules....and you do like your rules. Apparantly, the dogs do ok with your rules, so you play with them quite a bit.

*You are a bit bossy with your friends, and we are working on that. It is tough for you to understand that not everyone wants to do it the same way you do. I get it. I feel the same way to a lot of the time, but compromise is a skill we must continue to develop.

*You are a good eater, when you get something you want to eat in front of you. Still working on eating what we are eating, but you are much better about it. I'm certain that your propensity to sustain solely on hotdogs and blueberries is entirely my fault. You must be going through a growth spurt because you have been eating A LOT lately. It frankly terrifies me a little to consider your consumption as a teenager.

*You are "long and lean" according to Dr. H., just as you always have been. We'll get your official stats tomorrow when we see him, but you wear size 5 pants, solely for the length. You could still wear a 4 (or possibly even 3) around the waist, I'm sure. Depending on where I get them, you wear a 5 or 6 in shirts. Many size 5 shirts are too short for you to wear, but some 6s are too big. So, sorry you look a bit sloppy right now in a lot of your clothes, but you are at a weird size. You wear a size 13 shoe...we may start calling you bigfoot. I love it though, I hope you grow to be 6 foot 5. I kind of like the idea of my "little boy" towering over me some day. And you'd have to be about that tall for that to happen.

*I cannot emphasize enough how much you love your little sister. You are a phenomenal big brother-- better than I could have ever hoped for. You ocassionally get a little rough with her, but it's obviously never intentional. You want to help her around the house, be silly to make her laugh when she is upset, and hug and kiss her every night before bed. You play very well with her and her toys (which you sometimes forger are HER toys). The two of you laughing together is about my favorite sound in the world.

You are a kind soul, which I just love. Your silliness is unparallelled--may you never lose that. You love to dance and sing and be happy. You want everyone around you to be happy too.

You were our first miracle, and I thank God every single day for the blessing of getting to be with you as you experience all that life has to offer. I thank you for the new and different perspective you have brought to my life--it is a gift for an adult to ocassionally see things through the eyes of a child. You have truly amazed me since day one and it has been an honor and a pleasure watching you develop into the very special young man you are. Each day is an adventure with you. I look forward to all that this year has in store. I love you so much more than you will ever, ever know.

January 17, 2007