Letters to Carter

Dear Carter,

What a different guy you are than I imagined when I was bouncing you all through the night and staring down in your face as I rocked you all day long.  

Of course, some things seem to stay the same.  You still have rules, love things to be in order, and you prefer being in charge.  That hasn't changed at all.  

But my you surprise me some days with you gentle ways of helping me along through the day.  The way you learn things in a totally different approach than I expected.  Sometimes I predict exactly what you are going to do and find myself shaking my head in disbelief.

Learning how to "do school" is a learning curve for us both...but we are both getting more of a kick out of it than I could have ever imagined.  You are so interested in this world and so enthusiastic about figuring it out.  You work so hard and persevere so much more than I would have imagined when you have to stretch those thinking muscles.

Carter, my favorite thing about you in this particular phase is watching you delight in caring for others. You are tiny baby boy.  You are just a little sweet baby rounding the corner of boyhood.  But you are stretching on tiptoe to find that boy.  You are pulling heavy doors open, carrying big bags, holding arms for your toddling sister to walk into, and helping your brother when he can't figure it out.  You are thinking hard when you don't understand, persevering when you are tired of trying so hard, and working on things that confuse you until you figure them out.  You are bravely letting yourself grow and change and become a boy who can not only do things to care for himself, but can also care for the ones around him.

This boy you are becoming...he's so fun.  You love flashlights, tape measures, Elephant and Piggie books, reading, reading, reading, and running as fast as you can.  You eat enormous amounts of food and love watermelon more than anything.  You are becoming interested in drawing for the first time ever and love rhyming words.  You still adore listening to Winnie the Pooh and eating pancakes and bacon and syrup on Saturday mornings.  You are the best tidier of toys I have ever met, and you love measuring things and attaching my skinny yellow belt to anything you can think of and dragging it around the house.

Carter-bug, I know I will love every phase because I love YOU, but I do really love you being five.  You are interesting, caring, and so very creative.  I am so glad you are my son.

I love you.

Love, Mama