Dear Leland,
Last week, you turned six years old. As much as I miss you being an itty bitty baby, I love the age and stage you're in now.
You are a sweet and sensitive boy. You care about others and you enjoy doing nice things for other people. You are incredibly social; you talk to everyone you meet, which is both adorable and a little unnerving as a mom. We will be walking through the grocery store, and you'll strike up a conversation with a random stranger. I love how charming you are, but we have had to talk about not trusting strangers quite so much.
As you have for years, you love trucks - all kinds of trucks. And pretty much all things that "go." But you've developed some new interests which has been fun. Recently, you became interested in the Titanic. I'm not sure where you heard about it in the first place, but you are so curious and you want to know everything there is to know about it. We've checked out books from the library, watched videos online and parts of the movie, and for Christmas you got a little wooden model that we put together and painted.
You are also interested in all things army. You had an army themed birthday party with army men and a tank on your cake, and you and your friends made little Humvees. You have said a few times that you want to be in the army when you grow up, which, I won't lie, makes me very nervous. But mostly you want to be a firefighter. That's your big dream.
You started kindergarten this year - in Ms. Rockwood's class - and you absolutely love it. You're starting to read and you have a great mind for math and problem solving. I love having you in kindergarten, because you're right across the hall from me. I get to see you at every recess and I get to help teach science with your teacher. We have lunch together just about every day. It's so much fun getting to be part of your first school experience.
Your favorite foods are hot dogs, tacos, and pizza. You love sweets and treats, just like your mama, but you also enjoy snacking on beef jerky like Daddy.
You, sir, are an amazing big brother and leader of our little pack. You adore Livvy. You protect her, snuggle her, and always want to be near her. And Alden, while he annoys you (as younger brothers should), is your best buddy. You play together, and have lunch at school together sometimes. And you LOVE to build Legos together. Sometimes I worry about your relationship because you bicker so much, but then you guys show me how much you really do love each other. For example, for your birthday, you had some money to spend and you chose to spend some on your brother. Melted my heart, and made your brother very happy.
A couple of cute anecdotes that I don't want to forget...
You love to dress for a special occasion. Or even a simple occasion with special people. You will often choose a nice button-down shirt and say that you want to look handsome for whatever is planned for the day. I find this absolutely adorable, and it makes it easy on me.
At Thanksgiving, you talked and talked about how you wanted a feast. When it was finally dinner time, you were disappointed because no one was coming over. It was just our little family and you wanted it to be a big feast with lots of people. So this weekend, we went out for breakfast for Grammy Patti's birthday, and when our food was delivered to our table, you happily exclaimed, "It's a feast!" It was finally a big meal with lots of people and you were thrilled.
Leland James, you are something special. I know that as your mom I'm supposed to think that. But you really, really are. Everyone who knows you thinks so. You're friendly, kind, charming, funny, witty, smart, and overall a ray of sunshine to everyone you meet. I am so proud to be your mom.
I love you to the moon and back a gazillion times, sweet boy.
Love, Mom
