Dear William

It has been awhile since I have written one of these, our lives have been pretty busy lately. You are a fun kid, full of life and energy. You don't like waking up and having to do jobs first thing. You would much rather hang out in your pajamas and play with legos. Man you love legos and you are really good with them. You have a very creative mind and build a lot of cool things all on your own.

You are growing up so fast. You love to talk to dad and I (mostly your dad) about anything. Especially at night when you are supposed to be going to sleep. You have been reading some more chapter books and are doing well in school. You are doing math online and seem to enjoy that and you are cruising right a long with it. You have also started writing in cursive again and you are doing really well. 

You have gotten better at playing with Joe. It is part of your school to do list. Sometimes playing with a determined three year old can be challenging and has been for you but when you play with his and read with him he loves it so much and I can see the love between you two growing. Once while you were playing outside I heard Joe say, "I will follow him wherever he goes." I know it was part of the game you were playing but it struck me as truth. He will follow you and I am glad you are such a good person. 

You have a very extensive knowledge of the Gospel. You were asked to write your own part for the primary program and did a very good job with that. I love hearing the things that are in your mind and heart. 

Now for some pictures of some happenings over the last couple of months:

Grandma C came over to help you bake cookies for one of you scout requirements. She was kind to do that since I don't really bake. You had a lot of fun doing that with her and the cookies were delicious.

The first day at EVMCO choir this semester I volunteered to help so I got to watch you. I stood in this spot watching you for quite awhile but you never saw me because you never took your eyes off your director. You are very dedicated to choir and such a good singer. I love hearing you sing.

You are growing like I weed and I had to take you shopping because we realized all your pants were too short. You were making me laugh so hard when I convinced you to try on some skinny jeans. You did these poses all on your own.

One night at dinner you asked for more salad. After you ate that you wanted more but it was all gone so you cute up a whole head of romaine and ate by yourself. You love salad. 

You are learning how to mow the lawn and have mowed Grandpa's lawn with assistance but I know it won't be long before you can do it completely on your own. You are very good at accomplishing big jobs and are excited to be earning some money.

While you are such a good helper most of the time there are times where you struggle to obey when first asked and without complaint. Because we are selling the house there have been days where we have to clean everything and I ask for your help and you are not every excited about it. But we are working on it. You also love playing with your friends and get pretty disappointed if playing with them doesn't work out. You do not like to be told, "no".

You love to make people laugh and you are truly a joy. 

I love you, 

Mom

Dear William

I have been meaning to write a letter to you for awhile. I don't have a lot of pictures of you cause you don't usually like me to take your picture. But you know I do anyway. After we decorated our blue tree you decided it needed a star and without me knowing it you took off to the office to make one.

You folded to pieces of paper into triangles and then taped them together. Then you cut out more triangles and glues them on. 

Then we covered it in glitter. It turned out so great and this made me happy because this is the first time you have made something on your own. You draw pictures all the time, but this is your first time creating something out of something else.

You have been growing up so fast lately. You read tons of stuff, you are flying through math facts, and you are just starting to understand things in a more mature way now.

You love to make people laugh and be funny. You have what I like to call little-boy-humor that you have perfected since you have been in school. It mainly consists of making gross or loud noises and then laughing about it...a lot...loudly.

But you are also kind and good. You love to play with your brother and sister. You love when Joseph walks to you and he loves it too. You and Joseph play with each other in the car and I love hearing both of your laughs coming from the backseat.

A few weeks ago when I was picking you up from school your teacher came up to me and told me that the was a boy who was going to push another little boy off of a tire today and you stepped in and pulled the bully back so he couldn't do it, and you got scratched in the process. I was so proud of you for doing that. You had to think quick and I am glad that you are a fast thinker and that you do the right thing.

This is another Christmas decoration that you came up with for your room. This also made me happy. You are a lot like me in some ways and decorating and celebrating is one of them. You love holidays and every one is going to be the "best ever!"

Oh and I almost forgot that I was very proud of you when you told me that you told someone in your class that he should not say "oh my G--" and the boy said that it isn't a bad word and you responded "yeah but it is taking the Lords name." (you forgot the "in vain" part:) And then he said he didn't believe in God and you told him that you did and it wasn't nice to say. That made me very happy and we were also able to talk some more about how others have different beliefs and that is okay, but that it is also okay to ask others to respect yours. 

You are just growing up and I love the person that you are.

Love,

Mom

Dear William

Oh my boy, you have grown so big. You have lost your three bottom teeth and you are about to lose your fourth. It is fun watching you grow and learn so much in school. You do so well in school and you really love understanding the way things work.

I love it when you tell me the process of doing a "work" at your school. You get so animated. You make a keep friends so easily. I admire that about you. 

(you found these glasses and declared them your Dumbledor glasses)

You are learning to do jobs around the house, like clean the bathroom. This makes me very happy not only because it means less work for me, but because I can see the pride you take in doing work. You are not always happy about doing it, especially if you had something else in mind, but you do a very good job.

You still love to watch movies. And you love to pretend you are the character from whatever movie you are watching. You say the word, perhaps, a lot. I think it is awesome and funny. Like, "perhaps I am thirsty", or, "perhaps we can go swimming."

You dress yourself for school and this is one of your many awesome outfits (you didn't wear the glasses). You always want to wear cowboys boots and when I ask you if they are hard to run in, you say they are fine. At your last parent teacher conference your teacher told us that another teacher came up to her and asked your name and was excited to find out that you will be in her class next year. I am excited that you will have a teacher who appreciates your style.

You are becoming more artistic and I have noticed more details in the people you draw. You have also started writing in bubble letters and I love it. I love everything you do (unless you are whining, I am not so crazy about that). I can't believe you are already 6 and a half! Having Joseph look so much like you reminds me of when you were small and it helps me appreciate how far you have come in the last 6 years and I can't wait to see what the next 6 bring.

Love, 

your Mom

Dear William

 (all these pictures make me smile or laugh - I love having a kids who makes me laugh)

Dear William,

You are growing up so much. I probably say that every time I write you a letter. You are reading and writing more and that is very fun to watch. You love going to school (but sometimes it is hard to drag you out of bed for it) and doing your "works" and I love it when you show me things you learn. I don't like it when you think you know more than me. I know that day will come, but it has not come yet.

You are such a good brother to Gracie. You guys can play for hours together and for the most part you are really patient with her. The other day she had dressed up in a Christmas dress and you came in, took one look at her and told her she looked so pretty. It made her day and I am so glad you recognize that like to do that.

You really enjoy acting silly and sometimes I really enjoy doing that with you. You lovemaking people laugh. You love to play fight and cast spells. You are way into Harry Potter. We are reading it right now and I can tell you are a little impatient with it. I have to remember not to read too much at a time and also to let you read a sentence every now and then and I think it would be more enjoyable.

You are such a good big brother to Joseph. you always tell him he is, "the cutest little boy in the whole wide world" and it always makes him smile. If I am busy and Joseph starts fussing you will talk to him and play with him and try to make him happy. You love to move his arms around and pretend he is playing sports. He loves doing it too. You love that Joseph looks like you did when you were a baby and you tell everyone.

Here you are practicing going cross eyed. I'd say you do a pretty good job. I can also tell you are growing up because you have this desire to be good. You often ask, "have I had any bad moods today?". A lot of times the answer is no. You don't whine and complain and disobey as much as you used to. This makes me very happy.

You draw all the time and I love looking at your drawings. This one is of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. You bring tons of pictures home from school. Sometimes I feel like I am drowning in them. You also love maps and the planets. You love to talk about space. You say you want to be an astronaut so you can go into space. I can't wait to see what you do as you continue to grow.

I love you tons,

Mom

Dear Mr. 5 Year old

Happy birthday! This letter is a couple of weeks past your birthday but I have not had a good quiet moment to sit down and write this. In fact it is not quiet right now, but I decided I just need to do it. Especially since you are being an extremely ornery boy today....I need to be reminded of the fun, irresistible you.So your five year old self is pretty awesome. You are still really good at basketball. The other day in the car you asked me, "why do only boys really like to fight?" I believe you meant play fight because you sure love to play fight. You love being any super hero.You love to play computer games and watch movies and would do those two things ALL DAY LONG if I let you. In fact that is where most of our arguments come in...when you have to get off or be told no when you want to do one of those things. You can do really well on the computer and have figured most things out on your own. You have a new bed that is up high with a ladder and you like it. You like it. You love going up and down the ladder. You love it so much you do it all night:) Okay, okay you don't do it all night. Just for the first hour or so after you go to bed. You love to be silly and be tickled. You love to watch funny videos with your dad on the computer. You like to help me cook. You like to pour your own drinks. You don't like to wipe your own bum (which I decided a five your old can do).

Your name suits you because you are very strong willed. You will stay in time out for an hour before you will choose to calm down or be nice, if you don't want to. When you don't want to do something, you won't. I am trying to teach you that having a good attitude can make all the difference. Hopefully you will learn that soon. I feel bad because I know that you should probably be in school of some sort. You love to play with Gracie, but sometimes she is happy to play with her little figurines all by herself and you get frustrated. You need to be able to PLAY with kids your age and I wish you were in something. I did not put you in anything because I thought we would be moved by now. Oh well, hopefully you will be in something soon.

Five year old favorites:

Color - "orange is my still favorite color."

Animal - Cow, tiger, and jaguar

Song - "My special song" (I will by the Beatles)

Movie - Little Einsteins (this changes weekly)

Food - Macaroni and cheese

Toy - Star Wars action figures

Dear William

Dear William,
I wanted to write you a letter because you are growing up so much and I don't want to forget the great things you are doing. At this very moment you are coloring a picture for your cousin. You have become very good at coloring. Without any prompting from me you started coloring inside the lines very well.

Here you are with your latest coloring creation. You needed my help to know which squares on his shirt were which color but other than that you did it all on your own. You have started making up conversations between your toys and it is so fun to listen to. You can also memorize tons of lines from movies and you have now memorized one scripture and the 1st article of faith.

This is a picture you took of Gracie

Here is a serious of pictures that you drew. You wanted me to draw a Lightning McQueen and I said no because I don't like to draw and if I start to draw for you you want me to draw everything. So instead I had you figure out how to draw it. Here is your progress in order. After you drew the second one you laughed and said, "I drew a duck!"

Eventually you got a pretty good Lightning McQueen.

When you run and play your cheeks get so red and you are getting better at letting me put "scun scream" on you when you are going to be in the sun. I love that you still call it that. You love to play with weapons and you could pretend sword fight all day. You also always want to know if people (in movies) are good or bad. Some times it is tricky because you see everything black and white. Sometimes that is nice.

Sometimes you can be so particular and like things to be the right way. For example when you play candyland all the characters have to be facing the right way as they make there way though Candyland. You don't make a big deal out of it you just quietly turn them if they are the wrong way.

You also earn pennies when you are a good boy and for doing the things that you are supposed to. Then you have to give me pennies for everything. Like watching a movie or setting the timer before you go to bed. When we count the pennies on the table you always want them head up and if they aren't you turn them over.

I asked you what some of your favorites are the other day and here is what you said;

color: orange... and red and brown and grey and black and blue

shape: circle

animal: cow and all animals and a rhinoceros.

song: "my special song" (I Will by the Beatles)

The other day I was calling you some silly name and you said, "no that's not my name" and I said "what should I call you" and you said, "Will, that's a good name." That is the first time you have said it is okay to call you something other than William. You don't get mad when others call you Will or Liam, but this is the first time you requested it. Just one more sign to show me how you are growing up and I love seeing the person you are becoming.
Love,
Mommy

Freckle Face

Dear William,

Sorry about the title of this post, but I figure it is only a matter of time before you are called this and I thought I should be the first. I was called freckle face growing up and it never bothered me. Mostly because it is true, I have freckles on my face. And now so do you.

I showed them to you and you said you liked them. I am glad. People are always telling you how much they love your hair and your response is, "I know". You used to say thank you but I think since so many people tell you, you really feel like you already know. Your hair is getting pretty long. I trimmed it a little in the back before church but your dad and I are holding out for warmer weather and then going to do the annual buzz.
Maybe you will be okay with it because that is like Buzz Lightyear. That is one thing about you William, you are loyal to your movies and characters. Here you are in your Buzz jammies with your Woody toy.
This was a very sweet way to find you sleeping. Usually we find you in some pretty strange positions like this -
or this. And yes, I think that is pen on your arm.
You love being a brother and for the most part have lots of fun with Gracie although I do have to admit that you seem to enjoy terrorizing her and making her scream. Hopefully that will get better.


You love sweets, luckily they are not in the house all that often or that is all you would ask for. This picture was taken right before you told me the cookies I made were perfect. You are always giving such good compliments. You are always telling me and Gracie how pretty we look, especially if we are in a skirt or a dress. You LOVE it when I wear a skirt. Because it is cold out I wear pants now and you usually tell me I need to put a skirt on or ask me if I am wearing a skirt.

You love to ride your bike and are getting better and better at it all the time.

There is a path you take that circles the house and you just keep going around and around.

You have become fascinated with letters and numbers and are pretty good at writing them. One of your videos starts with the letters D-V-D popping up individually. When this happened you named each one correctly and I told you what a good job you did. Then you said, “Am I such a good letter-man?” And of course I said, “Yes.” You love writing your name and even wrote it on our dinning room chair. It was written with your favorite color (orange) and it is hard to see except the parts where you tried to "erase" it (that means you scribbled harder in the attempt to get it off because you knew you should not do it).

Daddy found a pair of little nail scissors in the drawer where we keep them, but they were all black on the end and kind of bent. He asked if I knew what happened to them.

I told him to check all the outlets in the bathroom to see if any had black on them and sure enough there was a little bit of black coming out of one of the holes. We had just had a lot of kids over at our house so we figured one of them must have done it. I called you into the bathroom and showed you the black and our conversation went like this, “did someone put something in there?” and you said, “yeah, I did.” “What did you put in there?” “The little scissors” “did you get an owie, did it hurt?” “No, orange and yellow stuff was coming out of there, but I watched out.” “When did you do this?” “When Elleigh was here, she was going potty.” That means it was over a few weeks ago.

We call you our little monkey. And for good reason.

You ask me to sing your special song every night lately and I love it. I want you to know, "I will".

Love,

Your Mom