Dear James

Dear James,

I need to write about you, so I remember what you are like at this tender age of almost 6.  I want to always remember the snuggliest of boys.

You are so tender-hearted, that seeing any animal alone and sad makes you cry.  You love your little brother so much!  You hold his hand, you take him to nursery at church, you tickle him, you bathe him, you lift him out of his crib, you go play with him when he wakes up.

You love to be touched, held, have your back rubbed, snuggle, or anything that has to do with physically touching.  Your chocolate brown eyes sparkle with delight and curiosity daily, and your imagination is in full force!  You love to put on my work headphones and pretend you're the pilot of an airplane.

You absolutely love oatmeal for breakfast.  In fact, you would probably have that every day for every meal if I would let you!  You don't like meat, and so we have to be pretty creative at finding ways to get enough protein into that long and lean body of yours.

You love to lead music.  You always volunteer for FHE to pick and lead the song.  In church, I can see you waving your arm while the chorister waves hers, because you want to practice.  You sing all the time, and to all of your animals.  You sing to Seth.  You sing in the bath.  You sing in the bathroom.  You even sing while you jump on the trampoline!

You are still working on learning some words, and I dread the day when you say every word just right.  Rupus killer (instead of Ruthless Killer, from "Planes") is one of my favorites!  I love the words you say, and how you say them.  I know you will grow up and talk perfectly fine one day.  But for now, I can't get enough of your sweet sentences.  You're very busy learning how to read and write.  You can write just about any word as you sound it out, and are trying very hard to write properly.  Don't worry son - it will come in time.

Your favorite song is the second verses of "Families Can Be Together Forever" and "I Love to See the Temple."  You have a very sensitive spirit in that 5 year old body, and are starting to recognize when the Holy Ghost is with you.  You love reading the stories of the Savior, and how He helped and loved everyone He met.  I see a lot of those qualities in you, as well.

Here you are, imagination hard at work, being the captain of your very own space shuttle (Mom's car).  I love you so much, my brown-eyed boy!