Happy 5th Birthday!

(A letter to my son on his 5th birthday.)

Happy 5th birthday Mr. E! Or as you call yourself, “SUPER-E!"
How can you be 5 already?

Just a few things you did and said this past year that I’m going to remember forever:

• Announcing at breakfast that your imaginary friend of 3 years, Sneaky Gumball, died the previous night riding a tiger Tijuana.  
• Dressing up in costumes (Buzz Lightyear, Cowboy, Vampire) and then playing the piano.
• Watching Jurassic Park at least 100 times. Telling people to be careful going poop and to go quick because a dinosaur might eat them. 
• Me coming home from work, you telling me that you’ve changed your name to “Popsicle.”
• Wearing your cape and mask pretty much anywhere out in public whenever you feel like it.
• Your obsession with meat. Bacon, sausage, meatball, steak, hot dogs. 
• Walking into my room any weekend morning and saying,"good morning" to the sun out the window. 
• Holding anything in your hands lovingly (candy, toy car, food) and saying in a creepy voice “My Precious.” That’s fun to watch especially in public places with people around. 
• My argument with you about Russia being a planet. You still refuse to say it’s a country. 
• The “knock-knock” jokes you make up on the fly that make entirely no sense. But I can’t keep from laughing because you roll on the ground laughing hysterically. 
• You telling me what you dream about when you wake up,”in my dream I was stuck to a cheetah’s butt. And then we became friends.”
• You got married at preschool to Zoe, and then she stopped playing with you. First marriages are the toughest…

Your favorite things at this moment:

• Puzzles. Lot’s and lots of puzzles.
• Playing on the beach and rolling around in the sand for hours and hours. Then washing you off for hours and hours.
• Playing with your sister: school, store, building weird contraptions in the yard.
• Netflix. Woody Woodpecker, Animal Mechanicals, and other offbeat cartoons. 
• Making preschool art for mommy and me. The jeweled birdhouse flowerpot was a good one!
• Riding bikes, scooters, people, animals, and things not made to be ridden. 
• Hiking and throwing rocks in water.
• Monsters, Sharks, or anything with large teeth and growls. 
• Anything that shoots or makes really loud noises, or both.  

What you asked for your birthday:

• Trumpet
• Rooster
• Sword
• Jack in the Box

And I’m always going to remember what you told mommy last night before going to bed - buy Scooby Snacks for your birthday party at preschool, “just in case dogs show up.”

I’m going to miss the 4 year-old version of yourself,  but I’m looking forward to what new memories and adventures we’ll make together when your 5.

Love,
Daddy