Dear Elijah,

Happy 5th Birthday! Still hard to believe you graced us with your presence 5 years ago, but here we are. I always wonder what kind of person my new babies will grow up to be, but boy did I luck out being your mom! Your personality is one of a kind, and you really blossomed this year. As I would tell anyone, you are a true delight (although you recently have been enjoying annoying your brother on purpose as of late).

As far as physically, you grew a few inches than last year, and we keep track based on what rides you can ride at Sea World (ha!). Dad said you were barely too short for the Texas Stingray today, which means you are almost 46 inches. I'm not sure about your weight, but you are getting really skinny. I think it's due to your limited diet. You are extremely picky. Your diet really only consists of cereal and mac and cheese. You randomly throw up sometimes, and I like to think it's due to your poor diet. But you throw a huge fight when I force you to take a bite of something you don't want. You will store it in your cheeks until it gets really gross for everyone involved, then I cave and let you spit it out. You are one strong-willed child when you want (or don't want) to do something.

But now to the part of the letter where I describe why I think you are a delight. You are very energetic and positive about everything. You easily get excited about things and are very helpful. It doesn't take too many tries to get you to do something helpful. Yet, for a boy with so much energy, you can be extremely focused. I mentioned in the last letter how much you liked puzzles. Well, we moved onto Legos and you can sit for hours just building and rebuilding. You make awesome "corations" and don't like Eden to "bestroy" them. You can do Lego builds a couple years beyond your age on the box. We took you to the Lego discovery center in San Antonio and we enjoyed everything Legos.

Another thing about you that I truly love is how affectionate you are. At the beginning of the pandemic you seemed down, just wanted to play with Legos all day, and didn't want to go anywhere when we had the opportunity to. We were a little worried. However, over time, you started to become so loving and sweet. You love to give hugs and kisses, say I love you ten times a day, tell me I'm the best mom (even though I really didn't feel that way!), and ask for a hug when you get in trouble or think you are getting in trouble. I have a "I Love My Mom" song you made up recorded and will cherish that forever!

You started Preschool this year. I really didn't know how it was going to go between the failed attempt at an MDO program last year and the restrictions in place because of the pandemic, but you are really enjoying yourself! You enjoy telling me who your best friend is that day, what you did, who you played with, and other things. It's really nice to hear you tell me so many things...and I should mention you graduated from speech therapy for a while! You are an extremely bright little boy and very motivated. I have no doubts you will go far in your life if you decide to. You will do just fine in school.

Well, to close this birthday letter, I just want to tell you how much we love you in this family. At times I feel bad about you being a middle child, one of the boys, and a birthday in December, but you don't let it bother you. I'm excited to see what the next 5 years will be like for you and how much you will grow. I hope you continue to be affectionate, happy, and focused: the traits that I admire about you. I love you, Eli!

Love,

Mama