Dear Carter,

Tomorrow you will be six, and I wish it weren’t so. I have been looking back at old pictures lately and you were such a cute toddler that I just want to go back in time and have toddler Carter back for a bit longer. Gone are the days when you played Imaginext every single day and for hours at a time. Gone are the days at home with me as a preschooler. Gone is my little white haired ten month old wobbling around on unsteady legs because he was walking well before he probably should’ve been.

But here you are—SIX. A Kindergartner. No longer at home during the day, though every single day you tell me that you don’t want to go to school because you’d rather be home. You are a bit of a homebody, and I think you take after me a bit in that area.

I’m pretty sure you think about Pokemon cards every single day. You spend lots of time sorting them, categorizing them, figuring out who would defeat who in a battle, talking about the X’s and EX’s and who has more life than who and who has more power than who. And honestly, I don’t really understand the hype, but you love it so much that we just go along with it. And also, we find Pokemon cards everywhere. In crevices, closets, couch cushions, under the table, on the top of the toilet. Seriously, you name it, and there probably have been a stash of Pokemon cards there at one time or another.

You are a very bright boy, and you have a good strong math sense in your head. I’m thankful for that and hope that you can catch on to all the different ways you will be taught math in school. Your reading has been coming along so well too, and I can’t believe that I have two kids who can read now. You catch on to those sight words at school so fast, and thought you hate practicing your reading, you still do it without complaining.

You will forever be sensitive I think. Your big blue eyes well up with tears so quickly sometimes that it amazes me. You have a big heart, but hate being singled out. You don’t like when someone looks at you weird, says anything to you weird, points to you and laughs, plays a joke on you, makes you do something you don’t want to do, and the list could go on. It’s not bad to be sensitive and sweet—we just need to find a happy balance.

Your love of junk food still runs thick through your blood. You would choose junk food over regular food any time you had a choice (well, most of us would, wouldn’t we?). You still love your blankie, with the hole in the corner and you often ask me how long you will be allowed to keep it. You love sitting in the corner of the couch (my favorite spot too!). Your favorite kind of toys are still little toys. Anything that is tiny—squinkies and tiny army guys and lego microfigures and shopkins and little jewels and tiny lego pieces that you can collect and sort by color. You’re always sorting things by color. You were born to sort. You love waffles with butter—not cut up. You love hot dogs and mac and cheese, but not the Kraft kind—the Velveeta kind, which you refer to as “liquid gold” and you say it like a pirate when you say it because that’s how daddy started saying it a long while back. You love mashed potatoes, plain vanilla yogurt, egg & cheese bagel sandwiches, ice cream, potato chips and extra cheddar goldfish.

You are always a man with a plan. You have a bit of a leader personality and I’m curious to see what you become when you’re older. You tend to “lead the group” a little bit—but maybe that’s just because you are louder than everyone else! Ha.

You adore babies. You want to touch them, hold them, play with their little hands. You want a sister still, and ask me often if you can have one. You love animals too, and really would like a pet. You and your brother ask for one nearly every week. You don’t like scary things on shows (well, even if it’s remotely close to being just a little bit scary). . . you run away and go into a room so that you can’t hear or see the TV until that part is over. You love to sing and dance and love when songs have “moves” to do with them. You love watching hi-5 because you sing and dance along to the songs. You still love superheroes, but mostly just like to read about them or watch their shows. You don’t really play with superhero toys anymore.

Love you lots, middle man. Can’t wait to see how much you grow in year SIX.

Love,

Mom