{Drew at 5}

Things I want to remember about Drew at just-turned-five years old:

• He has just about the best smile and laugh I know. He just makes me melt. Seriously, he does. And when the dimple on his left cheek shows up? Forget about it. There are some days that it bodes well for him that I find that smile so irresistable. 
• He loves to laugh. He loves jokes. He loves a good pun. He tells some really funny not-actually-funny-at-all jokes. It's all about the delivery. Remember that smile and dimple and giggle I was just describing? 
• He is an early riser. Lately it is a good morning if he stays in bed until six. Because he is up so early, he goes to bed pretty early too. We start his bedtime routine at seven and he is usually fast asleep by 7:30.
• He loves Poptropica, an online educational game. He asks to play Poptropica at least twice a day.  No matter how long he gets to play, he is never ready for his time to be up.
• He is a homebody. With the exception of very few places, Drew protests almost every time we announce that we are going anywhere. 
• He can count to one hundred, write his full name, and is beginning to read. 
• He really likes to play games.  Sorry, checkers, and UNO are favorites. 
• He is the family sweet tooth. Chocolate anything makes him really, really happy. 
• Like his momma, he has a strong sense of smell. He just about gets sick if he is around a smell he deems offensive. He has a hard time eating around the smell of ketchup because he hates it so much. 
• There is so much confidence in that little body of his about 90% of the time, but there are times when he struggles with shyness. 
• He loves Imaginext toys.
• He loves his big brother even more. 
• He keeps life interesting around here. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don't have a funny Drew story to share with Ben. 
• He is so much like his daddy sometimes that it makes me laugh. 
• His writing is just precious to me. In the picture above, he had written out clues for a school activity. His inventive spelling is adorable and I don't think there could be much cuter than those all-over-the place letters. 
• He is becoming more independent all of the time. 
• His favorite foods are trail mix, fruit, yogurt, and anything sweet. 
• His favorite TV shows are Wild Krattz, Octonauts, and whatever Luke wants to watch. 
• He has a very strong imagination. Most of the time, this is a great thing. 
• A completely normal interaction with Drew- Just now, as I was typing this, he asked me for a snack. After I gave it to him, he asked "Can I give you a hug?" I said, "You can always give me a hug!" Without missing a beat, he said, "Yeah, unless we are both in a different cage and we can't get to each other, like if we were arrested and in jail. Then I couldn't give you a hug, right?" I can't tell you how many conversations like this we have. He always has an "unless......" to throw in. 
• He is a big, sweet, spunky, funny, stubborn, and energetic part of my heart and I am so thankful that I get to be his mom. 

Happy fifth, Drew!