SIX

This boy right here who made me a mommy turned 6. We literally just blinked and he went from being a tiny NICU baby to a kindergartner overnight.

Finn, you are smart. You love to learn and remind me when it's time to do your spelling words. You are in a competition with yourself to see how quickly you can learn them. Which brings me to the next one, you are competitive. You want to be the fastest, the strongest, the best. This drives you to be the hardest worker I know. You ask to go outside and hit golf balls, ride your bike, or do yard work.

You are kind. You're a good friend and quite possibly my favorite trait- you're an includer. You ask 3 friends to sit with you at the parents' table when you're only supposed to have 1. When we eat lunch with you at school,  just about every third kids says "hi" to you in the cafeteria and you call them your friends. You ask people what their names are and you remember them. You remember everything. We call you a sponge and a steel trap.

You love soccer. Your Saturday morning kindergarten league may as well be the World Cup because of the amount of effort you give.

You love Legos. You can build a set for an 8 year old within an hour. What's even more surprising is that you'll focus on it for that long. If there aren't instructions- you build whatever you want.

You love super heroes. All of them. You love reading about them, dressing up like them, and reenacting them with our brothers.

We love you so much and are so proud of you!

Five

Five.

It is so hard to believe that our little tiny NICU baby is now five years old. Finn, there are just not enough words to describe how much joy you bring our family. You are sweet and spunky and compassionate and fiery. You work your absolute hardest at everything you do. You love hard and play harder. You are the leader of our little cub pack and your brothers adore you.

You pack a big personality into such a little body. You're 38lbs and 39in and wear a size 9 (toddler) shoe. 

Your work ethic rivals most adults I know. I'll let you go play outside by yourself sometimes while I get your brothers ready and I'll watch you out the window. You'll rake the leaves, sweep the driveways, and check the mail all on your own initiative. Once your "work" is done, you'll throw your little golf bag over your shoulders and head to the top of the driveway to start hitting golf balls.

You love playing on your soccer team. It's a pre-k/kindergarten league that practices and plays on Saturday mornings, but in your mind it may as well be the World Cup. You give it all you have every game and you're getting pretty good too. What I'm most proud of you for is that you're the first one to check on a teammate when they fall down- on either team.

You are fearless which is equally exciting and terrifying. You're not afraid to try new things and meet new people. You are our little extrovert and love people so well. You are strong-willed which is challenging to harness, but I know it will take you very far in life.

You do the right thing- even if it means making mommy pick up "litter" in the parking lot and find the nearest trash can because "we don't litter in our family".

You love your friends. You pray for them at bedtime and say good-bye to them by name in the parking lot after school.

You are our little feeler and are very aware of your feelings and how you're making others feel. This is what I pray carries you through school and through life. Yes, we want to you be smart- but even more than that, we want you to be kind. We pray that you know the love of Jesus and can show it to everyone you are ever eyeball to eyeball with.

At the beginning of this school year, I asked you what you wanted to be when you grow up and you said "fireman sports player". That sums you up perfectly. You are adventurous. You love helping others. You love having fun and working hard.

We just love you to pieces and are couldn't be more proud of you!