FIVE.

Today you are the silliest guy we know. You love singing silly songs, making jokes, and seeing what funny sounds you can come up with to make us laugh. You insist you aren't the silliest kid in your class, but your teachers say otherwise. 

Today you are full of questions, always wanting to know how and why. You start chatting the minute your eyes open in the morning and you don't stop until you've fallen back asleep at night. You can talk a mile a minute, always have a story ready, and never run out of words. 

Today you are cautious and calculating, always weighing the risk against the reward. You don't like to try new things even though you usually love them once we make you try. You are afraid of deep water (swim class), bugs, the dark, swings, and quite a few other things. 

Today you are a pre-K graduate who made so many new friends, loved his teachers, and showed tremendous growth over the last year. You dislike homework and writing, but love to read books, play in centers and do circle time. You've learned so much this year from sight words to how to write your name, and you are so excited for Kindergarten in the fall. 

Today you still prefer your hair long, only like slip-on shoes, and want to change out of your uniform into "home clothes" every day as soon as you walk in the door. You like wearing baseball hats just like Daddy and are never opposed to a good pair of sunglasses. On the weekends you like to stay in your pajamas for as long as possible. 

Today you are a music lover who has very specific opinions when it  comes to the radio. Imagine Dragons, and Panic! at the Disco are some of your favorite bands, and we can almost always find you singing along and playing air guitar or drums in your car seat. You strongly disagree that the driver should get to choose the radio station.

Today you are a technology whiz who probably knows more than we do about the tablet and all the games on it. You can easily navigate netflix, hulu, and google play on your own and don't like watching anything that isn't a "Jacob show."

Today you love building with blocks or legos, playing "bad guys" and are obsessed with villians despite your strong morals - you are always quick to point out when something is "not nice." You are quick to apologize and quick to forgive, always eager to keep the peace. 

Today you are eating us out of house and home, always hungry but only for the foods you deem acceptable - chicken nuggets, pizza, hamburgers, strawberries, cheese, fruit snacks, goldfish, and yogurt are some of your favorites. It takes some convincing to get you to try new foods, especially fruits and veggies that you've already decided you "don't like." 

Today we love you more than we ever thought we could. 

Today you are FIVE.