Dear James,

You are so wonderful. You are 5 and you look so much older than that. You look at least to be 6. You are wonderfully tall and HUGE. And I don't mean fat. You are a full-on, solid big guy that will probably grow up to play football, basketball, and possibly even hockey. And probably every other sport out there. Although you are still learning how to move those tall legs of yours so we'll see how that goes. 

Sorry about those long legs. Your sister is all torso and you're all legs. It works out. I think. 

But... you are in love with "The Karate Kid" (the Macchio version) and now want to be a Karate Kid, too. You've asked us if you can take karate lessons and that's something we're seriously considering. 

I've imagined you in your little white karate outfit for a few years now and I'm actually not too surprised that you are interested. I don't know why I started picturing it years ago. Hmm.. psychic?

Oh and hey, you're sick right now with bronchitis and you're jumping on my bed. Stop that. 

Oh see..yup, there you go coughing again. Sigh. 

Speaking of being sick, I hate seeing you so sick. You've been laying around for 2 whole days now with coughing fits that are so constant that your eyes and face turn red. 

But this too shall pass, just like every germ that invades your little big body. They always pass through but without a permanent stay. More like a very temporary vacation. 

You are brilliantly hilarious. The other day, you noticed some orange tanks being transported on the local train on my way to work and you said "..hmm..and I wonder if those have army men in them?" and you started laughing hysterically. 

You are witty and happy and so full of smiles. 

You are also one good lookin' kid. I'm honestly really scared of when you start having crushes and things of that sort because little dude.. oh boy.... 

You LOVE to build with your legos and wooden blocks. You make real shapes out of them: cars, houses, castles, cranes, and all sorts of other things. 

You now draw with purpose. Between last March and this March a whirlwind of artistic skills have been mastered. I know that school has helped you so much with this, but boy are we amazed:

 The top drawing is of our apartment building. He even included the letter "C". 

 A tree with a blue sky. 

..and then a comic strip. He loves the "Peanuts" comic strips and I think that was his inspiration. His comic strip is titled.. "The Princess and the Ball". 

I remember when you were 2 and even an early-3 year old, I would sort of panic about how you were such a picky eater. There were days that I couldn't figure out what you were living off of. Air? The sun? Who really knew. 

Now, you are a voracious eater who eats like an adult. A very hungry and growing adult. We have a tiny sneak-peak of what it's going to be like when you eat us out of house and home. When we shop for groceries now, you are one of "us". Natalie is still like a half adult and is easy, but you? Oh no.. you are easy but you love to eat. The grocery bill is quickly climbing up. 

Lunch is your favorite meal and that's the meal where you eat like a goat: peanut butter and jelly sandwich, string cheese, grapes, yogurt, and then something else. You just keep eating. 

And we love it. Maybe you hide a lot of that food in your feet? I mean, you are a size 13 1/2 now. 

You are loving and caring. You are so charming. You are getting more into the X-men, Spiderman, and Superman. You really enjoy "Phineas and Ferb" and "Despicable Me".

We can joke around with you and you get so many of those jokes and you sometimes reply with "you are so silly..."

After 5 whole years, I still can't believe that I helped create you. You..this awesome being with such an awesome and gentle nature. I know that you can have some (rare) moments of being frustrated with your sister or with something that happened at school..usually it's something Natalie did.. but you get over it quickly and just let it roll off your shoulder. You adapt to things quickly and you thrive when new things happen. More than ever, you are happiest most in the middle of a big crowd. 

I wish I could be more like you. 

I love you kiddo. Even if I still have to occasionally wash slobber off my face. 

Love, 

Mommy