On this 18th of March we once again celebrate the baby who made us a Mom and Dad. Happy 6th birthday to THE William! This was a big year for our biggest boy. Kindergarten has been a big learning experience for us all. You proved what we already knew and started kindergarten with the test scores they were hoping for when you finished the year. You are learning Spanish faster than your dad and I can keep up. We think the dual-immersion program has been a really good challenge to keep you interested in learning. You can count well into the 100’s, are reading way beyond your years, and seem to love math. The hardest part of school has been learning that it is ok to make mistakes without crying. There was a lot of crying during the first half of school year, but now you’ve settled in and your emotions have also matured.
You’re a great big brother to Christopher and Andrew. You can be so gentle with Andrew when you need to be, and he totally adores you! You are Christopher’s best friend and play buddy. He sure 
wishes he could go to school with you. On your days off you still love to play at Debbie’s with your brothers and all the kids. In your free time you enjoy playing kindle, drawing pictures, using the computer for typing and math problems, and playing wild games of pretend with your brothers. For your sixth birthday you got a new kindle–with Minecraft–and were pretty excited to learn how to play. Your favorite foods are cheesecake, apple crisp, and ice cream. Your favorite color (at the time of this post) is green–I had thought it was red until I asked. You are still our best sleeper and get up for school in the morning without much trouble. Recently you’ve started earning an allowance, but sometimes struggle to be helpful without some extra prodding. You know the basics of tying your shoes, although we are still practicing. Swimming lessons this year taught you to be much less afraid in the water. You ended your 5th year with 3 less baby teeth and two new adult ones…a couple more are loose so you’re well on your way to having a difficult time eating sweet corn this summer.
In some ways I look forward to each new milestone as you grow into a bigger boy. I look forward to you being more self sufficient and discovering the world. I’m excited for you to continue developing friendships at school, and things like trying your first sport, or having your first sleep-over. Other times I know there will be things that I miss, like the little hop/skip you do every few steps while walking, or the way you still let me hold your hand or run my fingers through your hair. I hope your 6th year is the best one yet! Happy birthday to our William!
