Okay. My BABY turned 5. Everyone warned me this would happen, but I still freshly remember the long wait and sleepless nights waiting for WILLIAM to turn ONE. Now in a blink my baby is FIVE. Ooofta.
Andrew, you are the baby and always will be. I sometimes worry we’re ruining you with what you get away with being the littlest. Although you were a pretty easy infant, you are now definitely the loudest, most opinionated, and demanding of the three. You make me question my parenting skills on a daily basis. Do you act out because you need more attention? Am I not being tough enough on you? Being the last of 3 kids, and 3 boys at that rate, you have 2 older brothers who you want to keep up with. I’m sure it’s not always easy when the attention is spread 3 ways. Maybe you need to be loud to be heard and I get that. I just wish the loudness wasn’t quite so frequently directed at me. 
Let it be stated however, that I love you to pieces exactly the way you are. When I told you I hoped you weren’t rude during our summer vacation, because Grandma Laura would not like that, you let me know “It’s okay, I will turn my mad mode into happy mode when we go there”. I found out apparently you also use “Happy Mode” at school. Your dad and I have discussed how you are well behaved everywhere except for home and this must be because you feel safe and secure here. Sometimes we wonder if feeling a little less secure would actually help. 🙂
Speaking of school, pre-school has been interesting. It’s hard to start something new and going to preschool during a global pandemic is another thing altogether. You wear your mask like a champ, but I wonder if it feels like a bit of a security blanket for you. Most of winter you wore your coat all day inside with your hood up and your mask on. We didn’t expect the boy who is so loud and assertive at home to be shy and insecure at preschool. Regardless, it was a great year of learning and I’m certain academically Andrew is ready for Kindergarten next year. We’ll keep working on the social part and hopefully it will all come together. The picture below is taking a break during our walk home from preschool. Often you would request that I brought the car and be disappointed if we needed to walk.
Andrew can accomplish great things if promised a Slurpee from 7-Eleven. Slurpees are the love language of this kid. If I brought the car to pick you up from preschool, the next question would often be “did you bring your wallet?”…meaning do you have money for a Slurpee. Slurpees were reserved for especially good weeks at preschool.
Although preschool is hard on our schedule due to it being half days, Andrew was a pretty darn good little work buddy. From after morning preschool until 3PM when his brothers came home Andrew could be found living his best life. This often meant laying in front of the fireplace watching his favorite show or sitting next to me while I worked on my computer. In those few hours each day Andrew was actually quite well behaved and non-demanding which really helped his dad and I get through our work days, errands, and appointments.
Andrew loves having books read to him at bedtime. Jason is in charge of the book reading, and I am in charge of endless trips to the library for piles of books. Our library canceled their maximums during COVID and when the 50 book maximum was reinstated I quickly learned how often we hit that number. 
I asked Andrew what I should tell people about him for this blog. He replied “I’m going to throw your phone out the window”. Pretty much sums up life in our house these days. Happy 5th birthday Andrew! Here’s to another great year!