Happy birthday, Kase!

My littlest buddy is turning five today.  Five! I am so very aware of how short my time is with him before he heads off to kindergarten, and I must say that these last five years with him have been an awesome, wild ride.

I've sure gotten used to having him be there for all of Kael and Kylee's sporting and school events. I'm always happy to have him ride along with me while doing errands.  He's typically all but silent in the car and I often wonder what's going on in his mind. "Hey Mom," he finally says out of the blue, "do you think that dragons can swim? And can ducks breathe underwater? Also, I wish that colors could come to life." I love hearing about what's going on inside his head!

He and I have spent a lot of hours at the library looking for Star Wars and Super Hero books!

Infamously, my most fearless child- he carries the most scars, has the most bumps and bruises, and often gets mistaken for much older than he is.  From jumping off the high dive just weeks after he turned four to riding his bike around the 'hood without training wheels for a long time now- Kase always keeps me on my toes (read: worried sick).

This one is always, ALWAYS up for something physical or anything involving sports.  We have ridden miles upon miles together on our bikes.  We have played tag at every park in Ankeny, and he is now too fast for me to catch. I have pitched all the baseballs, thrown all the footballs, played all the frisbee and soccer and basketball and golf and tennis and anything else you can imagine and I love every second of it.  Kase loves to get outside and loves to be active.

He's the most comfortable with no shirt on (thank goodness summer is right around the corner) and a girl at school recently told him, "I'm in love with you." Kase later told me, "she wants me to be in love with her too but I told her I don't wanna do that." 

Kase love, love, LOVES playing with Legos and often falls asleep with them in his hands. That is, of course, when he hasn't fallen asleep reading his beloved Bible. He loves to build and wants me to take pictures of everything he has created (forts, block towers) so he doesn't forget how he built them.

I have seen so many signs of him growing up lately.  He's interested in school work and reading. He's writing his letters and is always asking if he spelled anything. I love to see him so proud of his work. He's figured out a lot of things lately too. He tells me, "Hey Mom, you know the Easter bunny is just someone dressed up, right?" He slow dances with me in the kitchen not because he really wants to but because he can tell it makes me happy. 

Kase wants to be a big kid- and he can often hang with Kael and his friends.  But selfishly, I sometimes love when I see signs of Kase still being little.  At night he often asks, "Can you lay with me, Mama? I'm just a tiny bit scared of the dark." I'm painfully aware that my last preschool Mother's Day Tea is right around the corner and while I'm a little sad that my littlest buddy is growing up so quickly, I can't wait to see what's in store for him over the next few years. 

Happy birthday to my energetic, Nerf gun-loving, athletic, spirited Kaser! We love you so much and can't wait to spend the day celebrating you!