Sloan is FIVE!

Sloan Lee,

Today I spent twenty minutes bleaching all around and about the toilet. Places I never knew I would want to put bleach before were bleached today. You see, I've never had to clean a toilet quite this meticulously until you came along. And when I was bent over in one particular angle wondering how in the world I even needed to clean there, I just laughed and thank God for letting me have a chance to have a boy. Because, gymnastics-while-cleaning-toilets-required aside, you have been nothing but a loud, exuberant ball of energy and joy and sunshine in our lives. And as I scrubbed in the bathroom, I couldn't help but remember the struggles to get you potty-trained which seem like yesterday. So it is seems nearly impossible that you, my last child, are turning five. And yet, here we are-- a whole entire hand full of fingers to show you age. 

You are still an utter delight, bursting with joy and energy and questions and ideas and laughter. A word I often use to describe you is "relentless." I looked up the definition and it says, "incessant; constant; persistent."  And that has described you this year of your life, for sure. You are nonstop in all you do, and if you have an idea you won't quit until it comes to fruition! You want others to be on board with you in your plans as well, and swaying you once you have made up your mind is a very tall task. I think this will serve you well in the long run, but I also hope we are teaching you a little about compromise and flexibility ;).  (Especially if we can't build the car track/ramp exactly how you envisioned it).

You are such a little people-person. Everyday you want to know who we are going to visit or what we are going to be doing. If I tell you we're just going to be home you are so disappointed. Out and about and socializing it what you prefer to be doing. Which is why, after doing preschool at home with all your sisters, we made the decision to enroll you in a little preschool this year. You are so excited to start next month and will get to go three days a week for just a couple of hours. I am really hoping this fills up your social cup a bit.  You just always want to be doing something, and we've had to have the conversation a lot that it's your job right now to just play. You are great at playing, but most often you would prefer that it is not by yourself.

One thing you look forward to everyday though is watching for Richard to come down the road in this Gator so you can go check the cows with him. You've been doing this with him for a few years now and still get so excited when you see him coming up the road. Really, you get excited when you see anyone coming up the road to our house. Sometimes you stand outside and wait for our neighbor, Caydin, to get home from practice so you can show him a remote control or water gun or anything! And if it's a grandparent coming then they know they have to be ready for you to ask if you can go somewhere with them. You still also love to run or ride your bike up the street to Russ and Dianna's to hang out with your buddy, the dog Jude. You've been known to eat her treats, but she loves when you visit. We've also had to have conversations about not ringing their doorbell or banging on their window with sticks (the tactic you employed after we said you couldn't ring the doorbell...). If Max and Zach are outside playing baseball, then you want to join them...or at least chat with them while they play. Doing PE/Recess with Cora and Ty during their homeschool day has recently been a favorite of yours as well. You're always just looking for a friend to hang out with :). You love all your buddies from church, any friend your sisters have over is quickly commandeered by you, and you live for going to other people's houses for visits. 

Four was just such a fun and busy age with you. You were constantly learning and growing. You loved to sit and read books for however long I would last. "Frog and Toad" books became a fan favorite last year and I loved how you got some of the dryer humor in them. One time you about fell out of my lap because you were laughing so hard at Toad! You just love stories in general. I found a fun kid's podcast for you and you love to sit and listen to the 10 minute "Mr. Jim Stories," and you still love my old books on tape and Adventures in Odyssey tapes. In the car you have gotten into jamming out to our old CDs on a discman, and it's hilarious and fun to hear you singing, as loudly as you can, the songs your dad and I listened to in the 90s. You also LOVE when your dad tells you stories before bed at night-- the zanier and sillier the better! And then, in return, you've started telling us some of your own. 

You say so many hilarious things, Sloan, that it's hard to even keep track of them all sometimes. A few of our favorites from this year include you asking your dad to "Turn it up" in regards to your applesauce (meaning, you'd like him to add some cinnamon). Or one time you asked if I had any "white-late pudding" you could have because you'd forgotten the word "vanilla" and figured whitelate was the opposite of chocolate. You've told you "have a good heart" (you're right, you do), and that you "don't really like songs that say hallelujah; I don't like the sound of that." One night I was carrying you down the stairs on my back and I said, "You're heavy, Bub." To which you responded, "Bubs are heavy." You call coffee grinds coffee sugar and cow patties are mud poop. Once I told you to wipe your nose because you had stuff on it and you said, "It's okay. I'll survive." Pretty much any mess you make or accident you have or mistake you do is quickly followed up with you assuring everyone else, "It's okay. It's okay."  Another repeated phrase of yours is "actually." And sometimes you ask if something "actually actually" happened. Once, when we were in the car, Papa was trying to explain to you that we were getting closer to where we were going, but when he showed you how far our van moved on the "zip it line" (the line we have attached to the van that shows our progress and how closer we are getting to where we are going). He said, "It moves just a little bit at a time, like when a clock moves--clocks move slowly." You said, "Oh yeah. I know about that. I have a slow clock in my room." Ha. Time is never moving fast enough for you!  However, the latest thing you said to me one day while we sat and did a little project may be my favorite: "Mom, you know if you love donuts, and donuts got stealed.... you know you'd take that personally!" Oh Sloan. Your mind is a masterpiece and I'm just glad we get to be here for it. 

You still LOVE to play cars, watch cars, do anything remotely involving cars. Ramps. Tracks. Remotes. Wheels. Whatever, you're here for it. You also started liking sharks this year, and wanted to check out all the interesting shark books at the library and learned a lot about hammerheads. It surprised your dad and I that you were still pretty opposed to learning to ride a bike this year--- until you decided you wanted to do a triathlon because you're sisters were. You did NOT want to miss out on that, and promptly hopped on your bike (with training wheels) and took off. You also decided one day this summer that you could swim, went under water, and the rest was history. You were jumping into the deep end and doing flips and completely comfortable in the water. And while you really do live full-throttle, there is a beautiful undercurrent of something gentler in you. You have a cautious nature tucked inside, a gentle spirit that peeks out. I think this is thanks to your dad, who models for you that guys don't have to be "tough" all the time. The fruit of the spirit is gentleness, and we're seeing that in you as you grow and explore too.

Every morning after you eat a big bowl of cereal-- sometimes after 10 minutes, sometimes after an hour, but nearly everyday-- you ask for your "second breakfast." So somewhere along the way this year we decided you became a hobbit with all of your second breakfasts. Another thing that we realized this year is that you have an astounding memory, recalling details of things that happened years ago. These aren't just things you've seen in pictures or videos, but obscure things that I cannot even begin to understand how you remember them. This year you also developed-- or perfected-- a very, very loud presence. Your go to volume is ALL THE WAY UP! As a fourth child to all girls, I'm sure there is an element of they-are-always-talking-so-I-just-have-to-turn-up-the-volume-to-be-heard, but it's something we're trying to work on a bit with you: to learn when you can just speak in a normal volumed voice, and when it's okay to be loud! 

Over all, Sloan Lee, your life is marked by joy. Unending, reverberating, loud JOY. You make us laugh, you love to laugh, and you are always, always, always up for something fun. I never want to squash your enthusiasm for life or the simple joys you get everyday. You've taught us all a lot about loosening up and enjoying the ride. As you grow older, we pray that you learn where the truest joy is found: in Christ alone. And that as you go through all the adventures that inevitably lie before you, that you'd do so continually singing the refrain: "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart to stay." 

 

And like I say every year: Your dad and I hope you always understand the why behind our no-s. We hope you feel safety in the boundaries we set. We hope you feel freedom in the wide open places we leave for you. We hope you see God in our actions and our words. We hope when you leave our little home for good and go out on your own that you'll look back on this simple little life we had together-- chaos and mistakes and messes and all-- and see that it was grace that held us together; that you see that it was God's daily bread that provided it all. 

Happy fifth birthday, Sloan Lee! There is nothing you could ever do to make us stop loving you!