where do i even begin with this boy? in such a small frame, there is so much life i can barely get it down.
he has grown so much from four to five. from learning to sit still long enough to write his name to beginning to read. he retains information and comprehends more than i imagined. the older he gets and the better at communicating he gets, i hear so much that he learns. it's incredible.
he will sit and listen to a biography on benjamin franklin, theodore roosevelt, or john muir any day at any time. and as i read, he makes connections to sharing similar characteristics. he latches onto stories and likes to play them out in his own life. he also loves a good mark twain adventure. he loves to pretend he is tom sawyer. he would listen to me read (or an audiobook) for hours.
from the moment he gets up he is outside hunting frogs, salamanders, lizards, bugs, or any creature really. he studies the trees and watches the birds to memorize their patterns. he can spot anything, anywhere, at any time. he is constantly in awe of God's creation. i love seeing the world through his eyes. we wrap ourselves in blankets every morning on the back porch to watch the birds. then he goes on his morning hunt for creatures.
his breakfast prayer one day last week, "God, thank you for this food and that Daddy is home. And God, I pray that you will send frogs and salamanders to our yard. amen." that right there is how i should be praying. bold and honest.
i have so much confidence in him. whereas i think he could protect me better than i can protect myself, he is still my little boy that crawls into my lap and kisses my lips every night.
monkey hangs so close still as his most treasured friend. his adventures with him are such that we cannot keep up with all of them. monkey has traveled to almost every country and encountered almost every living creature only to defeat the bad ones and befriend the good ones. his stories are gold.
he has such a special relationship with both of his brothers. every year it becomes more apparent that God put him smack dab in the middle of those two for such a specific reason. i love watching him in his role. he holds us all together in some aspects.
we continue to roll on the floor at the things he tells us. and the way he sees the world. he is a hoot.
i do feel as though his personality is so consistent that i don't even need to recap it each year. he's a naturalist at heart and lives in a world all his own.
just tonight he found a baby praying mantis. he put it in one of his new magnifying bug holders for safe keeping. he then let will hold it. which is always a mistake but he treats others the way he would like to be treated. will opened the cage and let him go and tuck got very upset. for about 10 seconds. he then poked his head back in the door and said, "it's okay mommy, maybe i can find another one tomorrow." after i had a heavy discussion with will, he went to apologize to tuck. tuck hugged him and said, "i forgive you will. now guess what?! i'm going to look for another one tomorrow and maybe i'll find two and i will give one to YOU!"
that right there. that's tuck in a nutshell. his heart is so incredibly genuine that it catches me off guard daily. he is the real deal. there's never any guessing with him. he wears it all outside.
as he piles on the years and we watch him grow and change. i know in the next year he will grow bigger and stronger and wiser but i am enjoying him so very much in the every day.
