August 2015: 59 months (4 years and eleven months old)

Dear Patrick,

• You collect rocks from the playground at school and bring them home as gifts for us.  I find them rattling around in the bottom of your school bag. “Those are for you and dad,” you tell me.
• You and I finished reading our first real chapter book together called My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Gannett on 8/1. We started the book at the end of July and read a chapter or two each night before bed. You listened, but I could tell it wasn’t your favorite story. However, the next book we started, “Owls in the Family” you cannot get enough of: Billy, Wol and Weeps. (And your Dad says I read it best, cuz I use a Georgia-cracker accent when doing their voices.)
• From "Star Wars radio" you've learned the meaning of the words: maniacally, instantly and furious. Mrs. Betsy said that your vocabulary is amazing for your age - I did not tell her most of your words may be galaxy related.
• You earned a belt in karate on 8/4 and as the instructor singled you out in class to praise you for your efforts, you stood so proudly. Your father got it on video. You told me later, “This is so special to me,” cradling the folded belt in your arms like a baby.
• Games we play lately: "puppet show" where you use your stuffed animals and a bed as the stage. The other game is "hot lava floor," in which we create a path of pillows around various rooms of the house to walk upon and if you touch the floor, you have to start all over.
• You wrapped up the second week of swim lessons this month, achieving levels of “pike” and “eel.”
• I heard you make a promise to your father on 8/6 that if he allowed you to watch Clone Wars on TV that you would eat your breakfast. “But, how about this,” you added, “I will eat, but I'll take some loooong breaks, okay.” Such a negotiator.
• You told Gangie on 8/8, “Don’t touch electric wires - they are highly deadable.”
• The black eye you received earlier this month from a head-butt on the playground with Landon is fading.
• At your request, I sewed-up a hole in Elephant’s tail with blue thread that matched perfectly, and he feels so much better now.
• On 8/14 at 3:00am in the morning, you came into our room to tell us that you threw up. You didn’t have a fever, so I sleepily cleaned up the rug and the floor, and we sent you back to bed with a “throw up bucket” beside you - just in case. And sure enough, the next morning we discovered you had thrown up again - this time in the bucket. Since you knew what to do, you didn’t feel the need to tell us. You just soldiered on.
• On 8/18, you earned a red tab on your white belt in Jeet Kune Do and you were very happy. Later, you and another little boy, bumped heads during the game portion of the class. And even though you burst into tears from the collision, you picked yourself up (with some encouragement from your parents) and went on to win the entire dodge-ball game that night.
• You would chew gum every moment of the day if we let you.
• You’ve been getting yourself dressed in the mornings and because you are making your own choices, I don’t even question corduroys in the heat of summer. We have put extra shorts - just in case - in your school bag as back-up.
• You quote "Star Wars radio" out-loud as it plays - your voice syncs exactly with the narrator AND you even add the sound effects at just the right moment. Guess how many times that means we’ve all heard the stories?