January 2016: 64 months (5 years and 4 months)

Dear Patrick,

• Your father asked if you were winning the game of Connect Four against the computer. “Not even a little bit,” you answered without looking up.
• On Saturday 1/9 you came into our room like a ninja and crawled into bed without ever waking us up. But then - despite all those efforts - you said loudly, “I want to get in the middle and I need a pillow.” We humored you with a grumble.  Then we heard you say, “This pillow is hot.” I turned it over (basically in my sleep) and heard you say softly, “Oh, but it’s still not cold enough...”
• We love the game Trouble that Jono & Jen gave us for Christmas and we’ve been playing it after dinner on the weeknights. You have the players, who are Star Wars characters, talk to each other as they pass on the board. Everything about you is social.
• You like to crawl into pillow cases and be carried around the house like a “sack of Patricks.”
• Overheard from the basketball jump castle at the Pavilion as you and Rivers shoot hoops: “Three points for Gryffindor!”
• On 1/15 I asked you to leave your green dinosaur in the car and not take him into school but I assured you that he would be there when I picked you up later that day. You said, “Okay, but tell Dad that you’ll pick me up. Text him. On your phone.”
• As you walk around the house, we hear you humming the theme music from Star Wars to yourself.
• You like to eat the soup that your Dad makes with kale, carrots, potatoes and chickpeas, which is great since I feel like this is finally one dish that gives you good nutrition and we can all eat together. On 1/13 while I was working late, you helped cook that soup and apparently you sounded out the word “stock.” You are beginning to read a few small words. Its very impressive.
• “In this house you can pee in the shower,” you yelled to me from the other side of the glass wall. Thank you, Patrick. It’s good to know the informal rules of your own house.  
• You love to wrestle and you challenge your Dad to wrestling matches often. With me, you call it “hug wrestling” to possibly make it more appealing? On 1/17 Sunday afternoon you asked Spence when he arrived to our house, “Do you want to jump or wrestle?” Those are the two options when you come to play at the Byrds.
• Uncle Bunky arrived Thursday 1/21 before the snow came Friday the next day. We had a long weekend of sled rides and snowball fights. Your dad took you to Summit Elementary and you sled down that huge hill with the other kids in the neighborhood. You had one big crash where another kid took your legs out from under you but you recovered.
• When Michael sent your player “home” during a game of Trouble, you said to your uncle, “Bunky, you broke my spirit.”
• Tom and Charlotte Hope arrived in Greenville on 1/29 and stayed through the weekend with Omi and Pop. Bunky was your roommate - your first real sleepover. And because Tom doesn’t sleep late, he came to get you and carry you back across the street to play that Saturday morning! Charlotte brought you these magnetic disks that create cool shapes when put all together. We had so much fun that we didn’t bathe you for four days - there just wasn’t enough time for boring stuff like that.
• You told me that at school one day you were going to say something that was not nice but then you decided “to keep the words in my mouth.”
• Noticing your Dad’s bare back one morning you asked him, “Is that a tattoo...from dance class?” I couldn’t stop laughing. And you pressed further, “...from ballet dance class?”
• We’re more than halfway through Harry Potter. I like when the three of us pile on the couch in the living room and your dad reads it out-loud before bed. One night you interrupted the reading to say, “You guys are muggles, but I’m magical.” I think so too, Patrick. Very magical.

December 2015: 63 months (5 years and 3 months old)

• Your father and I flew to New York at the beginning of the month to visit Sonny & Katie and we had such a great time. I can’t wait to bring you to NY so that you too can eat great food (soup dumplings), ride the subway, see a show, walk more than expected, learn to cross [the street] and pee when you can - not when you have to, buy street scarves and hats and turn into a rock star (like your dad does). And if you’re really lucky, you can have Uncle Sonny & Aunt Katie with you the whole time to make you laugh and share great memories.
• “Mom, look at me please,” you asked as you were telling me a story. You wanted my full attention and it made me so happy that you knew you were important enough to deserve it. Talk to me, Patrick. I’m listening with my eyes and ears.
• On Thursday 12/10, your father and I took you to have allergy tests done and you are very allergic to dog & cat hair, seasonal pollen and dust mites. So, we’ve encased your mattress, bought new pillows, relocated stuffed animals and other soft blankets to the playroom, begun washing everything weekly with very hot water and have become religious about your inhaler twice a day.
• You starred in Overbrook’s production of “The Littlest Christmas Tree” playing the littlest Christmas tree. Ginny Player told us that you had the hardest time acting sad because you are always a happy kid, laughing in rehearsal. But you nailed it at show time; brought the house down.
• Before Gangie and Biggie left for Oklahoma, we had a Christmas feast at their house and opened presents. Gangie keeps so many wonderful toys are her house for you that every day is like Christmas over there!
• We had a wiry Christmas tree this year with branches sticking out every which way, but every Christmas tree is beautiful with the lights and ornaments. And, for future reference,  in my opinion you can never have too many lights.
• Your dad and Matt Whitehead took you and Rivers out of school over lunchtime to visit with Santa. You were very excited when you got home later that day and told me all about it.  
• You still call a mirror a “mir-ra” and a satellite a “sad-light,” which I absolutely love. How are satellites and mirrors a part of our everyday conversation, you may wonder? Well, you have the biggest imagination I’ve ever seen in a child and you are always inventing things that require sad-lights. Also, your toothbrush has a suction cup on the end, which you enjoy sticking to the mir-ra after brushing in the mornings.
• We have been reading the illustrated version of Harry Potter most nights as a family before you go to bed. It’s a lot of fun for me - I don’t ever want this book to end.
• Omi and Pop stayed in the house across the street for eleven days and we had such a wonderful time all together: dinners here and there, nights out, learning how to play chess and checkers, building stairs in the backyard up the bank, arm wrestling, the skipping game (your invention), icing gingerbread men, learning french, “cookin’ in law” sing-a-longs, holiday decorating and shopping. On Monday 12/21, the street lost power and we ate by candlelight together. You did a little break-dancing as our dessert entertainment.
• You insist that there is a piece called the "electronic pawn" in the game of chess, and that it can pretty much do whatever it wants.
• Elephant went on safari while we were in NY, but Gangie found Elephant’s cousin, who you named LT (Little Truck) and he came to live with us. He’s a great new friend.  
• “I do not like crayons,” you informed everyone in the room after opening a gift from Santa at Omi and Pop’s house. The look on your face was pure agony and disgust. However, the Lego boxes made up for it.
• You asked Santa for a skateboard that you now ride around the house on your stomach.
• We drove to Shreveport Louisiana for New Year’s with the Richards (11 hours)! You loved the road trip adventure: watching downloaded movies on the iPad, jumping on the hotel beds and swimming in the indoor pool. And once we got there, you and Ginny were together for almost four days straight. We took you to see the new Star Wars movie in the theater! You both slept in the same room, played from morning till night and practiced kissing (more often than we think David liked!). Happy New Year to you! And all of us.

November 2015: 62 months (5 years and 2 months old)

Dear Patrick,

• On Sunday 11/8, Mark Vehorn was in town and had dinner with us. You ate quickly and then asked me if you could be excused from the table. With a nod, you jumped out of your chair and pointed two fingers at your father and Mark. “I finished before both you guys!” you declared victoriously. Your dad could not stop laughing about that for two days.
• I found a tiny, toy turtle in the front pocket of my jeans on 11/6. This must only happen to those who live with a five year old.
• “Look at my new kicks,” you told your friend Ella at school, showing her your shoes when I dropped you off in the morning. The brand is Merrell so you’ve also been calling them “m-kicks.”
• At your first hockey game, Pop told me that you were more interested in the folding seats than the action on the ice.
• You will give me a back-rub by crawling on my back on your hands and knees and it’s actually pretty good.
• Phinneas and Ferb is your favorite TV show lately. You and your Dad sing the whole theme song out-loud together.
• You paired a red turtle-neck shirt with khaki shorts on 11/10. Your dad said to you that morning, "It takes a self assured guy to pull off that look, pal." Especially since you call your shirt a duck-neck, which I love and don’t want to ever correct.
• You are hot natured - you don’t want covers or really clothes in general. And you really dislike a hot pillow.
• On Wednesday morning 11/11, I asked if you and Elephant slept well. “You bet we did!!” you answered. I swear you are the most positive person on the planet.
• “I know everything,” you told me on 11/13. I said that, yes you did know a lot, but you still have a lot to learn...especially about humility.
• “You can go home now,” you told me after I helped you get your bike up the to the top of the hill. You wanted to ride bikes with your Dad - just the two of you.
• You went to your first Gamecocks game and in the cock-a-boose outside the stadium and seats on the 50 yard line. You came into the house chanting “USC Go Cocks!”
• We went to the neighborhood block party on Saturday 11/14 at Community Tap. There were some older kids throwing the corn hole bean bags at each other and you jumped right in and played with them. When the game turned to chase, you ran fast like lightening and kept right up with them. You called them both “bro.”
• “I don’t mind the breathing treatments, Mom - I’m like a green Darth Vader,” you told me on 11/17.
• You pronounce the word mirror as “mir-ra.”
• After 100 games of baby lizard this month, your dad and I have decided that you are more bossy than creative, and its time to push back. We can pretend too - without a script from you.
  
• You have some sweet break-dance moves.
• Thanksgiving this year was pot-luck style. Biggie made smoked turkey and brought it to our house along with a cranberry cheesecake. Gangie made the mac&cheese and I did the dressing. Your Dad made sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts that had everyone loving brussel sprouts! Sal and Tom and Nana and Papa also came, and it was a really nice time gathered around the long table together. 

October 2015: 61 months (5 years and one month old)

Dear Patrick,

• You have so many different shirts in your dresser, but you consistently pick out the plain, short-sleeved, white Hanes undershirt to wear most mornings. Its your go-to of choice.
• The “sun” from the solar system decorations we had hanging in your playroom after your birthday party fell from the ceiling. So, you, Spence and JP busted it open to make a “cave.” I’m not sure how safe it was to allow a rubber globe to cover small children, but you took turns and entertained yourselves nicely.
• Elephant’s voice and Dino’s voice (and pretty much all the friends in the house) sound very similar.
• I went to El Paso and Juarez to visit Michael with Omi on 10/8 - 10/12 and when I got home, you and Dad picked me up from the airport in a NEW car! I loved seeing you pull your seat belt off and smush your face against the back windows, unable to open the child lock, but so excited to see me. Once we finally did hug, you told me: “Mom, this car has voice controls!” And you proudly showed me how they worked by yelling from the backseat, “Car go fast!” The car totally understood you and picked up speed. (No help from Dad - wink). 
• Sometimes you lay in the bathtub and pretend to be a starfish.
• On 10/15 you won a green stripe on your karate belt. You can also walk like General Grievous on all fours so you are inherently full of talent.
• Your dad fixed the brake on your bike and it is so much easier to ride now. (Never mind that we’ve just been telling you to pedal harder these last few weeks - ooops!) You like to take your bike for a ride after dinner while its still light.
• You told me one morning (in a whisper) when you came to snuggle in bed that you are "The King of the Lizards." I looked at you propped up high on a stack of pillows and thought, yep, you sure are.
• It’s getting so much colder in the mornings this month. You still want to wear shorts (and that white Hanes) but we compromise by having you wear long pants and putting shorts in your school bag.
• The night of 10/17, you crawled into bed with us at 4:30 in the morning. It never occurred to me to check the actual time on the clock because you never get up early. But upon waking slightly, your father asked if the bunny clock was up and you declared in an exasperated tone, “Well, he will just literally never ever get up!”
• On Thursday 10/22 you said, “It’s like I’m some special creature - I can see in the dark and I can walk backwards.”
• We put the worksheets that get sent home with you from school on the kitchen island so that when you have breakfast the next day, you can tell us about your efforts. I like to hear how you figured out the puzzle or why you picked a particular color. (As a side note: you like to color each thing a separate color - like one sleeve of a shirt red and the other blue. For a while you only used two colors and now its as if you have discovered the rainbow.) Once we acknowledge the worksheets - your Dad and I don't feel so bad throwing them away. I did, however, save one exceptionally good drawing of a landscape that you created on your own and put it on the refrigerator.
• You’ve gotten into your chores list this month. If you: brush your teeth, get dressed, clean your room and feed the pets, you get 50 cents for the day. The glass jar is filling up fast! And you mark off items with big X.
• You love playing the “Dad/Daughter” game in which you are the parent and I am the child... (but the child still has to do an awful lot to help the parent.) Your father finds this game very confusing.  
•  You were a Storm-trooper for Halloween and looked awesome. We walked up and down Earl Street and bumped into friends along the way. Kids raced between houses for as much candy as possible with their parents following behind just trying to keep up. However, your dad and I had to push and prod you ahead. You just move at your own pace. And then when your candy bucket was about half way filled, you said in a tired voice, “Ok, Mom, one more house and then I’m done.” You know your limits.
• The morning of 10/27 you heard the word “counsel” on the radio and asked what it meant. I told you it was to give guidance, advice and help. Wanting to show you understood, you chimed in, “Yeah! Like giving a map to find treasure.” Um. okay. maybe? Well, you don't need any map from me, Patrick. You are a great treasure.

September 2015: 60 months (5 years old)

Dear Patrick,

• The evening of 9/3, you said to me, "Mom, when I was a little baby you use to sing to me." And I replied, “Yes, and I'll sing to you right now if u want.” So as we're walking hand-in-hand to your bedroom, I sang very quickly and simply the first stanza of You Are My Sunshine. I heard you sniffle a little and thought it was your runny nose, which you seemed to of picked up earlier that day. But you said in this very tiny voice as you brought both hands to your eyes (and letting go of my hand), "Oh Mom, that made me cry." I almost burst into tears myself. I crouched down next to you so that you could sit on my leg and I hugged you. “Isn’t it wonderful to be full of so much love,” I said back to you. It really is.
• We got a new front door on 9/4. (Not sure if these little details will matter to you later in life but I’m including just in case.)
• Pop was in town on 9/8 to watch you earn a yellow tab on your karate belt. Then we all came home and had steaks to celebrate.
• At 6:30am on Wednesday 9/9 Cooper stood in the middle of the kitchen and barked - loudly, for no reason, like the most horrible alarm clock we’ve ever heard. And then you came running out of your room and announced that you accidentally wet the bed. So it was that kinda day.
• BB-8, the newest droid family member, joined our family thanks to Michael on 9/16 when we let you open your birthday present early.
• Coming home from karate, instrumental music was playing on the radio. I said to you that the song reminded me of an owl flying at night. (I thought that might help you thinking creatively) and then I asked you over my shoulder, “what does it remind you of?” You said very quickly, "It reminds me of my very old grandfather...dying."
• When you play pretend, you give others involved an actual verbal script to follow. It is step by step and you are very clear about who says what.
• Sonny and Katie came into town on 9/23 and stayed through your birthday weekend. There were good meals, wresting, the viewing of the REAL Star Wars movie episode IV and a lot of bubble gum. (How could your aunts and uncles not get you a gumball machine after you made such a great case on video!)
• On Sunday 9/27, you played the harmonica while your father and Sonny played the guitar and piano. And at one point you broke into song, which you made up on the spot, and your voice was so sweet and lovely; a family band in the making!
• We celebrated your 5th birthday in Star Wars style at the house. Despite the rain, we had a “sink the death star” (corn-hole) game, blast the dark side with water-guns, light saber bubble fights, tents, balloons, life size Vader and Luke Skywalker cut-outs, Jedi dress up photo corner in robes Omi sewed, drinks, snacks, a special Vader plate, and the entire solar system accurately hung in the dining room by Aunt Katie.  It was a really fun time.
• Our present to you on your 5th birthday was a blue Trek bike, which you’ve fallen off once (despite training wheels). Luckily we had light saber band-aids on hand. The “force” fixes so much.
• You have such a great imagination and I love the cadence of your speech. “Mom, you know what?” you will start, and then you will proceed to talk about the world as you know it; the stories you see on TV or read in books and the images that must run through that very creative head of yours...it’s really magical. There is no way to capture it or repeat it. One just needs to drive in a car with you and listen.

 

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?

July 2015: 58 months (4 years and ten months old)

Dear Patrick, 

• “I am soooo patient, Dad,” I heard you tell your father over and over (and over!) again. You did not outright ask to have the television turned on, but you were quick to point out how very patiently you were waiting for him to turn the TV on.
• You tell me that sometimes Elephant lives in Macon and goes to camp. I don’t blame him - camp in Macon is fun: swimming, tennis, crafts, new friends! There is so much to love there - although you did tell Pop that you “hate golf.”
• The July 4th fireworks at Idle Hour were amazing. You put your hands over your ears at first, given the noise, but you were impressed by the colors in the sky and had so much fun staying up late. You looked so comfortable as you waved hello to kids you knew from camp - you knew more folks than I did!  
• We are working on your focus. You can be silly at times, which is great - I love how you are able to amuse yourself because no one makes you laugh harder than you do, but there are times when we need you to eat without the fork talking to the spoon or a full running commentary in the voice of a baby lizard.
• On Thursday 7/9, after your father and I got ready for work, we found you sitting straight up in the middle of our bed making a grumpy “thumbs down” motion with both hands out-stretched at arm’s length. A little boy in a big bed with a huge frown. You didn’t say anything, but disappointment was clearly communicated. You wanted to snuggle (like you do most mornings!) and we had gotten up earlier than you expected. We talked to you about your feelings and tried not to laugh because snuggle time is serious business.
• For Big Mitchell’s birthday this month, he bought you two Star Wars books that came with two CDs, which read the stories out-loud (and the voices are very close to the actual characters.) Your father and I put a CD in each of our cars because you like to listen to “Star Wars Radio.” In fact, chewing gum and listening to “Star Wars Radio” on the way to the pool or karate may by one of your favorite things to do lately.
• You have a skill that you call “re-memorize” in which, as you explain it, you take a picture with your eyes and then you are able to see something [when you close your eyes or it goes away] later.
• I have now have heard the abbreviated version of “Return of the Jeti” a billion times but it never occurred to me that Darth Vader needs an army because (as you explained to us), “sometimes Vader gets tired.”  
• Nana and Papa gave you their twin guest room beds, which Big Mitchell and your father moved into your bedroom on Sunday 7/12. It looks great! The furniture served as childhood beds for Papa and his brother, and there is something really lovely about you sleeping in history.
• You do not like a hot pillow.
• On Tuesday 7/14, I took you to the doctor because of a slight fever the night before and your complaints of a sore throat. You told me on the way there, without any preparation from me that you would “be brave” -- and oh, how you were! I could tell you were a little nervous to get the strep test, which isn’t pleasant (stick shoved down throat), but you repeated your mantra to the nurse and to Dr. Bass and the check-up went great. I was so impressed with your resolve to be strong. You wanted to be brave and you made it happen.
• The Potter family came to visit mid-month and wonderful to have them in Greenville. You had not met before, but you were immediately at home with family. “Hey Darbs,” you’d say wanting your cousin’s full attention. I loved watching you teach Derrick to play your ipad game and helping Kimmie build the Star Wars lego ships that they brought as presents for you (lucky boy!).  
• On the same day that Pop sent an article about social skills being a better indicator of success for children than grades, Matt Whitehead told me a great story: Apparently you and Rivers had a disagreement about the flotation device you both wear in the pool. You call it a puddle jumper and Rivers calls it a swimmy but you explained to Matt that you would call it a swimmy in front of Rivers because he doesn’t like calling it a puddle jumper. You are a very kind, socially skilled child.
• You started to swim by yourself this month - really swim: with kicking legs and swinging arms and breathing. Your dad has been working with you at the Stone Lake Pool and all of a sudden, you seem to get it. I took you to an official lesson on 7/27 and the teacher said that you were so good, you needed to move up a level. “Torpedo” has now become part of our vernacular.
• On the way to swim lesson on 7/28, I told you that we were listening to Gershwin on NPR and you said, “No Mom. This is Mozart.” These were the exact words out of your mouth and I was so impressed we were having a discussion about composers that I didn’t even correct you...cuz it really was Gershwin. (I'm just sayin'!) 
• On 7/21, when I was tucking you into bed, you told me that you wanted to make a rainbow cake with rainbow frosting and rainbow candles for a girl in your class. Which girl, I asked. “ALL the girls,” you clarified. Oh.
• You have woken up three times in the middle of the night this month - once from a bad dream and twice because your legs hurt. You go right back to bed without any objection - its as if you just want someone else to be aware of your struggles and then once shared, you can rest again.
• “You look pretty, Mom” you told me one morning, “but you need earrings.” And then you ran into our bedroom to select them for me. I would have worn bright, purple feathers if you brought them back - anything for you.
• Pop sent you a math kindergarten workbook through the mail, which we did together on 7/28 and you are great at the mazes, matching, counting, patterns and shapes. However, when we get to an exercise to draw or color anything, you would say very diplomatically, “Let’s just come back to this one.” (We never come back to those.) I like seeing the way your mind naturally works and what you enjoy. You becoming you, Patrick Byrd, is fun to watch.