Children of The Church: Happy 5th Birthday Connor

Dear Connor,

These past five years have flown by, as it seems like just yesterday that I held you for the first time! You have been such a blessing to our family, right from the very first moment.

You are spunky, fun, energetic, and incredibly caring. The word that I would use to describe the past year with you would be GROWTH. You have grown up so much this past year from an emotional toddler, to one of the "big boys" in our family who is responsible and incredibly helpful! You have started your own chores and you take so much pride in setting the table every day, unloading the dishwasher and helping to start coffee in the morning. Emotionally you have also grown so much. You handle yourself well and are so great at thinking of others before yourself.

Your little world changed when Peter was born last November, for the best! You were so little when Luke was born (only 19 months old), so this is the first time with a new baby in our house that you really understood what was going on. From the moment that you met you were so in love with him and always want to hold or play with him! You love to help feed him, sing to him, and teach him new things like how to clap or even new words. Once Peter was born you were already asking for more brothers or sisters and would say that you want to be a Daddy when you grow up!

Your brothers are your very best friends and you are such a good friend to each and every one of them. Your relationships with them are all different, but that is what makes you so special. You love sharing a room with Ryan and we love hearing the two of you reading late into the night and giggling together. This past year you and Luke have become great playmates and you are a great role model for Luke! It is so much fun to watch all of you explore the world together everyday.

You love to play and be active! This past February you decided on a whim that you wanted to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels and you accomplished it in mere minutes! We went skiing this past spring and you did a great job learning a difficult new skill. You enjoy being outside all of the time, swimming, biking, and exploring!

Homeschooling is a great fit for you and we are so blessed to work at your speed and mold our learning to your strengths. You learned how to read this past year and now cannot put books down! You love to read everything, but your favorite are Elephant and Piggie books. You are very good at math and also love art and music. You started taking piano lessons this fall and already are doing simply fantastic!

You love our Catholic Faith and have grown so much in your faith over this past year. You went from being a wiggly little boy at church to being very attentive and loving to go to daily Mass. Catechesis of the Good Shepard has been such an amazing blessing for our family and you have learned so much. Your favorite Saint is St. Francis of Assisi, who you dressed up like on All Saints Day last year and always pray to every night.

Everything that you do, you do with purpose, good or bad! You love to tell jokes, do puzzles, and play games! You are incredibly imaginative and love making up stories or things to play. You bring a laugh and a smile to all of those around you.

You had to go to the Emergency Room for the first time this last year, and although you were not feeling great I think it was one of your favorite experiences! You love firemen and doctors and paramedics and so you were THRILLED when we told you that you were able to have your birthday party at a firehouse this year. It was so much fun to watch your excitement and see you explore the fire trucks and ambulance!