day no. 15,353: the fifth child turns five

Rocketsauce,

You have just completed your fifth circuit around our sun. Nice work, my man!

I love you, little brother. You are such a good kid. I love being your dad. I can hear your voice now. You have been very articulate for quite some time now. You easily adopt new words and enjoy incorporating them into your vocabulary. It is so much fun to hear the things you say. You end up sounding much older than you are because of the comfort with which you use words. Granted, they're not always used correctly, but what you lack in context, you make up for in confidence. It's like the pro-tip for reading obscure Jewish names out loud from the Old Testament: just sound confident, don't stumble and keep reading, plowing ahead, and everyone will assume you know what you're talking about. You do that really well, although the words are not foreign, just foreign to you, english words well above your pay grade.

Speaking of Hebrew, you are full of chutzpah. You are tenacious. But you are also tender. You run headfirst into everything and often end up on the business end of some unfortunate altercation as a result. But you aren't scared. You may cry when you get in over your head, but you don't stop messing with the bull, even after you've gotten his horns. You don't look for fights, but you don't shy away from them when they find you. You whine and fuss when the fight gets to be more than you bargained for, but once your protests have produced peace, you get right back into the fray, mixing it up, and kicking up dust until it once again gets on top of you. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. 

You love your big brothers and like playing with them. You've enjoyed sharing a room with them and playing with them. That said, you also play well with your sisters, by whom you are adored. You often make your way into the plays and performances your siblings spontaneously decide to direct and produce. You even have lines given to you... and sometimes you even remember them! 

We love you, Rocco.  You make our home a lot more fun. I love being your dad and am grateful for the opportunity to disciple you and to teach you to know, love and obey our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. You love God with what you've got. You are a fan favorite in the church nursery and everyone who knows you likes you. May God bless you with good friends and great influence for His glory, their good and your own growth in Christlikeness. May you be a cannon ball for God's Kingdom and may you never fear the dark, but may it always fear you.

I love you, son. I'm proud of the man you are and the man you want to become and I'm committed to helping you become him and relying on for the wisdom and ability to do so.