Dear Kayden Jeanelle, 

I don’t even want to believe you are actually 5 today. How does this happen? You turning 5 has me feeling like my baby won’t be a baby much longer. That, and you constantly remind me that you are a big girl now!  I wonder what your mom is going thru knowing it’s now your birthday. She’s probably curled up in the bed staring at your baby picture LOL! You two are best friends, you’ve grown/changed her in more ways than I can count and she was already pretty great. I would send her a text but it’s 12:33 am and neither of you are morning people so I’ll chill. No sense getting fussed at on your big day. 

In the last year I have seen so much character come thru your bones. What tickles me the most is the fact that you refuse to accept the fact that you’re the baby. You are probably the roughest of your siblings and probably the toughest too. You scrap, fight and claw for just about everything, challenging anything your siblings do and usually attempting to do whatever it is yourself. I can’t count how many times I’ve had to grab you from the edge of danger and despair to tell you to “wait until you get a little bigger or taller”. 

It’s funny cause you’re at that crazy height right now where everything seems to bump into you. Counter-tops, car doors, dining tables, are just a few of the things
that have tried to take out daddy’s baby in the last month or so. Not to mention my baby is missing some teeth up front. Your mother and I think you look super cute but these are the years where you will be embarrassed when you see pictures later in life. I saw a picture of me the other day at 4 years old and can’t believe my head was/is that big LOL! 

Can you believe you just finished your first semester of Pre-K / organized school? You are doing great in class and you look forward to being there with your teachers and fellow students each day. The teachers say that you are a leader in the class. They give us reports of you speaking up to answer questions and making sure the class is staying on task. You like to turn that shy bug on whenever I am around the class so I never really get to see you in action. 

You are very mature to be 5 as well. It is impressive to see you grow and juggle the back and forth of multiple households and even religions. To see you adhere and accept  the Jehovah Witness principles you’re learning from your mother and then balance that with me who is not a JW is a testament to your brilliancy and heart as a child. I am so proud of you and I have learned alot about balance from you and you are only 5. You have proven that you can have traditions with mom and traditions with dad and no love lost on either end. 

I intend on being the best dad I can be as we move into this next year of your life. I promise to keep you connected to your siblings so that you never feel like “half” or distant and that the love you share as siblings who share the same dad is real love whether I am around or not.

This year we need to go ahead and hit this home run  on bike-riding and swimming. We made huge strides last summer but didn’t officially check the tasks off as completed.  Those are major plans for spring 2016. Hopefully you’ll be as determined to master those as you are/were to learning how to whistle and snap your fingers. You have the tiniest, cutest, finger snap ever!

Happy Birthday my love, ,my youngest…. my born leader….my little thug (because of your occasional mean streak) and my shy cutie tootie! Love you so much!!! Enjoy your day, love always, …Dad!