International Noah Day
Noah, today we celebrated that we have known you for five years, now. Those years have been pretty amazing.
Right from the get-go, you have had a special place in my heart. You are my cuddler, my crazy guy, and oh-so-cute.
You so often seem to be in your own little world, but its because the things that are important enough to take up your attention take up ALL of it. And you want to do them perfectly. You refused to try to draw letters--or even stick people--for the longest time because they weren't just right. Even now, the attention to detail you put into colouring can be astounding to me--like the twenty-nine or so colours you put into a single quail picture today!
You love music, and colouring, and playing piano. But you also love wrestling, and trucks, and climbing on hay bales.
A harsh word is often discipline enough, a smacked bottom is only needed on rare and dire occasions, and a "time out" is no discipline whatsoever--but it is often hard to tell if you understand the point of the discipline at all. You are like a puppy--unless you were caught in the act, it seems like the discipline is lost, and not associated with an action. Your little one-track mind forgets the consequences much sooner than the desire.
You still get easily scared of tense situations in movies--even movies that most would consider tame (certain VeggieTales movies come to mind). It astounds me, but at the same time I love the sensitivity and active imagination that this reveals. (Don't worry--I got scared of the Luck Dragon in The Never-Ending Story when I was nine--which is something my dad will never let me forget! But it was only because my imagination made everything in it so REAL to me. And that imagination has served me well in my life, so I hope you never lose it. Oh, and when you're older and finally watch that movie? You'll laugh. Trust me. It is so unscary, it makes VeggieTales look like a PG-13. Oh, wait--you're already scared of VeggieTales. Never mind. You don't get to watch TN-ES until you are about 20. Okay?)
You are so laid-back in some ways, but so wired-up in others. And you are also definitely your own person. I pray that as you grow older, you will continue to grow into those things that make you uniquely "you", and not worry about what everyone around you may be doing. But I also pray that you develop an awareness of what is going on around you, so you don't wander through life like a feather floating in the breeze--just going along with wherever the current takes you. Or at least, make sure you are on the right current.
Happy Birthday, my little man! I can hardly wait to see what is in store for you this year!
Oh, and one more thing--could we keep the number of gray hairs you add to my head this year down to 3?
Right from the get-go, you have had a special place in my heart. You are my cuddler, my crazy guy, and oh-so-cute.
You so often seem to be in your own little world, but its because the things that are important enough to take up your attention take up ALL of it. And you want to do them perfectly. You refused to try to draw letters--or even stick people--for the longest time because they weren't just right. Even now, the attention to detail you put into colouring can be astounding to me--like the twenty-nine or so colours you put into a single quail picture today!
You love music, and colouring, and playing piano. But you also love wrestling, and trucks, and climbing on hay bales.
A harsh word is often discipline enough, a smacked bottom is only needed on rare and dire occasions, and a "time out" is no discipline whatsoever--but it is often hard to tell if you understand the point of the discipline at all. You are like a puppy--unless you were caught in the act, it seems like the discipline is lost, and not associated with an action. Your little one-track mind forgets the consequences much sooner than the desire.
You still get easily scared of tense situations in movies--even movies that most would consider tame (certain VeggieTales movies come to mind). It astounds me, but at the same time I love the sensitivity and active imagination that this reveals. (Don't worry--I got scared of the Luck Dragon in The Never-Ending Story when I was nine--which is something my dad will never let me forget! But it was only because my imagination made everything in it so REAL to me. And that imagination has served me well in my life, so I hope you never lose it. Oh, and when you're older and finally watch that movie? You'll laugh. Trust me. It is so unscary, it makes VeggieTales look like a PG-13. Oh, wait--you're already scared of VeggieTales. Never mind. You don't get to watch TN-ES until you are about 20. Okay?)
You are so laid-back in some ways, but so wired-up in others. And you are also definitely your own person. I pray that as you grow older, you will continue to grow into those things that make you uniquely "you", and not worry about what everyone around you may be doing. But I also pray that you develop an awareness of what is going on around you, so you don't wander through life like a feather floating in the breeze--just going along with wherever the current takes you. Or at least, make sure you are on the right current.
Happy Birthday, my little man! I can hardly wait to see what is in store for you this year!
Oh, and one more thing--could we keep the number of gray hairs you add to my head this year down to 3?