Happy Birthday, Joey!

Joey is officially five years old today, and we are so proud of him, so I thought I'd mention a few things worth remembering:

• Joey learned to ride a bike without training wheels...today on his birthday!  This was his first try since last summer, when he really wasn't getting it at all.  But with just a few laps up and down our street, he got it easily today, and he had SO MUCH FUN.  
• Joey is actually proud to be five.  I think it's pretty cool that he thinks of this as a source of pride.
• Joey is now, and has always been, very capable.  Among the things he can do are: crack an egg; successfully stir batter; rinse dishes and load the dishwasher; vacuum (thoroughly); plant seeds; water flowers; pry open a box of...whatever; peel an orange or egg; put together a 48-piece puzzle; color, paint, cut, glue, and tape; read lots of short words; sing in tune; dance better than me; build a jail for his little brother; go across the monkey bars; serve himself breakfast; take pictures; climb fences; clean the mirrors well; make friends fearlessly; and, as of today, ride a bike without training wheels.  I'm sure there's lots more.  As I said, Joey is very capable.  
• Joey is also still very goofy--he loves to do things that are silly, which makes life very fun for the rest of us.  Even after a year of preschool, he still writes his "J" backward, but it's just too cute to correct--at least for now.  He does this unintentionally, but one thing he does just to be wacky is writing his name extra big or extra small or with some letters huge and some letters tiny.  Anything to get a laugh.
• Joey is very affectionate.  He likes "clean kisses" and hugs and he's like a mass-manufacturer of gifts, cards, and pictures that he gives to me on a very regular basis.  He's not sentimental, though...he produces these things so rapidly some days that I have to throw many away, but he never notices.
• Joey believes in choosing the right, and he's working on this constantly, though as a five-year-old he encounters many opportunities to slip up.  We're so proud of him, though, for always trying.  
• Joey and Tommy are the best of friends.  They really get along well and enjoy each other's company.  It warms my heart to see them playing together, whether their game is some elaborate imagination game, like last week when they were "working at five-dollar pizza" or racing around pretending to be on Motorstorm, or playing video games together, egging each other on.  
• Joey is also a fantastic older brother.  Although he butts heads with Sam all day, every day, he really does try to be kind, and he can be very generous and helpful.  He also adores Nathan, and truly enjoys sharing a room with him (in fact, he doesn't like to go to bed when Nathan's not in the room with him.).  
• Joey is very outgoing socially and generally fearless in most aspects of life. (Like how many times now have we lost him in public places--Lions Park at age 2, Westwood Elementary at age 3, the MN State Fair and Home Depot at age 4, etc. because he wasn't too scared to wander off?)  I was so proud of him a few weeks ago when, with no prompting from me, he marched right up to the children's librarian in our public library and asked her where he could find the specific book he loved hearing in his preschool class.  He has the same boldness on the playground with friends old and new.    

To sum it up, Joey is a very cool kid and a blessing to our family.  I'm so grateful that he was born 5 years ago today and our life was made irreversibly better.  We love you, Joey.