Hollis, my little man big boy,
I should be resting right now, preparing for the early hour tomorrow when you will rush in to my room and demand I take your first photo as a 6 year old. I can't sleep. I can't sleep because my heart is too full of you.
This year has been full of first for you and, because you're my first child, they're my firsts too.
You rode your bike without training wheels.
You were in your first wedding.
You lost your first tooth.
You made your first snowman.
You learned how to swim.
You started Kindergarten.
You visited the White House. Twice!
You learned to hit a ball without the tee and how to dribble a soccer ball.
You've learned to be a real friend, even to your "annoying" little brother.
I blink and you're an inch taller. You tower above the kids your age, but you keep growing, growing into your lanky boy frame.
I get choked up when I write that you are a boy, but you are. Boy. And in my boy, I see the man you will one day be. It fills me with equal parts awe and terror.
And, oh, there's so much more I could say. So much more about your generous heart and your kind thoughts and your little idiosyncratic habits that all add up to ... Hollis.
Happy birthday, my little not so little man.
Love,
Mommy
