Leo,
My handsome little man... this year has been so much fun and a busy one. While I can feel the line that tethers us together stretching and becoming more flexible... I am so grateful for its elasticity. You always bounce right back to me at the end of a long day, in the midst of an exciting new discovery, or sometimes in a quiet moment when you just need a little mama time. I know (and am trying to prepare myself) for the eventuality of these times becoming fewer and with longer gaps between them but I am trying to live in today. You are 5 now. I have no idea how that happened. 5 years...
This year you have become very interested in taking pictures, our budding photographer. Here are some of the pictures you took, showing the world through your eyes.
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| Portrait of an artist |
I love looking at these pictures because this is what you see on a daily basis and these are things you found interesting enough to take pictures of. You took many more pictures throughout the year too... such as this one of the family.
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| Only bad thing about this family picture is that you weren't in it. |
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We took a trip to Florida in March and had lots of fun there. You really enjoyed dancing at my cousin's wedding, playing some golf with Papa at his club, and just in general hanging out with family. We had a lot of fun on our visit.
We arrived home just in time to buy a house (the best part for you was that you could run around the bottom floor in one big circle), celebrate Easter, and spend some time with Nana and Pap who came to visit for a whole month while we moved into the new house. We even took a fun ride on beautiful old (replica) ship. Spring also meant gardening and getting ready for the summer months. We took advantage of our new house's local and being able to walk downtown for some water fun, to the park for summer activities, or to jump on the Max for an adventure. We also went on two big camping trips this summer and you were very eager to learn how to do everything at the camp sites... putting up tents, building fires, and gathering firewood were all on the agenda.
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| Picture by Leo |
Another cool part of our new house is we are on the parade route for 4th of July! We had a great time and had lots of our friends over to enjoy the festivities. We can't wait to celebrate again this year!
While you can be and are very serious and responsible, you also have your goofy side that we all love... while we did a few small firecrackers in the backyard you jumped around and did a silly dance because you were so excited. Really there aren't many family outings that aren't treated to some fun antics from you. Berry-picking, going to the beach, the county fair (and your first ever Ferris wheel ride!), and a visit from Mimi and Papa also happened this summer. (I said we were busy, right?) We had so much fun and the weather was just beautiful...even more so since we had AC for the first time out here and central AC for the first time since leaving Florida! It made those hot days even more enjoyable.
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| We are on top of the world!! |
We had a really wonderful Mama & Leo date right before you went back to school (for 5 days this year!) We went bowling, played in the indoor play structure together, and went shopping for a new toy.
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| I think we will be wearing the same size shoe soon! |
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| One happy kid 💕 |
Autumn brought beautiful trees, cool weather and lots of adventures. We went apple picking, on trips to the playground (where you learned how to cross the monkey bars!), pumpkin patches and pumpkin carving, and spent Halloween in our new neighborhood. You went as a knight and you were very noble. Your sister was Princess Anna and you talked about how you would protect her... which you do on a regular basis. You are a really good and mostly sweet big brother. Always remember how she looks up to you, my little man.
For Thanksgiving, you were thankful for our family, playing with Dada, for your sister Ruby, your cat BB and for me. I think my heart exploded from sheer happiness. My sweet kid... I am so thankful for you too.
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| You love when Mama volunteers at your school, it definitely feels like a Leo and Mama Day so we celebrate! |
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Christmas was spent in Florida but only after we had an early Christmas in our new house and we got to see the tree lighting downtown! We got to take a Polar Express ride in Florida with Nana and Pap. You had so much fun and so many questions... about Santa.
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| Another picture by Leo |
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| Storytime with Nana and Aunt Tura |
We ended this year of you with your birthday party at our house, surrounded by good friends and family, and always lots of love. The theme was Monsters and we even ended the party watching Monsters vs. Aliens as you really wanted to watch a movie at your party.
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| Pin the eyeballs and horns on the monster |
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| After everyone had a turn |
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| Cake designed by Leo, executed by Mama (It's a monster face) |
My parting wisdom for this year... always remain true to yourself, love with that big heart of yours, and don't get discouraged when you can't do something the first time... or the second and so on. Trying new things often means failing but you are strong and able so try again and again and again...
I love you so much my sweet boy... from the very beginning till forever.
Love,
Mama
We took a trip to Florida in March and had lots of fun there. You really enjoyed dancing at my cousin's wedding, playing some golf with Papa at his club, and just in general hanging out with family. We had a lot of fun on our visit. 
We arrived home just in time to buy a house (the best part for you was that you could run around the bottom floor in one big circle), celebrate Easter, and spend some time with Nana and Pap who came to visit for a whole month while we moved into the new house. We even took a fun ride on beautiful old (replica) ship. Spring also meant gardening and getting ready for the summer months. We took advantage of our new house's local and being able to walk downtown for some water fun, to the park for summer activities, or to jump on the Max for an adventure. We also went on two big camping trips this summer and you were very eager to learn how to do everything at the camp sites... putting up tents, building fires, and gathering firewood were all on the agenda. 
My parting wisdom for this year... always remain true to yourself, love with that big heart of yours, and don't get discouraged when you can't do something the first time... or the second and so on. Trying new things often means failing but you are strong and able so try again and again and again...
