He's FIVE!

Well, Adrian. You are now five. So much to celebrate!

Here's 4 1/2
Here's 4.
Here's 3 1/2.

Here's 3.

Here's 2 1/2,  
Here he was at 2.
Here he was at 18 months.
(And before that, I wasn't a blogger).

To my Adrian,

The words that describe you most are driven, focused and certain. You know what you like. You know what you want. You are unwavering. All these are such strong points for you and also the tricky parts of parenting you sometimes.

You love, love, love farming. Some thought it was a phase when you were young. It's no phase. You live, eat, breathe and sleep farming. Literally. Tractors and cows mostly.  You sleep with a John Deere stuffed cow. You wake up, roll out of bed and go directly to the barn.  You put on some sort of farming apparel to begin your day, you never go a day without wearing something farming related. Your play is emulating farming scenes with your play tractors and cows or doing some sort of job you create for yourself around the farm (moving sticks, gathering grass, etc.). The things you want to do are farming related. You are forever striking farming conversations up with whoever will listen.  Work and play are the same to you, as work is your play. It's really quite entertaining listening to the stuff you rattle on about.

You are the most helpful and dependable little boy. You do chores without being asked (empty the clothes line, for example) and always clear your plate. If there is work to be done, you are there.

You never lie. You are always truthful.

You love PBJ and apple crisp. Any fruit dessert is up your alley. You love carbs, especially the end piece of homemade bread.  You appreciate anything that is homemade. You'll usually try anything. You love to help make anything and everything.

You are not a fan of sports.  You hate doing anything without your mama.  You love your mom and your dad, but your mama is your world. You see little point in playing with toys that are not farming. You love the Tractor Supply and the Feed Store. You are usually good at including and playing with new friends. You love your sister and get along really well with her.

You love to be homeschooled.  You hope you're always homeschooled. Your academics are coming although there's plenty of time for that later. Right now, you don't mind being home all day, just playing and helping your mama. You are never bored and seem to love your childhood.

You, sweet boy, are a joy each and every day to us. We love you oodles and are excited to have a five year old in  our farmhouse. So much love we have for you! Happy Birthday, Adrian!

Love, mama.

And his questions: Nicknames: Adrian Teele How old are you? 5 What is your favorite color? Green What is your favorite animal? Cows What is your favorite book? The Very Busy Day What is your favorite TV show? Curious George What is your favorite movie?  John Deere Tractor Movie What is your favorite song?  Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer What is your favorite food?  Peanut Butter and Jelly on homemade bread and homemade blueberry jam What is your favorite drink?  Milk What is your favorite breakfast food?  Donuts and Cantaloupe What is your favorite snack?  Trail Mix What is your favorite outfit?  The homemade tractor shirt that you made me. The one with a collar. What is your favorite game?  I just like farming. What is your favorite toy?  Tractors Who is your best friend?  Henry and Turner and Dom and Garrett What is your favorite thing to do? Play tractors and play the tractors in the dirt. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Mostly play tractors and do the milking with mom with the cows. What is your favorite holiday?  Christmas because I get toys and treats. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  Farming stuffed animals or stuffed dogs or a moose. Where is your favorite place to go? Tractor Supply and the Eliot Thrift Store What is your favorite restaurant?  Chinese buffet. Where do you want to go on vacation?  To BOG's because he's really special and he's my grandpa. And because of his farming toys and because he has a lot more farms and a lot more farming going on than here. Like some farms that I even know the people. Like Farmer Jon and Farmer Dave. I can see farming shows there. What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to live here in Maine, Wells on our farm. I want to milk cows and do farming work and brush the cows. I'll drive a great big pickup and I'll have a small John Deere lawn mower and a small John Deere tractors. I'll wear my work clothes when I'm on my tractor but I won't wear my work clothes on my lawnmower because I don't want to get it dirty. I won't like the girls because they'll be like too crazy. I'm just going to live with mama because I'm going to kick out my sister but I'm going to keep you because you don't holler at me. I'll adopt a boy to be my helper and keep you, mama, on my farm. What did you do on your birthday? I'm going to get presents mostly and I'll have PBJ and apple crisp.