Six. Dear Cooper.

Cooper,

Today you are turning six. My heart is feeling so many things for you today. I'm sure I say this every year when I sit to write you a letter. So I'll save you the mushy details of it all this time around. I will say that you watching you grow up is an absolute pleasure. You are a joy. You are sunshine on my cloudy days. I'm oh so proud to be the mama at your side.

Recently I've realized that you have many qualities that I admire. At a mere six years of life you've taught me so much. So on your sixth birthday, here are six things I admire about you.

1) Your passion.

You don't just love things. You LOOOOOOVE things. These things consume you. They consume your thoughts, your drawings, your stories, your play time. You've always kind of fixated on a few things, and then cycle through them throughout the year. Currently you are very passionate about mario, pac-man, and minecraft --- video games in general. One day I envision you loving something so much it's what you do for a living. Maybe this love of video games will stick with you, or maybe you'll find a new passion. But that thing will give you great joy, great purpose, and I'm positive will continue to make me smile.

2) Your zeal.

I just looked up this word so I could write about it more fully. It means great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective. This definition is a picture of you. You wake up excited. You go to school excited. You come home excited. You love life! Your energy and excitement are unable to be contained. It just bubbles up and over in you. You zeal fills up our home.

3) Your compassion.

Yesterday your friends were leaving our home and you said "they should take a balloon with them." A few days ago I was crying, and you crawled on my lap and hugged me. You often pat my back, my arm, and extend love. You make sure monkey feels loved, too, inviting him along to events and giving him hugs and kisses all day long. You find ways to make others smile, like making pictures for them, or crafting something, or telling them a joke. Your kindness is evident in the way you make others feel.

4) Your likability.

You walk into a room the room changes. Other people flock to you, like you, and can't wait to hang out with you again. This is something that kind of baffles and amazes me. You do such a great job with other people. When we moved you said "mom, I need 1.000 friends" and it wasn't until you felt friendships stabilizing that you started settling in more. You need other people, and the more I watch you and your surroundings, the more I realize how other people need you, too. You are here for a reason, and your likability is helping you on the road to that great purpose.

5) Your humor.

It's developed into a humor where words like booger, poop, and fart in any sentence is funny. People falling over or getting hurt is even funnier. You've added funny one-liners to conversation, and I find you laughing along during conversations. I love this about you. Laughing with you is so fun. Humor is not something your father and I were lacking (let's face it...we are hilarious) and I'm glad you are bringing even more humor into our lives.

6) Your drive.

Cooper, you try and try and try to master the things that you want to do. This year I've watched you master jumping rope, writing, reading, and of course video games. There are many things you want to do - some of them difficult. When you have your heart set on achieving something, you work hard to accomplish it. And then when you faced a big unknown and hard-to-comprehend move across the country, you did so with bravery. You don't give up. You persevere.

Cooper, these things I admire in you have helped change and challenge me. You make me want to work at what I'm passionate about, and to find new things to love. You've made me want to be more excited and light-hearted in life. You've shown me how to extend kindness to all sorts of people and have asked tough questions that stop me in my track when I'm not extending the same compassion you show. You've made me take a hard look at myself and wonder what I need to do to be more likable and friendly. You have me finding all sorts of ways to make you laugh. And you have challenged me so much to stand tall and be brave and keep going. I know I might be biased, but based on my 6 years with you, I think you might change the world. You've definitely changed mine.

I love you, Cooper. Cheers to six years!

Love,
Mom