Kenan's 5th birthday

In our house we sing, "We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy birthday to Kenan!" I personally love that his birthday is January 1. The world celebrates with him. :)

It is hard for me to believe that Kenan is 5-a whole hand! In many ways it feels like just yesterday I was in the hospital in France giving birth.

Kenan is a joy. There's no other way to put it. He is so sweet. He loves everyone. He shares so well- not just with his brothers- but I've learned from his teachers that he shares his snack everyday. The other day he wouldn't leave school as he had some fruit loops and he went around handing them out to parents and kids who were leaving. Totally unprompted he loves giving to others. He is a hugger and kisser. He loves his family. He loves his animals. Whenever we leave he always talks about how he misses Caroline and Purr. He is a special kid. He marches to the beat of his {very slow} drum. He loves to tell jokes. He'll talk to whomever, even if they aren't listening or can't understand English.

His favorite things are macaroni and cheese, empanadas, strawberry smoothies, his brothers, his doggies, legos, and Wii, not necessarily in that order.

We had his Diego party on New Years Eve as his birthday was a Sunday this year. Games were provided by my mom. (Thank you!) Among the games were pin Click on Diego...

Rescuing animals with those sticky hands...

Bean bag toss where you had to land on the animals and not in the hole.

I love watching Kenan open gifts. It is just so him. He looks at each thing and is so happy about it. He opens things slowly and enjoys each item. This was his response to the card Dawson made for him. He loves his brother.

I love how opening gifts is a communal thing at this age. Everyone "helps"out.

Getting ready to blow out his 5 candles.

He blew a lot since they were trick candles. We probably have 10 shots of him blowing and blowing.

His special cupcake with strawberries in it.

He enjoyed it. There was strawberry ice cream to go with the cake.

His brothers liked it too.

This is just a picture of his drawing skills. I was impressed that he did this all on his own. (Obviously he didn't write the Baby Jesus part but he drew the rest alone). He loves artistic things. He loves coloring and painting and singing.
Quotes from Kenan in the recent past:

-See me dancing? That's what I do when I'm excited.

-As he was putting on his shoes to play in the mud, he sees Caroline pick Purr by the neck (a regular occurrence). He jumps up and says, "I don't care about shoes! I care about Purr!"

We love you, Kenan! So thankful that the Lord gave you to us! You are a blessing, truly one of a kind!