Dear Jonas - you're five!

Oh gorgeous Jonas!

Our sunshine boy - you are the best little friend to everybody... you are so easy-going and kind natured and fun to have around. You are sporty, and competitive, gentle and determined. Stubborn as anything, and super sociable! We love all of the different sides our of Jonas!

We love watching you interact with your sisters; you are very much accepted as one of the "big kids" now and they welcome you into all their games and latest interests. You are easygoing, imaginative and fun to have around, so make a pretty good play-fellow, and you won't be the bossy one. You'll happily appease and go with the flow, and won't put up too much of a fuss! They love the fact that you completely immerse yourself in whatever game they're playing.

With your brother, your relationship has honestly been so eye-opening for me. Boys. Honestly, its a whole new world for me... I liken them often to lion cubs that take great joy in physical play fighting, puppies that need a daily walk to burn off energy, and fun little whirlwinds of giggles. These two have SO much fun together, and I love their little friendship. They are simple and straightforward and high energy. Everything is full on, but its never complex. That may change with age, I guess, but I'm enjoying the exhaustion and simplicity of parenting a pair of brothers!

Despite the fact you are easy going - you are also incredibly determined. If you decide to do something, you'll do it. You decided early on in lockdown that you wanted to learn to ride your bike. No one was allowed to help you. I don't know how many times you fell off, cycling circles round our garden, brushed off your knees and got straight back on. This kid's got grit. And oh my goodness - the pride on your face when you finally got there! You love all sports, and are a team player. You're favourite thing is to kick a football around, or bounce your basketball, or whack a ball up the lawn with a golf club. As long as there's a ball involved, you're destined to love it!

One of the other sides of you we are loving at the moment is your creativity. You are actually insanely artistic and I'm loving watching this unfold... you are a perfectionist, which is proving interesting when your artistic attempts done quite match up with what's in your head, but it's all space for growth! You continue to wow us with your accuracy (I loved the little stick men runners in the picture below!)

It's not all sunshine and rainbows of course - you have an amazing ability to know exactly how to wind up your siblings, and take great delight in doing so! It's something we're working on!

This isn't exactly the 5th birthday we imagined for your Jonas... no party, no little friends around you, no big family celebration, but in classic Jonas style, you have taken it all in your stride and haven't let it bother you. I could learn a thing or two from you!

We are so grateful for our Jonas boy... for the gift that you are, and for the way that even in your little years, you are demonstrating so much strength of character... you have resilience and determination, but that is balanced with generosity and gentleness. I'm so excited to see the way the Lord grows you and uses you, and we pray on that in your young age you will learn to trust the Saviour that we owe everything to. We pray your childlike faith would put down deep routes, and grow strong and sturdy, resilient and determined just like you are, but with Christlike gentleness and generosity.

We love you Jonas and thank God so very much for you,

Happy 5th birthday sweet boy!

Mama and Papa xxx