Holden: Six Years

The other night, Holden read "Green Eggs and Ham" to me in its entirety. At the end, I cried. No, no, no - I wasn't all broken up that that strange animal finally tasted that putrid looking meat after all of Sam I Am's urging. I was overcome by a mixture of being so proud, yet so sad at how fast he's growing up. It only seems like yesterday that he was grabbing the Goodnight Moon board book with his chubby little baby fingers and trying to shove it in his drooly red mouth as I recited the words I'd come to know by heart, "In the great green room, there was a telephone, and a red balloon..."


Not to long ago, something just clicked with him and reading. Only weeks shy of his 6th birthday, and he's sounding out every street sign we pass and picking up any book in his room and diligently sounding out words until he gets it. I grew up reading ... I fondly remember summer vacations where I rode my bike to the library with an empty backpack and returned with it loaded with as many as nine books, all of which I'd devour in a week. I always worried that it would be hard to foster such a passion for reading in any child - let alone an active little boy. But as the years pass, those fears are quickly dissolving.


At the same time, if he's taking after me as a bookworm, he's certainly showing he's his father's son with his passion for sports. The other night, during a post-dinner game of catch in the driveway, I asked him if he preferred baseball or soccer. With a nonchalant shrug before throwing a perfect pitch back to Kevin, he replied: "Both." So, then I asked if he liked art or playing sports. "Mmmm ... I don't really like art too much. I like to play sports." As the ball made another satisfying slap into his mitt, Kevin asked if he was interested in music - playing the piano or guitar or singing on stage? Holden crinkled the skin between his eyebrows and said with certainty, "No."

Of course, who wouldn't want a Renaissance Man for a son? But the thing is, he does all that. He's doing great with his coloring and art projects at school (not so much at home, because Kevin and I don't have a lick of creativity between us to inspire such activity), and he is an absolute ham, confident to sing a tune at the top of his lungs and dance a little jig when the mood strikes.


We knew when he was pretty young, though, that sports was going to be a huge part of Holden's life. He's always shown natural ability, strength, balance and determination while doing outdoor activity - everything from bike riding to Frisbee throwing has come easily. While he's finding a fun outlet in organized team sports, we're also enjoying teaching him about all the things that go along with being a team player. Now, he knows the value of being a responsible, supportive and positive teammate as they gather a couple times a week to practice and play T-ball.


You'd think that such a typical little jock would be a real tough guy. But true to his early sensitive nature, Holden has remained the sweetest and most sensitive kid around. This has come through so much more lately as we struggle with his brother and see how Holden tries to help - even if it means sacrificing the favored bar stool or a toy just to keep the peace. We're trying to teach him that giving in to a Riley-sized temper tantrum will only teach Riley that such theatrics will get him what he wants, and he'll keep doing it. But Holden just wants to keep the drama away, and who can blame him?


Our devoted readers will note that this newsletter is a bit tardy, and it has been pointed out that our blogging pace has slowed to a trickle recently. We have no way of explaining this except to say that caring for two boys, a house, working full time and finding down and free time is an absolutely overwhelming task. We try to spend as much time as we can with the boys doing fun activities, like games and hikes and walks and movies. As we do these things, we're finding that it is an absolute joy to share life's fun times with a kid like Holden. Sure, he does his share of whining still ... he is only 6, after all.


But as the months and years tick off the calendar, we're growing more and more pleased with the person Holden is becoming. Happy, active, smart, kind and loving. He makes us feel good - as if we're doing something right and all of this hard work is paying off.

Happy birthday to my sweet Holden, may your 7th year be one filled with learning, love and laughter. Always know that, despite the challenges we face, we see you, we hear you, we know you're there and we love you for being you.

Love,
Mom and Dad