Our 5 Year Old Dawson

This boy of ours, today he is five whole years old. He is still a little boy, but growing up before my eyes every day. He will still snuggle up and fall asleep on my lap at night, but he can keep up with Dad on the farm all day if we let him. He still wakes me in the night from time to time to lay by him until he falls back to sleep, but he also knows how to get his own pancakes in the morning if I am pressed for time. With the new baby coming soon, his sweet little heart recognizes that I need help around the house, and often I will find him washing dishes in a sink full of cold, soapy water, or he will be up on his tippy toes loading his hamper of dirty clothes into the washing machine all by himself.
So little, yet so big.
I have heard that little boys grow young men, and I already see it happening. I love his brown-haired, piggy-smelling, brown-eyed head so much that sometimes I just want to bottle him up and keep him right here at 5 forever, but then, I know he’ll turn 6, and I’ll want to keep him there, too. Watching babies grow is definitely bittersweet.
Happy birthday, Dawson Kevin! We love you so!