Five!

I just can't believe that another Fife is five.  Alex comes up past my elbows now, but it's his personality that just seems to get bigger every day.

He and I have invented a game where we sing our conversations.  I can even get him to scat.  I love it when, without realizing it, he repeats back my melodic patterns with new lyrics.  Or when he finishes my musical phrase, inadvertently leading it back to the tonic.

His vocabulary seems to be rapidly expanding as well.  It's one of my favorite stages, where the words go far beyond one and two syllables, the sentence structure becomes increasingly complex, and sometimes - if you filter out all the giggles - you can pretend you're conversing with a full grown human.

He's never had confidence issues, but it is still so much fun to see him find his own place in the world.  He is starting to grasp his unique talents and wanting to make his own mark.  He loves going to gymnastics each Thursday, and I'm glad we've found something that he can call his own.

He still touts orange and blue as his favorite colors, and though he's gone through a no-strawberries spell, he swears he'll love strawberries again now that he's five.  He seems happy in every environment, loving school and primary and time at home.

I'm thrilled that he still has his husky little voice, but his laugh right now is an obnoxious cackle I could certainly do without.  He's looking forward to auditioning for a show that mom isn't doing, saying, "I really need to do Oliver again.  I'm starting to forget the words."

He's registered for Kindergarten in the fall, and I keep wondering how one building, no matter how large, can possibly contain Alex.  But I can't wait to see what he's going to accomplish, how fast he's going to learn, and how happy everyone will feel when they get to see Alex's smile every day.  His is definitely not a light suited to hiding under a bushel.  I'm so proud to see him share his light with the world!

Happy Birthday, Al!