Colten

Colten is a big 5 year old now. His birthday was in December, but hey I'm a bit late on things these days.
Colten is an amazing boy. He is very independent and can be very stubborn. As I always tell him, "You are going to go far in this world, just not in this house." But really he's been such a big helper he's going far even here at home. Colten has inherited his Poppy's work style. He always has to have a job to do, can't sit still without a clear purpose. When wood gets delivered he goes out carries it to the backyard and stacks it without even being asked, he volunteers to help me cook dinner, set the table, clean up dishes, get the mail, etc. He just loves to work! If he's acting out you just give him a job to do and he's happy again and forgets about getting into trouble.
Colten is in pre-school this year but very anxious to start kindergarten in the fall. He loves learning new things, and again with the work effort tries really hard to do his best job. He's very proud of his accomplishments, but shies away from praise in public as he gets embarrassed by it. His teachers love him, and he always gets glowing reports. I've started teaching him phonics at home and if I miss a day of his "lessons" he's quick to remind me that he needs to learn more so that he can be reading soon.
Colten loves people. He loves spending time with people. He's our best chance for an extrovert in our family. Sure he can be shy too, but he's much more people oriented than the rest of our family. Everyone seems to love him from neighborhood kids, to teachers, to animals. He just has one of those personalities that makes you love him.
Colten also loves sports, and does pretty well with them. He was thrilled to be on his first soccer team last fall, loves taking gymnastics, and is excitedly learning to play any sports we'll stop to teach him. His latest sport he wants to learn is football.
Our kitten Fleur loves us all, but she and Colten have a special relationship. She sleeps at night in his bed, and we can hear the purring down the hall. She follows him around the house and he calls her "my girl" and watches out for her.
Colten is such a blessing to our family. We love you Colten!