Shepherd River Turns 5!!!

 River has been explaining that he is "4 and 3 quarters" for months and now the day has finally come that he can proudly announce that he is indeed, 5 YEARS OLD!  Our sweet, cautious, thoughtful River has survived 5 years of life.  River is definitely the "easiest" of all our children.  Although his first year of life was pretty rough with lots and lots of crying (which looking back I think mirrored the stress I was feeling at that time in our life) he quickly turned into our best sleeper, most easy-going, most cuddly, loves-a-routine, kind-hearted child.  His attention span is astounding.  As a toddler, he would sit still and listen to long books and now he still enjoys sitting and listening to our family read-alouds without budging and hangs onto even the simplest detail of the story.

 At first glance River appears to be extremely shy and even a little moody, but he is actually just very sincere and very observant and won't speak unless spoken to unless he feels he is with someone he can trust.  And once that trust is established, he will talk your ear off about anything and everything!  He is quite the little philosopher : )
His mellow demeanor is such a blessing in our sometimes hectic household and although you will most often find him racing a matchbox car around on the floor by himself he has no problem jumping in the center of our family dance party and showing us all his latest "moves."  He is a trustworthy and gentle older brother to Ryder and an adventurous and playful little brother to Scout.  He is thoughtful and expressive son to me, always telling me how pretty I look or thanking me for something I've done for him.  He is an admiring and inquisitive son to Tony, looking up to his father and asking a million questions about cars, super heroes and all other "why"s that pop in to his head.  This has been fun-filled year of growth and learning and discovery for River and it thrills my heart to see him discovering the world around him and finding great joy in the simple things like looking forward to the changing seasons, reading a new book, chasing his sister in the backyard and playing legos with his little brother. 


 River's Favs -  This is what he said : )

Book:           Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 
Audiobook:  Winnie the Pooh
Place to be:  "in my room at Nana and Poppa's house"
Toy:              "my motorcycle that I got from the circus"
Activity:        bey blades
Season:          Fall
Restaurant:    Noodles and Company
Superhero:     Batman
Color:            red
Movie:          Cars I
Song:            The Big Big Bang (by Rock Mafia : )
Composer:    Bach
Food:            corndogs
Subject:         Reading
Place to go:   the "fire truck museum" aka the Children's Museum
When he grows up he wants to "play football when he's a teenager," "drive a car" and "build things"