My Son John: Easter Sunday

Dear John,

Every year, the holidays become more and more fun and you are able to share all of the traditions with us.

During Spring Break, I took you and your sister up to the church for our "official" Easter pictures. You have finally internalized the idea that pictures are over so much more quickly when you cooperate.

These took less than fifteen minutes.

Although you did manage to stain both the shirt and pants in that fifteen minutes, or perhaps while in the church office, where I immediately changed you. I don't understand it, but I'm glad I got the cure pictures because this was not the outfit you actually wore for Easter Sunday.

For your Easter basket, I knew I wanted to do a theme. Your love of all things Ladybug Girl had me looking at other titles in the series and I found that the author had added a boy character in Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy and so I wanted to get that for you. I also wanted to give you the tools to dress up like Bumblebee Boy and then let your sister be Ladybug Girl.

I don't mind the idea of you wanting to be Butterfly Boy, wearing effeminate fairy wings and a girl's hat, but I want to make sure that you a more masculine option available.

We went to the early service Easter Sunday and then out to brunch. You and your sister got your baskets afterwards.

You immediately understood what your gift was about and embraced the idea of being Bumblebee Boy.

We read both your book and your sister's (LadyBug Girl and the Bug Squad which is also a Bumblebee Boy book).

Then I dressed you both up and took your picture outside.

I told you to look like Bumblebee Boy and you gave this great angry/serious face. I love it!

Then our friends from church came over to do our annual egg hunt.

You may be the youngest of this group, but the gap is shrinking. Emelia (in the heart dress) is the oldest, at seven. You will be three next month and while Emelia turns eight in August, there is still only about five years total between the two of you. Sean is four, Sydney and Ava are both five and Abigail is six.

All of you kids loved the egg hunt. As in year's past, I color code the eggs. You were orange this year. Sean was blue for the third year in a row. Emelia, as the oldest, had to have green, the hardest color to find. Abigail hunted pink, Ava purple and your sister chose yellow.

You were very aware of Sean this hunt and made it your business to help him find his eggs. Everyone helped Ava, who once again, found the idea of hunting eggs secondary to just playing in the backyard and having a good time.

After the egg hunt, you and Ava and Sean continued to play in the yard while the adults visited. Sydney, Abigail and Emelia went inside to play with the contents of the eggs, which this year was Legos.