Dinosaurs and Cars (and also Monster Jam)

Hi Salem,

This morning I asked you what your favorite toys were, and you said dinosaurs, cars, and also Monster Jam. Sometimes when you are playing with your toys you make these really creative scenes with Lego blocks and upside down cars like the ones you see in your videos on YouTube. It reminds me of when I was a kid. I used to tape cartoons and pause them during action scenes just to draw everything I saw with colored pencils. Sometimes I would make little houses out of Legos and imagine I was a shop keeper or a resident of a surreal landscape. 

You've got the best smile. You love to laugh and you also love to make us laugh. I can see it coming a mile away when you have a creative idea in your head. You get this cute little grin before saying things like, 'teeth are like a house for your tongue'. You love to read stories with me at night, and sometimes we make up our own stories. I'll never forget the time I had you cracking up laughing over a misreading of Dinosaur Days when you were up until almost midnight laughing about how funny it was. It's like food for my soul, and it makes me miss you dearly when you're away at Grandma and Pop Pop's house. 

I don't want to say things like, 'you're growing up so fast', because time is just a beautiful passing through the pages of the book of life. I'm getting older, but trying as hard as I can to stay healthy so we can always play together. I get scared about my health sometimes and even have freak outs over blood pressure and cholesterol, but I try very hard to take care of myself. You see, before you were around I never knew how important I was. I didn't really care what happened to me, but now I have something worth living for. I feel like we hit the jackpot with you because you light up our lives every day and keep us smiling always. This world is yours now, and I feel this need to teach you all that I know so you can grow up well. Again, that scares me so much because I never really knew what I was doing and all of a sudden I have the greatest responsibility imaginable in my hands.

I'll keep you safe. I'll always have ears for you if you want to talk, and I'll always have time to play with you. I'd like to start traveling more with you just to show you how beautiful this country is. Maybe sometime we can leave to travel internationally because that has always been my specialty. I wandered around the world many times over, but I've never had an adventure like this one that I share with you now. It's like a new beginning to a new book and you give me every reason to wake up in the morning.

I love you, son. I really love the person you are becoming, and I'm deeply proud of you. I miss your grandfather so much too. It breaks my heart to see you go through this, but things are getting better. You used to tell me you're sad and you even tried to leave one day. I know it's hard for you, it's hard for all of us, but we need each other. Stay strong, my son. Things will get easier.