(This is not the portrait of Matthew.)
Once upon a time, there was a little boy with brown hair and fair skin and blue eyes that danced with fun and mischief.
He was bright and funny. He was curious. He was full of energy, and full of questions, and full of giggles.
He liked to play rough, but he also liked to sit and work with his hands. He really loved to laugh, but he still cried easily, often and loudly. He was very dramatic when he was upset.
He liked jokes and was always trying out new ones. Most of them were very, very silly.
He had a sensitive little nose and liked to smell things--almost everything. Once he tried to smell a pan of cookies that just came out of the oven, and he burned the skin just underneath his nose.
He liked to keep things that he found on the ground outside, things like little red berries and plastic rings, pieces of old toys, bits of broken balloon, candy wrappers, and once he even tried to keep a piece of someone's old chewing gum. (His mother put her foot down about some of these things.)
He was an amazingly affectionate boy who always had a sweet, soft kiss for his dad or mom. He loved his two sisters and his baby brother hard, and sometimes he could not resist tackling or wrestling with them, which he was not supposed to do. He liked to be tickled, and he was great at high-fives.
He often noticed someone's hairstyle or outfit and was quick with a compliment. He would say, "I like you when your hair is that way, Mommy." Or, "You look beautiful in that dress, Esme."
These were just a few of the qualities and interests that made up the extraordinary little person named Matthew Wilcox around the time he turned five years old.
I wonder who he'll be when he turns ten?
