two-ten-twenty-ten

Today is my birthday. I actually turned a year younger today. In the days leading up to my birthday I somehow got it in my head that I was turning 37. This morning Logan asked me how old I was today. "37," I replied without hesitation. Camden happily piped in with, "No, Mom, Dad's 37. You're 36 today. Here's a calculator; do the math!"(he knows his Mom so well with the calculator bit!) So today I turned a year younger. I think I may have unlocked the key to the fountain of youth!

Here're some highlights of the day:

• waking up at 7:38 am because the boys had been mouse-quiet all morning
• loads of happy birthday hugs and kisses from the kiddos (I love how my birthday is more exciting for them than me)
• receiving these precious cards and gifts from the boys (you know I will be saving those coupons for the most desperate of times!)
• finding the playroom totally cleaned up courtesy of the boys
• spending some time sitting on the couch in P's office crocheting while the snow fell outside
• lots of birthday greetings on Facebook
• phonecalls from family and friends
• a 2-hour phone call with my brother on some philosophies of life
• yummy calzone for dinner
• this birthday cake
• watching The Time Traveler's Wife with P (the book was so much better, of course, but watching the movie made me fall deeper in love with the book)

Yeah, it was a darn good day. Full of all the things that matter most: love of family and friends, a bit of creative time, and a clean playroom that I didn't have to scream my head off to get!!

He'll always be my baby

I should have realized it when he let me sleep until well after 7:00 am this morning. I should have realized it when he came into my room fully dressed. I should have realized it when he bounded down the stairs to pick out his breakfast without any whining. I should have realized it when he styled his hair and let me spray it with hairspray. I should have realized it when he accepted the phone call from his Auntie without running from the room covering his ears. I should have realized it when he went, not only willingly, but brimming with excitement and happiness to Target and lunch with Nani and his big cousin (and without me). I should have realized that my baby is growing up. He had no trouble realizing the effects that turning four has on a little boy. Today his smile was a bit bigger, his eyes a bit brighter, his expressions a bit more mature. He walked with a little spring in his step and talked with an older tone to his voice. And when the day was through, he snuggled up to me and asked if tomorrow was still his birthday. When I replied that no, your birthday only lasts one day, he looked into my eyes with desperation and asked, "But will I still be four tomorrow?" Oh, yes, little man you will still be four, and you will always be my baby. Happy Birthday, sweet thing!

Happy Birthday, C-Man!

In many ways, the past six years have been a blur. It is hard to believe that you are six years old. It seems like just yesterday I was walking the halls of the hospital breathing through contractions, delivering you in just three pushes, and hearing the wail of your first cry fill the room. It seems like just yesterday we brought your littleness home welcomed by your big brother, who at only 22 months-old seemed like a giant. It's like only yesterday you flashed us your first smile, reached out for a toy you had dropped, and learned to walk by pushing Logan around on the firetruck. It seems like only yesterday you begged us to take the training wheels off your bike (you were still 3), solved a math problem faster than Logan (or Mommy) could, surprised us with knowing how to read.

With each year that passes, we are reminded of the conundrum of time. How it doesn't seem possible that you could only be six years old, and yet at the same time how could you have only been in our lives for six short years? How certain milestones seem like only yesterday, and yet you've changed and grown so much. You are our great joy, and we love you more than you'll ever know, always.