Noey’s day (5!)

Oh my sweet son.  I’m so very proud of you.  Five years old feels like a big deal and seeing you reach this milestone—one whole hand—it squeezes my heart a little bit hard.  I’m happy and excited to see you grow, but mostly just feel like I’m grasping at sand slipping through my busy fingers.  How to really not miss a moment of these fleeting days?  So often busy with necessary work, with hurdles in front of us, with decisions to be made and mundane things that preoccupy.  And then here you are, my once quiet snuggly little man child, now all long and tall and losing all that baby chub.  It’s so wonderful to have a boy in the home–all the pants with holes in the knees, the stinky boy breath, the noise and cars and the way that everything morphs into a weapon.  Also to see the special bond and understanding you have with your daddy.  The way he knows just what treats and toys will light up your world.  The way you two love to run errands together and have little pockets of man time.  It was a special memory for us all this past summer when he took just you for a long weekend to the beach to visit with your Baba and Nain.  I don’t think you’ll ever forget all the fun you had together.  This past year was the year you quietly and without fanfare asked Jesus into your heart.  Your little spirit is coming to life, delighting in Jesus, asking to pray at most meals, loving to learn about God and His Word.  Can I tell you, there really is no greater delight for a parent than to share my greatest delight with you?  To see Him at work in you, growing and shaping you.  You’re learning how to be a little gentlemen, too, with so many ladies in the house to look after and take care of.  I love to see your bond with your sisters, the way you are learning to gently care for them, to use your strength not to harm or hurt but to protect.  You take joy in being the one to hold open the door for us, and I see your delight in using your strength to serve.  We have our hurdles at times, son, of course–but

Your favorite foods are pizza (in your daddy’s footsteps), applesauce, cereal and pancakes, chips and popcorn.  You are still addicted to your dee-T (blankie) which is fine by me.  Rue the day you outgrow dee-T!  You are sensitive, careful, a tinkerer, loud and wiggly, bouncy and giggly, a lover of music (drums especially) and riding bikes.  You can’t wait to grow up and have a “real race car with a trailer behind it.”

This was maybe the most fun birthday we’ve had with you yet because you were actually excited about opening presents and didn’t mind us singing happy birthday to you since it was just us.  When you opened your playmobil “trash truck” (recycling) you said, “Yes!! Now we can go trashing all day!”  You held it up at the window for the trash men to see when they went by the next day, and they honked at you and gave a thumbs up.  It was a treat to see you build your lego airplane with daddy and I think you’re finally at the age where you really enjoy legos and playmobil.  It always surprises me how much you love your hand knits, and you wanted to put your new birthday sweater on right away.  I’m just glad it actually fit well!  You reminded me all day that you wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and that you wanted cereal for dinner.  I made spaghetti, which is another of your favorites, hoping to entice you with it, but in the end relented and let you have cereal.

I look forward to the adventures we’ll have in the coming year!  Welcoming a new baby with you as my big boy helper, spring and planting our garden, fall and your official start of school.  So many new things to come!  Your daddy and I adore you and thank God for you.  Happy 5th birthday!

Love,
Mom