Has It Really Been Five Years?

Five years ago I was in the hospital. And at 1:12 p.m. this little guy was added to our family:

He was a cutie from day one, and completely different from his sister in every way. Whereas she loved to cuddle as a baby, he hated being held close. Whereas she loved being swaddled at night, he wanted to be free and able to move around.

And next thing you know, he’d been with us for a year!

Hard to believe. At a year old, he was still completely different than his sister. He was stubborn and determined at one year of age. He made it up the stairs of our house on his first try. Even at that age he loved going in our neighbor’s pool (although he didn’t like being dunked).

More time passed, and next thing we knew, we had a toddler on our hands! Here he is with Aunt Jen:

We had just moved to South Carolina from New Jersey, and he had some trouble adjusting. But he loved being out of the crib and in a toddler bed. He missed his old daycare (where they spoke Russian all day), but liked having his own room. And he was just as adventurous as he always was.

And then he turned three! Three years old! I couldn’t believe it.

At three years old he was incredibly active and very mischievous (can’t you tell from that picture?). His favorite thing to do was to run laps in our house. He loved music (especially the song “Defying Gravity” from the musical ‘Wicked’). He became competitive – and hated losing games he played with his sister. All in all, a typical three year old boy.

But then he turned four a year later. Four!

At four he suddenly loved nothing more than to cuddle with his mom (which made me very happy). He had discovered the Wii and LOVED playing Lego Indiana Jones (and was quite good at it). At a trip to DisneyWorld he also realized he loves rollercoasters. He was rambunctious, active, smart and funny.

But now. Well, now we’ve reached five. This is five:

He still loves Indiana Jones (in fact, many of his birthday gifts today are to help him redo his room into an Indiana Jones themed room). Not only that, but tomorrow he attends his first day of school as a kindergartener. He continues to love music and can hear a song once and remember the melody hours later. He loves to draw and can already read beginner level books. He LOVES going to the pool – his favorite thing to do is jump and do cannonballs into the water.

Happy birthday, Cootieboy! You are a joy in my life and I can’t imagine life without you!