Shortly after 2 this morning, this cuteness turned 5:

When my oldest son turned 5, I was stumbling through days with him, along with a 3.5 year old and a 10 month old. I thought life couldn’t get any busier.

Ha.

The past 5 years have been a blur of days, of strep throat and broken collarbones, loose teeth and lost pets. Of crying children, of exhausted parents, of finicky eaters. Of baseball practices and school meetings and playdates. Of laughing, bike riding, rock climbing and domino track building. 

That’s around 1,825 days of unrepeatable wonder.

It’s a blur of wonderfulness that’s zooming by as fast as the earth can spin, which is way too fast for me.

then…

…and now

now…

…and then

That whole saying about the days being so long but the years being so short is spot-on.

Our baby is now 5 (“that’s a quarter of the way to 20,” Russ reminded me).

That’s gonna leave a mark…

July 30, 2008

10 days old

July 30, 2009–1 year old

July 30, 2010–2 years old

July 2011–3 years old

July 30, 2012–4 years old

July 2013–almost 5 years old!

We started our day building domino tracks and playing inside with outdoor toys (a favorite beach activity, it seems). Theo has requested a nice, steamy pot of pasta fagioli for his birthday supper–just what the family wants on the sweltering 30th of July. It doesn’t matter though; when it’s your birthday, you get to pick your own supper. So I’m about to start chopping up a pile of vegetables to make my youngest son his favorite meal. I plan on using that onion as a scapegoat. Birthdays always bring tears to my eyes.

Happy 5th birthday to our sweetness, the best little brother, the happiest child, our Theodorable. Thank you for making the last 5 years the very best years of our lives…so far.