4.75

Next month my son will turn five. When asked how old he is for the last four months he's told everyone 'four and a HALF.'

Suddenly, in the last few weeks, his answer has turned to 'four and THREE QUARTERS.' Now how he figured that out I'm not quite sure, but he's always been my amazing child.

At the age of two, he could look in my eyes and tell when I was troubled. I'll never forget a time when I did my best to put on a happy disposition but was troubled and he just knew. He's always been in tune with me, and in response, he told me that everything would be okay. His loving pat on my face and his tender glance into my eyes had me believing him.

He's this child who has an amazingly pure and wise spirit, which God has blessed him with. He's this child whose brain is always ticking, trying to put it all together...and he usually does and better than most of the adults around him.

I'm blown away at how fast he's grown up and it seems somedays he's already a teenager in some ways. I get the 'Oh whatever, Mom' in an exasperated voice. And the ever pleasant, 'man that's off the hook'. I can see him ten years from now, and I just want it to slow down so he can be my baby a little bit longer.

Luckily for me, he's not outgrown my hugs and kisses yet. He loves to pull me close, look into my eyes, and say, "Let me look into those beautiful brown eyes." It makes me melt every single time. And yet he's such a tough little boy. He loves to get rough and tumble. Hockey and pretending to go bull riding seem to be his favorite playtime activities. Of course, he's riding a hippity-hop throughout the house, while waving one arm in the arm screaming, "Whoo HOooo I'm a bull rider!"

My 4.75 boy makes me the happiest mom in the world, and I just felt the need to express that today.