Flying Into Five

To celebrate his fifth birthday, Adam asked for a bike party.  So that's just what we had on Saturday, his actual birthday.  We started the day with an extra long snuggle, just Mommy and Adam.  He came into our bed a little before seven and fell back asleep.  So when Daddy and Ethan got up, I stayed in bed, snoozing and watching my sleeping angel, reminiscing about the morning I had woken up five years prior, in much the same position, with my little newborn Adam.  It was a delightful way to begin my boy's fifth birthday.  But once we were up, after a birthday boy-requested breakfast of cheesy scrambled eggs, there was much to do to prepare for the bike party.  There was a garage to clean out, food to prepare,

a bike decorating station to set up,

bike washing supplies to prepare, 

and a cake to bake and decorate.  

The boys were super helpful, and really got into the party preparations.  Grandparents and friends (mostly neighbors and mostly boys) poured in around three and we had a fun afternoon of glitzing up our bikes, riding around, and eating cake.

 Adam loved all of his presents, but this one was a real hit:

I think he looks like Yoda, but it is actually a flying squirrel costume. 

After his friends left, Adam's celebration continued with a special dinner with the grandparents.  And more presents of course.  

Papi demonstrating the hydraulic powers of Adam's new tow truck.

A little post-dinner excavation for jewels - Ethan's gift to Adam.

A facepaint kit from Grandma and Grandpa also appears to be a huge hit.

What a fun-filled, fantastic, fifth birthday for our flying squirrel!
  

And Then You Were Five

To my little love Adam on the eve of his fifth birthday,

As we lay snuggling in bed each night, I am struck by the almost unimaginable enormity of my love for you.  The craziness of the day yields to the peace that comes with nightfall and I squeeze you tight, breathe you in, and thank every one of my lucky stars that you were brought to me.  And yet some nights, I wonder (and worry) whether you truly know the depths of my love for you.  Because we battle, my boy, daily.  And so I ask, “you know how very much I love you, right Adam?”.  And you reply, “so so so SO much.  TOO much.  Googooplus much.”  And I smile, and tell you that you are wrong - that I love you googooplus plus one.  And you get all math wizardey and tell me that if I love you googooplus plus one, then you love me googooplus plus infinity.  And we giggle and hug and my heart swells and I know that you feel loved, as do I.  But just in case... on this your FIFTH birthday, I want to share just a few of the googooplus reasons I love you so.  

• I love your insatiable thirst for learning, your endless intellectual curiosity about the world around you and how it all works.  I love that you will sit on the dock with me, you with your workbook and me with my crossword puzzle, while the others splash around us.
• But I also love that you don’t flaunt your intelligence.  I have never, ever heard you be a know-it-all, or a show-off, or condescending to others.  In fact, you are patient and yielding, knowing when to step in and help a friend (or a brother) who is struggling, and when to hold back and give others a chance to shine.
• I love that you play dress-up.  When I hear footsteps on the stairs, I never know if I’ll meet a tiger, or a superhero, or a clown, or a Native American.  You are almost always in costume, and it sure keeps life interesting.  I only wish I could honor your requests to put on your tiny costumes along with you.
• I love your courage.  You have had many occasions to be brave in your short life, and you always impress me with your fortitude. 
• I love watching you ride your bike.  You are so proud, and free, and fearless, and fast.  
• I love your giggle, especially when I’m its source.  Like when I kid you, saying that I wish I had a boy just like you, and you squeal “you do Mommy!  ME!” and laugh straight from your belly.  I love when you say “you’re kiddin‘!”.  
• I love watching you gobble up bok choy with abandon, but that you’ve asked for ketchup (with a little meatloaf), egg noodles and frozen peas for your birthday dinner.  I love that you keep me guessing.  
• I love how kindly you treat Luna, how you come downstairs every morning and give her a thorough petting before attending to any of your morning business.  How you make a lap for her when we’re reading stories on the couch.  
• I love that you would wear your Superman t-shirt, uber-preppy red plaid shorts, and Halloween socks every single day if I let you.  You’re predictable and adorably funky all at the same time.
• I’ll say it - I love that you still need your Horsie and suck your thumb!  I think the thumb is fleeting - you suddenly announced yesterday evening that you hadn’t sucked your thumb all day because you are a “big boy now”, and I haven’t seen it in your mouth since.  The part of me that rues the fact that my baby is turning five appreciates that you still have a little bit of babyhood in you, but I also love how you decide all on your own when you are ready to move on.
• I love that you challenge me as a parent.  Okay, I could probably do with a little less challenge, but I do appreciate the opportunity to think outside the box, try new parenting strategies, and constantly up my game.  You are never boring.  
• I love how high the highs are with you.  Like our trip to Trader Joe’s on Monday, which was some perfect storm of parent-child harmony that made for my most enjoyable shopping trip ever.  Sure, you are also responsible for my least enjoyable shopping trip ever, but I like a challenge, remember?
• I love your subtle curls, your deep blue eyes, your long lashes, your button nose, and the random freckles that pepper your body.  I miss your buddha belly, but I love your long lean limbs, and how fast they allow you to run.  
• I hate when you wake up at night because you’re scared, but I love how you reach your arms up to be carried, snuzzle your head under my chin just so, and fall back asleep in my arms as I return you to bed.
• I love how I sometimes find you sleeping next to me in the night - how you tiptoe in so as not to disturb us, climb in, and curl your body next to mine.  
• I love how you beg for my stories about Eli and Andrew, a 6- and almost 5-year old from Barborough Maine who go on crazy adventures back in time and to lands far away.  Although I get tired of making them up, I will be sad when you stop asking for them.
• I love how hard you tried to please your brother tonight by singing a round with him, even when he was not the nicest or most supportive singing mate.  Your voices were beautiful.  You are such a good little brother.  
• And I love how well you share, your knack for diplomacy, and your big heart.  I love watching your expressions when we read stories, how the feelings of the characters are broadcast across your face.  You feel deeply, and you have a beyond-your-years ability to comprehend and internalize others’ feelings.
• I love seeing the world through your eyes...the way your face lights up when you see a cool truck, or how you shhhh me so as not to disturb a squirrel in our path, or how you just sit down on our hikes and take in everything around you.  I view the world differently because of you, and feel so lucky to spend my days with you.  

And so, my dearest Adam, my wish for you on your fifth birthday is that you may always know how very much you are loved.  Because while you may love your mama googooplus plus infinity, your mama will always, always love you googooplus plus infinity...plus one.  

Adam - Age 5

Height: 42 1/4 inches (+3 and change inches (8%) from last year)

Weight: 39.6 lbs (+1.6 lbs (4%) from last year)

(* indicates same answer as last year...my how we've grown!)
Favorite color: Red

Favorite toy: Puzzle ball

Favorite fruit: Mango

Favorite TV show: Wild Kratts

Favorite thing to eat for lunch: Mac ‘n cheese

Favorite outfit: Skeleton shirt and spider pants

Favorite game: Go Fish

Favorite snack: Apples

Favorite animal: Wolf

Favorite song: Old McDonald*

Favorite book: Superhero book with flaps to lift

Best friend: Eli

Favorite cereal: Multigrain O’s

Favorite thing to do outside: Ride my bike with no training wheels

Favorite drink: Lemonade

Favorite holiday: Halloween*

What you take to bed at night: Horsey and pillow pet*

Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: Cereal

What you want for your special birthday dinner: Egg noodles

What you want to be when you grow up: Policeman

Following My Footsteps

Columbus Day weekend is always a bittersweet favorite of mine.  We gather with family for one last hurrah at the lake, working together to shutter the cabins, pull out the docks, and put the compound to bed for the winter.  We socialize while we work, catching up on back-to-school news and fall happenings, and then we say goodbye for seven long months.  After a summer of togetherness and community, it is always a hard goodbye.  That's the bitter part.  

The sweet part is all the fun that goes on while we're there, different fun than the fun we have all summer.  The lake is too cold for swimming now (although that did not stop our boys from proving us wrong), the beach less appealing.  So catching up happens around the fire, on walks through the woods, while scraping paint off the cabins, or over a cup of chili (or twenty) at the annual Waterford chili cookoff.  

The chili cookoff, which brings the whole community out to sample a couple dozen different varieties of chili, also happens to coincide with one of my favorite (or least favorite, if you ask me right after I've finished) road races of the year - the Waterford Fall Foliage 5k and Fun Run.  This is by far the most challenging 5k I run, but my 50 or so cheerleaders make it a little bit easier.  Both boys decided to join me this year and participated in the 1-mile fun run, also particularly challenging for them.  To be honest, we were a bit skeptical about allowing Adam to run, but he insisted he could do it, and Ethan promised he would stay with him the whole way.  So off they went (the thing about a mile is that you actually lose sight of your kids for awhile, which is kind of scary) and we waited.  It took Ethan well over 15 minutes to finish last year, so we were expecting it to be awhile, when all of a sudden...there he was!  We were just starting to disparage his inability to keep his promise when we noticed Ethan pause and look backwards to be sure Adam was there, and sure enough, he was just a few steps behind.  Both boys finished strong and smiling (though they both started to run to us before they realized they still had to finish), and I was bursting with pride.  Bursting.  

And that proud smile did not soon leave my face, as I replayed the scene of my strong little runners over and over in my head.  Soon it was time for my own race, and that vision of my boys kept resurfacing, giving me a little extra spring in my step, and I thought, why?  Why am I so gosh darn proud of them for a dinky little road race?  Why does this make me so happy?  So much happier even than Ethan scoring a soccer goal, or Adam learning to ride his bike?  And while all up in my head, like I so often am as I run, it hit me - they are trying to be like me.  They are emulating ME.  I don't have anyone trying on my shoes, or sitting on the bathroom counter watching me put on my makeup and asking me to do hers too.  Sure, I've painted the boys' nails a few times, by they don't really care.  They don't want their hair up in a knot, or to try on my clothes, or to play with my stuff.  But they do want to run.  And the selfish (vain?) little part of me that sometimes wishes that someone around here wanted to grow up to be "just like Mommy" loves that.  Because I now realize that my boys do want to grow up to be like Mommy.  And that feels good.

While the grown-ups celebrated our half-marathon run last weekend, the boys ran and ran around our house, dozens of times each.  Ethan is actually quite sure that he holds the Guinness record for the fastest ten laps around a house (three minutes and change), because that's what his Uncle Pauly told him, and how could his uncle ever tell an untruth?  And even though they said they were "only in it for the Gatorade" (Ethan's words) on Sunday, I am hopeful these boys keep running.  I may not have a shopping buddy or someone who will go get mani-pedis with me (who am I kidding - Ethan is game on both accounts), but two running partners...oh, if I should only be so lucky.

Adam, Ethan, and Caz at the start

Surrounded by a bunch of other cousins

Ribbons, Gatorade, and candy corns, oh my!

18th and 21st place!  Adam was the first 4 year old to finish!

Half marathoners last weekend, maple syrup winners this weekend.

What I love about this picture is the smiles on my boys' faces.  That's pride.  They are proud of their mama.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things...

...about Fall in Maine:

1. Apple picking

2. County fairs!

Maine Maple Day at the Cumberland Fair

My little buddy and I got to spend a special Friday together at the Cumberland Fair

And then the bigger boys joined us the following Friday at the bigger Fryeburg Fair.

Even Ethan's school got into the fair spirit, with a Fall Carnival this past Saturday.

3. Pumpkin Valley Farm.  Love.This.Place.

We actually finished Phase I of the corn "maize" this year.  I think Ethan and I had Phase II in us, but alas, others did not.

So we scaled tire towers instead.

And got our faces painted and rode on cow trolleys.

4. Fall walks

Busting out the blaze now that hunting season is upon us.

5. Running season

Well, we finished and both had great runs - each crushing our PRs from last year.  

And our cheering section was amazing.

 6. Cozy weekends at home.  Soccer on Saturday mornings, football on Sunday afternoons, a couple of big hearty slow-cooked meals thrown in in between.  Puttering, organizing, snuggling, reading the paper, lazy jammie mornings, cleaning up the yard, making scarecrows...