On his four and a half year birthday

Today he's officially a half. Which means tomorrow he will be closer to five than he is to four. Which really, can't possibly be true, can it? I've been all kinds of heartsick over this boy of mine lately. The pictures from my last post have me missing that roly poly baby he once was with his bulldog cheeks and those rubber band wrists. And it's strange, you know, missing someone who's sitting right next to you. But that's how it feels with these kids, man. They're one person one minute and you fall head over heels in love and then the next thing you know they're walking and talking and someone completely new. And then I wonder, what will I miss about this Wes a few years from now? With all this pining for the past I sometimes forget that this Wes, this four and a half year old Wes, is only temporary too. And this Wes is completely, positively marvelous. This Wes asks me to snuggle him to sleep every, single night. And so we lay on his pillow face to face in his tiny twin bed where I scratch his back and guide him safely to his dreams. But most nights, after his breathing slows to heavy sighs and I think he's finally asleep I will try to inch my way out of the bed. To which he cracks open an eyelid, throws an arm over me and and lets me know it's not quite time yet. And so I stay.

This four and a half year old Wes is a running, talking, non-stop eating ball of energy. But he's also sweet and sensitive and thoughtful, and funny too. He's my listener, my nurturer, my rule follower and the most darling big brother I have ever known. The other day we were all upstairs, folding laundry and doing miscellaneous chores when I noticed Oren had gone missing (as he does). Wes told me, "I'll go check on him!" and raced downstairs to find him. A minute later he called up, "Mom, you better come see this. Oren's standing on the toilet with a box of tissues and it doesn't look good."

This is what I'm talking about. The kid kills me.

This Wes, who loves knights and dragons, star wars and adventure time and C-A-N-D-Y more than anything else. This Wes who will still be just as content with a pile of books as he is with an ipad. This Wes with the big imagination and big ideas and even bigger heart? Yeah, this Wes is pretty, darn great. And I'm going to miss him someday.



An old favorite post about Wes, here and a post on two and half year old Wes, here.

oh, and also, this. Just for funsies ;)