So, the twins will be 7 a week from tomorrow. It’s so hard to believe that they’re that old! I remember the day they were born. Well, in all fairness, I’ll never forget the first 6 weeks of their lives. You just don’t shake your NICU experience. I look at them today and see just how far they’ve come from that day, nearly 7 years ago. We had no idea what we would face in the future. I’m happy to say that we haven’t seen any lasting effects of their prematurity, other than being a bit underweight and a bit short (though I’m no Mendocino Tree, myself. I’m only 5 feet 1/2 inch tall).

We have opted out of a party this year. We have decided to no longer do a family party for any of them since our family never seems to make it (and some of them won’t be in the same room with each other unless they absolutely must…namely my parents). And since we only recently moved here, the boys have just started making friends at school. So, instead, we’ve decided to take them out to dinner at the restaurant of their choice. They want to go to Red Robin (don’t ask why). We’ve never lived in a place where there was a Red Robin, but they saw one here and that’s where they want to go. I also told them I’d bake them a cake of their choosing, but they’d have to agree on the same cake. They can’t decide on the same one. Zach wants a baseball field and Ryan wants a Football field. Since they can’t decide themselves, I’m making the decision. While perusing my cake books, I found this one and I think it’s perfect for them:

Family, birthdays, blogging, food, the kids | 3 Comments »

It isn’t an era for anyone but us. Mostly me. Today, my baby has shed his toddlerhood for boyhood. He is 5 today. I’m a little sad (but only a little!). I no longer have a “baby.” He hasn’t been a baby for awhile, anyway. And I hear the collective voices in my head telling me that he will always be my baby. That is true. But I guess his turning 5 puts a cap on it all for me. There are lots of things that his birthday brings me to reflect upon. He was 3 weeks old when we moved here to Erie from Bismarck. So, he is my life, our life, in Erie. Sure, the twins are, too, and certainly they were too young, at 19 months, to remember what North Dakota was like. Erie is the only place they’ve really ever known as home.

What it really means is that, in 9 short months, he’ll be off to kindergarten, off to school with his brothers. I have mixed feelings about that. It was easier for the twins to go to kindergarten that I expected, but when he goes,…well, I’d rather not think about that right now. It will be a bittersweet day, that’s for sure. There are days when I wish he would just stay this way. I know he can’t, and I’m not proposing that he should. It’s hard to let go of the baby in them. And I’m having a much harder time with Alex than I did with Ryan and Zach. In fairness, he hasn’t been a baby in 3 years., Even at age 2 he was playing catch-up with his brothers (by his own accord, not mine). He’s never been interested in baby toys, or even toys geared for him as a toddler. He always wanted to play with Ryan and Zach’s toys, he practices math and reading and writing skills right along side his brothers.

There’s something finite about turning 5 and becoming school-aged. I will miss the baby in him, that’s for sure. But I do have all those years ahead of me to look forward to. So, with no more tears shed over his bygone toddler years, Happy Birthday, my sweet little Alex.

Family, birthdays, life, the kids | No Comments »