HALF a Decade???!!!

Henry is officially 5. I am officially freaked. That is half a decade, people. How did this happen? Don't get me wrong. Five is WAY better than three. But he is so big. No baby fat, no chubby cheeks, no missed syllables in words. I love it though, I really do. He is such a PERSON now. We can have such great conversations. Yesterday, he became fascinated with the human heart and the skeleton, and we talked a lot about all of the bones of the body and all of the parts of the heart. Also, the past few days we have been playing Gobblet Jr. and Blokus (both are fun board games) and he is good! And in some cases actually has a strategy. What really freaked me out was when QUINN won at Gobblet Jr. I am sure(?) that that was just a coincidence.

But as a tribute to Henry, my darling, crazy, handsome, affectionate, nutty, silly, sweet boy, here is a list of the wonderful things about him. The things that I should focus on every day (read "I actually focus a lot of energy on the other things he does that annoy the shit out of me and make me want to do a WWF wrestling maneuver on his sorry, whiny ass, but since this is his tribute I am going to stay positive"):

Henry is affectionate to a fault. He would make out with me if I let him (I don't, obviously).

Henry is very concerned about moving out of our house as an adult. When he was upset yesterday because his teacher never taught him about skeletons and hearts ( which is the reason we looked them up and studied them), he proclaimed that he wanted to be a teacher when he grew up. But that he still wanted to live with me. He has told me quite often that he wants to live with me forever, but up until now his career choice was to be a chef. Regardless of his career choice, that boy loves his mama!

Henry honest to goodness let Quinn help open all of his birthday presents and blow out his candles. And it was his own suggestion.

Henry is HANDSOME. Gorgeous, truly. I would post a picture, but I am too terrified of kiddie porn sites, plus you would all be so transfixed by his beauty that you would spend the rest of your day mesmerized by his Zeus-like image on your screen.

Henry is NOT a victim of peer pressure. Sometimes this works against us because I can never pull the whole, "Kenny gets himself dressed so you can, too" thing, but I am hoping that when Kenny passes Henry a Marlboro ten years from now Henry will be like, "No dude, I don't want that cancer stick. You're so lame."

Henry keeps me on my toes. He questions everything. He never, not once, takes "Just because" or "Because I said so" as an answer. He wants to know every single thing that he can about this world.

Henry is so amazing. Despite my wanting to wring his persistent little neck 20 times a day, he truly is a wonderful child. He has such confidence about himself with adults and children alike. His questions and observations amaze me on a daily basis.

Henry made me a mom. Before him, I was just me. Not Mommy, just Callie. I raised him, but he also raised me. He forever changed me.


Happy birthday Henry! You re loved!



Tomorrow: A post on all of the things that annoy the shit out of me and make me want to do a WWF wrestling maneuver on Henry's sorry, whiny ass. Kidding.