Friday, February 27, 2015

Happy Birthday to Our Noah

Today Noah is five years old. Yesterday we discovered his two lower, front teeth are loose. He was so surprised. It is a true stepping stone of growing up. He has watched his older brother loose teeth all the time with extreme curiosity. Now it is his turn and he is fascinated. He reminds of when he started walking the day before his first birthday. He took this first two or three steps and had the same big eyes and surprised look as he does now looking at himself in the mirror making many various "Noah Expressions" while wiggling the teeth. The tooth fairy will be coming and this time for Noah's teeth because he is now five.

Thinking about writing this post I thought it would start by saying "oh, I can't believe he his five already", but the truth is I do believe it. My baby is five. Don't tell him I called him a baby. He hates that but of course our children are always our babies in our hearts.

For some crazy reason, I have been awaking every morning at 5am for the last month. My guess is that my need to write is waking me up. This morning I woke up and my first thought was today Noah wakes up and is five years old and he is going to be so excited.

Now Noah is five. He has a tender heart and a mind of his own. He is stern and direct with his feelings and willing to speak the unspoken feelings for the whole house. He loves to be held close and snuggle up. Even fifty-pounds heavy, Noah prefers to be carried, but understands when he can't be. He trusts his brother to teach him well, but doesn't let him rule his world. His best friend since they were five months old is Taavi , whose parents are wonderful and now also friends.

Noah is a child that has forced me to face many fears in order to better parent. This has helped me grow as a person. He challenges me in ways only Noah can, and while this does wear me down, each time I learn from it. He has opened my eyes to a tenderness that I believe all grown men have, some just have no idea how to express it because they didn't have the confidence or were never shown how. Noah you are a sweet, strong, and beautifully blonde boy. I love you and promise to always give you hundreds of big, wet, and sloppy kisses and some good back scratches.