happy 4th birthday, naomi rose...

wordless wednesday...

first sam is nine...

My boy is nine.

It seems so old. In the past, the kids' birthdays have always seemed like sort of my own celebration, too--my anniversary on becoming a parent. But somehow, Sam now seems to have come into his own birthday. He owns it now that he seems so old. And after spending the day with him talking, lunching and shopping for skateboards, I thought to myself that nine must be the best age ever, which is a thought I've had almost every year about Samuel.

I used to think that everyone thought that about their kid's age--every year is the best one--but having three, I've come to find that even though I love each kid dearly, it's just not all that true that every year is as enjoyable as others. And so it seems that my first gets a perk to counteract the fact that he's our test run in parenting. Because he reaches each age first, it's new and exciting and well, Sam has hit each with grace.

But mostly, I love hanging out with that kid. He's incredibly funny and sharp, and his humour is a bit mischevious, which is something I totally appreciate. He loves his baby sister so dearly that he is absolute putty in her chubby hands. And though they bicker, Sam and Tali are buddies.

His freckles and smile just send me and Sam's artistic talent constantly amazes me. And after falling in love with writing stories this year, I love to see him delve into a novel and then figure out how to write the sequels to the stories he finds end too quickly.

So happy birthday to my best and favorite son (as he likes to call himself)... Nine is going to be great for you--I can't wait to see what you do with it!

naomi rose is three???!!!

How can it be that my curliest of girlies, my sunny pie o' my sky is three years old already?!

It feels like just yesterday I was doing anything I could think of to go into labor, and not so long ago that she was this caramelly chewy little baby. And now? Well, she's still caramelly and chewy for sure, but she's got this spicy streak that rivals her big sister's. Nothing gets past Naomi and nobody takes advantage of the girl and if you ask her how old she is, she'll stick three chubby fingers in your face and defiantly say "Three" as if she just dares you to challenge how big girl that makes her.

There is something about Naomi that is just sunny and happy, and even though she is typically little sister shrieky when necessary, she can easily be distracted from a bad mood. She loves to sing and dance and the girl can play for hours on her own in the backyard making up her own imaginary stories while her brother and sister run around her, playing their own wild games.

We had a little party for her on Sunday and her two little friends, Sophie and Rina, came over to hula with her. Though the party was dominated by older siblings and cousins, these three just took it all in, hung out, and enjoyed themselves.

Even though she'd been sick all week before her birthday and wasn't really feeli ng one hundred percent for her little luau, Naomi was enthralled with this first birthday that she'd been able to look forward to. When we asked what she thought about her birthday, she replied using her very serious voice and calling me by the name she uses when she's being most serious, "Mommy Rose, I think that was the best birthday ever."

Happy Birthday, Noemi! We love you...