Six

Has it been a year since Will turned "A Whole Hand" old? 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days? I can't believe it.

It seems like we celebrated Will's fifth birthday just yesterday.

Will's fifth birthday wasn't yesterday, however, and I know this because yesterday he reminded me that he was five-years-and-364-days old. Five-years-and-one-day old Will wouldn't have known how many days there are in a year, or that "physics has to do with gravity", or that "multiplication is kind of like adding numbers over and over again".  The ease with which he communicates, the depth of his knowledge, the confidence with which he carries himself, and his ability to make new friends and adjust to new environments remind me every day that even though I can still call him a little boy (when he's not listening), he won't be little for much longer.

At the same time, I see my superhero-cape-wearing baby struggle to meet the social expectations of kindergarten - controlling his emotions, solving his problems with words, winning humbly and losing gracefully, and "keeping his hands to himself while waiting in line for lunch" (straight from a note home from his kindergarten teacher) - and am reminded that he is nowhere near grown.

Thank goodness.

Here's to you, my sweet boy.  May you spend this coming year just like a six-year-old little boy should: playing baseball and soccer, taking karate and swimming lessons, building Lego spaceships, watching Tom & Jerry cartoons, reading Garfield comic books, reenacting Star Wars sword fights, making new friends, loving kindergarten, and antagonizing your little sister.  And I hope you do it all while "rockin' it" in your superhero cape.

Happy birthday, Will.  I love you to the moon and back plus infinity times a million with a cherry on top.