Happy 5th birthday, Guillermo

Happy birthday, Guillermo! You are five today. 

To be honest, I've had a hard time getting to this point over the past few weeks. I'm not one for marking milestones, as you'll discover if you ever ask to see your baby book. The book, I'm sorry to say, is filled in only to about 9 months, and most of those days are fudged. 

But five, well five seems like a long time to have been around, and it hit me about two or three weeks ago. Five means that soon you'll go to kindergarten and then our days, our lazy days of pjs until 11 a.m. or long mornings in the park will soon be finished, forever.

Two years ago when I took you to your 3-year-old checkup, I think I surprised the pediatrician when he asked me in earnest: "Can you believe you have a 3 year old?" and I responded "Yes, it feels like he has been here forever." (You did the terrible twos pretty well, my son, though I'll be the first to admit, I had, and still have, a lot of parenting lessons to learn, too.)  Well, that's still true, it does feel like forever, except now I get what they say, it does go fast, even if some days seem to drag on for months, because last night and today I replayed the day you were born as if it were yesterday, and I have to tell you that it was the greatest day of my life. 

Now, I'm going to save the tears (until you go to kindergarten) and instead tell you how proud I am, we are, of you. You have grown so much this year. Three to four is a big change, toddler to preschooler, and we love the way you've grown. You are witty, independent, tolerant, sweet, silly and inquisitive, plus you can now get yourself dressed in the morning.  Even your new choice of entertainment, playing battle or bad guys, makes me laugh because it's you. I love that you value our time and I love that you have me figured out enough to know that an extra hug or even a kiss, goes a long way. 

Guillermo, your father and I love you so much. Happy birthday!