My Baby Is Five

How Can It be? How can my little baby be five already? Boy, does time go by so fast. Everybody told me that time does this crazy thing -- zoom by - but I never believed it. And here he's five. He's such a fun kid.

• He loves art and creating things -- it doesn't matter the media. Give him some sticks and sand and he's just as happy as if you've given him watercolors and a brush. He can make art out of anything.
• He also sees beauty in anything -- flowers, sunsets, colors, birds, a button on my blouse -- anything. While we were searching for seashells, I heard over and over "Mom, here's a beautiful one" or my favorite, "Mom, here's a beauty!"
• He has become terribly shy, which is often perceived as being a brat (perhaps it's his look of disdain when somebody he doesn't know talks to him?)
• He's either completely loving or a horrible snit. The Loving part: he'll snuggle and give kisses to me, his dad, and even, his brother (even in the hockey locker room when R is trying to get dressed, which doesn't go down to well -- I mean really, getting kissed by your brother in public when you're a hockey player? Come on!) The Snit part: He knows what he wants and he doesn't care if it's rude or wrong, that's what he wants. He has an opinion and he's not going to change his mind. (He's defintely not a pleaser.)
• He loves dogs and puppies and loves everything about them and everything that depicts them -- books, stickers, art, catalogs, and the real live things themselves.
• He's a train expert. Loves trains, knows trains, wants to work on a train when he grows up.
• He is smart! He has the best use of language and phrases. It kills me sometimes.

He's such a wonderful, loving, artistic, creative, tough, smart kid and I love him so much. I can't believe he's five!