Sully Turns 5 and Other Miracles

On Monday the 9th of May, my youngest son, Sullivan, turned 5. He told me this at 6:30 in the morning when he climbed into the big bed and informed me with the biggest grin ever. He is, if nothing else, a ham. He loves to put on a show about pretty much anything and everything. It can be a little annoying sometimes, like when he's supposed to be at bat for Tee Ball and is just goofing around, but most of the time he's funny, engaging and really just a joyful little guy.

Very little phases him, very little upsets him and he still appears to be nearly incapable of walking anywhere, he's skipping, jumping, running or otherwise locomoting himself with style and enthusiasm. He is a curious boy, he loves to paint and draw and create and he's made some pretty impressive Lego constructs as well.

One of the more interesting things he recently did with the Legos was to have created a large plane. A pretty basic plane but with a larger than usual wingspan, a wall on the tail and a little cockpit section on the front. The interesting thing is that, a few days later, he built a super car that, when I put it on the plane, fit perfectly between the cockpit and wall at the tail. And I mean perfectly, the front wheels were held just right and the car's spoiler rested squarely against the wall. It was very cool and probably means nothing but I was impressed by Sully's spatial interconnectedness nonetheless.

I need to remind myself more often of how magical and wonderful and special and, most especially, fleeting, these years are. I need to capture to remember these moments, the smiles, the curiosity, the joy, the happiness and excitement for all of life. My sons are my greatest contribution to the world and I should enjoy them for as long as I can.

Happy Birthday, Sullivan!

Family Milestones

Just wanted to make a quick blog post to note that, as of yesterday, Grady is no longer in need of using training wheels at all. When we bumped him up to the bike with the 16 inch wheels, he decided he really needed the wheels to keep him upright. After a couple of outings with the wheels I could see he was being slowed down and his bicycling skills progress was being hampered by the wheels. So when he hopped off to get a drink of water, I grabbed my ratchet wrench and removed the wheels.

At first he was rather unhappy about it but when he climbed back on board and took a mere two pedal strokes, that big awesome Grady grin broke out on his face and he blazed across the parking lot at a new higher speed than ever before.

Oh yeah, training wheels are gone for good now!

And Sullivan has moved up from his low-slung tricycle. He's now riding the 12 inch wheeled bicycle with the training wheels firmly attached still. But he's doing really well on it and is farther along than Grady was when he'd started using the bigger kid bike.

To celebrate we rode all the way from West Marine to the bridge and back (maybe close to a mile) on the slough path which is gravel-ly and a little daunting to new cyclists. But both boys kicked some butt, took some names and rocked it out like the little stars they are.

We had a great time even though the wind was howling across the lot!

Milestones

In just about a half of an hour the day will turn from September 10th to September 11th and I will turn from 39 years old to a rather astonishing 40 years old.

I haven't really done much thinking about this major change but, when I do, I'm struck by the implausibility of it. It doesn't seem possible or normal or right or anything of the sort.

I don't expect to lose my mind and go running down the street buck naked to play in traffic or anything but the thought has, obviously, crossed my mind.

Forty years old.

I had no idea I'd live this long when I was a teenager. I had no idea I'd be where I am in my life at 40. It is a rather substantial shift from 30's to 40's.

I'd hoped to have been further along by now, I'd hoped to be more settled, I'd hoped for lots more than I've got right now.

But there is hope and then there is reality. I hope that I'll be able to make my hopes more of a reality. Everyday I live is another day to move forward, another day to work for a better tomorrow for me and for my children.

There's so much that I could say, maybe should say, but I won't. I hope I have a decent birthday tomorrow and that it leads us into a year of unparalleled growth, success, peace and happiness.

In the end, I hope. I have always been hopeful, its the doing that has oftentimes stymied me. I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Mark This Day!

For today, June the First, my youngest child, Sullivan, took his very first steps! Unassisted and not too far but he most definitely did walk and both his mom and I were there to witness, enjoy and cheer him on.

Of course, this opens up a whole new can of worms for his mobility and ability to get into trouble. But it should also give him more capability in escaping his often rambunctious big brother.

Which reminds me, I need to give my own big brother a call and apologize for being such an annoying little brother when we were small. Because Sully delights in nothing more than just messing around with Grady's stuff, he knows it drives him nuts and that's the fun.

Congratulations Sullivan, you've taken your first steps with many, many more still to come!

[Update: By the end of the day, one or two steps has turned into seven, eight, nine and ten steps. Before long, he will be a speedy little guy. Much like his big brother, who seemed pretty unimpressed by the whole thing.]