Hazards: Where Adventure Begins: How many tomorrows until my birthday?

This kid has been asking since JANUARY, "How many tomorrows until by birthday?" Every time we'd give him an estimate, "One hundred and twenty-five," or whatever, his eyes would squint and his face would crumple as he made a moaning/whining noise in disappointment. Finally, a couple of weeks ago when he asked and I answered, "Eleven," his face lit up with complete excitement.

I'm honestly sad to see him turn five years old. Four has been such a good age for Xi! For my first 3 kids, I was sad to see them turn 4 because 3 was such a fun age for the them. In general, I feel like 2.5 years to 3.5 years is the hardest age, and then 3.5-4.5 is my favorite, so when they turned 4 I was sad to know that they were getting big and changing.

But Xi was different. For whatever reason, it was a lot harder for me to connect well with Xi as I did with my first three kids. I'm not sure what the reason--it could be because he hadn't been the girl I'd hoped for baby #4, or because he looked SO different to me from my first 3 (I remember thinking as I held him a couple hours after he was born, "Is he really mine?"), or because the first 2 years of his life (until we took out his adenoids) he spent 18 hours a day in his crib sleeping, or his INCREDIBLY stubborn personality--so when he turned 4, it was the first time I felt relief, and not nostalgia, when one of my kids hit that birthday.

3 had been an incredibly hard age for me with Xi. But this last year our relationship has finally blossomed. He's so funny, such a good helper, and super energetic. I'm finally understanding the part in his baby blessing that says, "You will be a comfort to your mother,"--something I didn't see or understand the first few years of his life.

I want to record a couple of fun memories of Xi from the last few months. Before Christmas, when we asked him what he wanted, he repeatedly told us, "Magic." So we got him a "Magic Science Kit" that came with a magicians hat, an empty tube to make a magic wand with, and a few other test tubes.

He could. not. wait. to try out his kit after he opened it for Christmas. We told him we could help him with it later when all the chaos calmed down. I remember later I was helping Jeffrey put something together at the dining room table, and Tyson sat on the other end with Xi to start doing the Magic Kit. Tyson left for a minute and I overheard Xi saying to Amri, "I can't wait to make my magic wand, because then I can have anything I want!" I thought, "Oh, dear, we're in trouble!"

Tyson returned, and they made a bubbling, color changing potion that went into the magic wand tube. He was thrilled--could hardly contain his excitement. Suddenly, after a few moments his face fell with disappointment and confusion. He turned to Tyson, "Daddy, it doesn't work!"

"What do you mean, Xi?"

" I mean, I just wished for ice cream and waved the wand and nothing happened!!!"

Poor kid! He'd thought it all through--"I'll ask for magic and then I can have whatever I want after that, and not just for Christmas!" Too bad it didn't work out! After the initial disappointment, he and Tyson did have fun making some more bubbling and crazy mixtures in the test tubes.

Another funny memory I have of Xi is from a few months ago. He came up to me and said, "Do you know what Mommy? I like Daddy more than you."
Me, smiling: Oh really? Why?
Xi: Because Daddy is CRAZY!!!! (long pause) Like a rat!

I laughed out loud at that! It totally cracked me up! He smiled back and me then added:

And you are crazy too! Like a crazy dog!

I don't know why it struck me so funny but it did! A few weeks later he came back to me and said, "Mommy, I like you better than I like Daddy.
Me: Really? Why?
Xi: Because you look better. (Long pause). And you are crazy like a dog! And Daddy is crazy like a rat!

He's so excited to be 5 and starting gymnastics this last month and to start kindergarten in the fall. And I'm wondering where my fat little 8 lb 10 oz baby boy that was born the other day disappeared to.

For the first time yesterday he had his OWN friends over (he has kind of gotten overshadowed by the older 3 kids' friends) and had a little camping birthday party in the back yard. They played on the trampoline, ran in and out of a tent we set up, roasted marshmallows and hot dogs, played pin the part on the bear, and had to get the food that had been strung up in the tree to keep away from bears (the piñata). Cake and ice cream were the cherry on top of all the celebrations.