Happy 5th Birthday to my DS2

This is my 5 year old baby. He's very sweet and cuddly. This is my helpful son, the sweet guy who'll help me clean up the mess just because he saw me so frazzled already. All my kids are wonderful, but this guy will make sure we're done with the task before quitting.

This is the baby who kisses us (D and I) the most when he's two. He'll insist on looking into your eyes and kiss the heck out of you in his slobbery baby way. He's got such deep dimples which deepen with each laughter or tears. He's perceptive of me. He's one of the first children who could tell right away if I am getting unhappy or unsettled. He's like my emotional barometer sometimes. He never fails to tell us he loves us. He'll say, "Mommy or Abba, look at me. Look at me. I love you!" And doesn't that just warm your heart?

He loves books. He loves to read it, and he loves to build something with it. He's mostly why you'll see books built like bridges in my living room floor. He's why you'll see my encyclopedia volumes continuously relocated. He loves legos, and trains too. We're discovering a musical aptitude with him that is somehow surprising but not unexpected. He seems to retain visual memory very well.

This child of mine is like a puppy. He likes to tumble and roll with his brothers. He happens to be heavier than the others too, so we have to remind him to be gentle. He loves music. I noticed he's into 80's music, like Dan Hill and other romantic pop singer. Some days, you can see him just sitting down enjoying his music and looking very content.

He's very smart too. He was able to put back together a desktop computer when I unplugged every thing because he's spending too much time with it. At two years old, he was able to put everything back together. I was properly impressed! Lately, he's mastering his alphabets. He knows all the letters of the alphabet and the names of his siblings too.

It's very disconcerting to see DS1's name written with a permanent marker on the carpet on DS2's handwriting. Oy vey! I see alphabets, and pictures and stories on my walls! I know some houses gets away unscathed by their children, but not mine. My walls are like ancient Egyptian walls with our own family hieroglyphs. Our walls are a living testament to my children's communicating abilities. I will take a picture of my walls before re-painting it because these images will bring to mind of times when my kids are mostly babies. Sweet and all too fleeting.

This child of mind can be very stubborn. He won't listen to you if you come on too strong, but soft, firm voice does the trick with him. Some people judged him too quickly and often got it wrong. It breaks my heart that they'll never get to know this wonderful boy simply because they are allergic to his speech delay. He's much better at communicating today. He's less frustrated now that he can explain himself better. We're very proud to have him and we love him very much!

To our darling son, Happy birthday! Abba and Mommy will always love you.