Ryan

Tonight Ryan cashed in his m&m jar earnings of staying up one hour past bedtime.  Bless the kid's heart.  He's so much like his dad, and could barely stay awake that full extra hour.  All day he remind me of this great upcoming reward of staying up later than his sister, describing to me all the things he planned to do during that hour, and how lucky he was to have been given such an opportunity.  Yet, over the remaining 30 minutes of what was meant to be party time, he repeatedly asked me if it had been an hour yet.  When I finally asked him if he just wanted to go to bed, he looked at me sheepishly and nodded his head.  This kid knows when he's tired, never fights it, and is out almost instantly as soon as his head hits the pillow.  He plays hard, hard, hard all day long, and then sleeps hard, hard, hard all night long.  What a little boy.  His sleeping habits (and needs), so much like his dad's, are incredibly endearing to me.

When I finally tucked him in tonight (with 5 minutes to spare before his postponed bedtime), I asked the same question I ask several times a week:

"Ryan, will you stay little?"
"Moooom, I've already told you!  I don't know how!"
"I know, I know.  I don't really want you to stay little.  You're just so sweet to snuggle with when you're little, and I know that as you get bigger, you're not going to want to snuggle with me as much."

"I'm NOT little!  I'm a BIG boy!  ...  But Mom, you can still snuggle with me, even when I'm five, and then six, and then seven!  ...  And eight!  You can even snuggle with me when I'm TEN!"  

WHERE did this sweet boy come from, and HOW did I get lucky enough to be his mom!?  I ask myself these questions sooo frequently.  Truly, he has the most tender heart of any little guy I've ever known.  He is my mellow, go-with-the-flow, affectionate, willing-to-crawl-in-my-lap-any-time kid, who really truly loves his mama just as a boy should.  That's not to say he doesn't enjoy doing BOY things.  The kid knows how to roughhouse, assume the role of Super Hero, and demonstrate his vast array of Ninja skills.  I just love watching him be rough a tough one minute, and then sweet and tender the next.  He balances it all out rather well.

I can't believe he'll be FIVE in 3 weeks.