I'm Five

I'm five, I'm five, I'm a big boy now I'm five.

I can dress myself, I don't need mum to help me anymore.

And when I sit in my father's chair,

my feet can reach the floor.

Almost.

I'm five, I'm five, I'm a big boy now I'm five.

My mother doesn't spank me just for going without a hat.

'Cause she knows darn well that I'm too old for that.

What does she think, I'm three?

Not me.

What does she think, I'm four?

I'm more than four.

I'm even more than four and a half...

I'm five!

-Milton Schafer

Some of you may remember that little diddy from the Muppet Show. I use to love the Muppet Show - back when I was about five. My son turned five yesterday and I can't believe how quickly these five years have passed. Didn't I just bring him home from the hospital? It sure feels like it.

I started contracting six weeks before my due date. Given that I live on Mackinac Island and deal with a limited ferry schedule, my doctor was not pleased. He asked me to leave the island, be no more than fifteen minutes from the hospital, and he put me on "limited mobility." It sounds awful, but it is not as bad as "bed rest"; I could get up and walk to the bathroom, take a shower etc., but I couldn't really go out. No walking, no bike riding, no driving, etc. Sounds awful, but my parents house in Petoskey is just about seven miles from the hospital so it was perfect. My husband commuted to and from the island so he could continue to work, while I stayed on the mainland by myself until my mom flew home from Malta a few days later.

Somehow we managed to keep him cooking for three more weeks, but at 4:09 am, at exactly 37 weeks, my water broke. My son was delivered via c-section a little over two hours later. I knew I would have to have a c-section since he was breach. His little bum was so wedged down in my pelvis he couldn't lay flat and touch his feet to the bed for over a month.

He was such a good baby - happy and good natured. He just wasn't an eater. (After a short while the lactation consultant from the hospital told me it was OK to give him formula after I nursed him, and he finally he started gaining more weight.) He still isn't an eater. Today he is only in the tenth percentile for height and weight - at five he wears size 2T shorts. He needs 4T pants for the length, but I have to get the adjustable waist kind or they will just fall off of him.

I don't care that he is on the small side. As his mother, I adore him. Currently some of my favorite things about him are:

• He uses words like gigantic, scarce, disgusting, and heinous.
• If we use a word or phrase he doesn't know, he asks us to explain it.
• At bed time he often asks if he can leave the light on and read for ten minutes. (Even though he can't really "read" yet.
• He always wants me to rock him in my arms for a minute or two at bed time.
• Please and thank you are part of his vocabulary.
• He loves snakes, bugs, frogs, and slugs. If it creeps or crawls he'll want to investigate it.
• He loves pink, Barbie dolls and mermaids and does not care what other people think about it. He likes them and, in his mind, that is all that should matter.

I love you buddy. Happy birthday...