I could tell you all about how I hold my new little nephew and fight back the tears because my own newborn babies are long gone… they've given way to these big, sticky, bustling, loud forces to be reckoned with.
I could wax on about how baby Collin was born just two short days before my youngest's birthday, and how it's made me all nostalgic, remembering what it felt like to have a new life in my arms just after Thanksgiving, as all the Christmas jolly-making was beginning.
Today, on my baby's birthday, I could mourn over how quickly he and his brothers are growing up, but instead, help me out here folks, instead I'm going to focus on right here, right now, today.
He's tough and in charge and he keeps all our cheeks hurting from laughing at the crazy things that come out of his mouth.
He's a lover – rubbing my cheeks and playing with my hair and saying things like, "You're my girl." and "I'm gonna fall in love with you, girl."
And he's a fighter too. Just you try to tell him that he's too little to do something, and you'll find out real quick that he means business.
So today, Ryder's oldest brother, the one who dreams of being a farmer and a chef (all at once), the same one that has "Easy Bake Oven" at the top of his Christmas list, decided to make a meal, front to back, as a gift for his crazy kid brother.
Luke also used his own money to buy Ryder his very own fish. (a fact that has resulted in my saying things a person should never have to say, like "please do not put your lips in the fish bowl!")
Ryder's other brother, James, had something special in mind for him too. See, James is forever building elaborate towers and castles. Ryder is forever wanting to karate chop them and revel in the resulting crash. This causes many a rowdy debate.
But today, James patiently built and rebuilt, again and again, so that Ryder could karate chop and shout "kablooey!" to his heart's content. It was his gift… a whole day of building just for the sake of demolition.
You know, babies are magic, fantastic and wonderful in every way, but big boys are pretty great in their own right. It is an amazing gift to see that all that love lavished on them as babies has taken root. They are growing into loving men, able to spoil someone they care about in their own uniquely wonderful way.
Aw, happy birthday Ryder!! What a sweet post, I so enjoyed reading it. 🙂 Such lovely boys you are raising.
Ooh, this made me remember how much I love having my ONE boy in the midst of 3 girls. Boys are so, so precious! The “you’re my girl” and “I’m gonna fall in love with you, girl” comments almost made me cry (and laugh at the same time). Great post!
You made my day with your post. What a cast of characters you have! Happy Birthday to Ryder. And hugs to mom who is nostalgic for babies. I have been having similar feelings myself lately.
ahh so true. all that love just comes right back atcha. happy birthday to your little guy. he sounds like quite the charmer!
The second-to-last line of your post is beautifully profound. What more could we want of our boys? That kind of heartfelt gift-giving is the very best kind.
Can you please give me some information about how you set up the one day of outside school per week? I believe it would be a good fit for us.
Oops, I guess I meant the fourth-to-last line. The one that says, “They are growing into loving men, able to spoil someone they care about in their own uniquely wonderful way.”
This made me smile, I love it when my kids bless each other so selflessly. The moments are always like clear little lights in the midst of the ordinary chaos of life. My son too had a EBO on the top of his list years ago. We snagged one up for him, but he wasn’t quite as impressed as he thought he would be. This made me think of how much I miss the island in our old house. He spent so much time seated on one side of it helping me do different kitchen activities….. oh, crap, now I’m turning sappy. Anyway, Happy Birthday little man and thank you for another happy post.
oh hooray, hooray for four!!!!! i know just how you feel missing babydom and celebrating bigness all at once!!! but growing up is such magic, isn’t it? those sweet boys couldn’t have given such lovely presents if they were babies…. and you would never get the chance to say things like “don’t put your lips in the fishbowl!!!” oh, hooray, hooray, yippee for four! pure magic. all of it.
happy birthday, ryder. and yes, please: do not put your lips in the fishbowl. that goes double for your brothers.
can I tell you how much I love it that your boys never have their shirts on? it cracks me up every time…especially because my daughter’s prefer to be topless in the warmer months as well. They don’t quite yet understand why girls can’t go shirtless like boys can. 🙂
Happy birthday to that boy! The gifts from the brothers are amazing. You must be a proud momma. I think there’s pregnancy glow and then there’s “proud of my boys glow”. You definitely have that.
happy birthday sweet boy. i loved four, it was the first time the big kids let me swing like tarzan on the secret vine near their fort in the woods.
I cannot believe the great changes that take place between the 3rd and 4th b-days. Mine is someplace in between right now, still not pronouncing his ‘r’s. They grow so fast.
Lately I’ve been telling them I’m going to put heavy books on their heads to halt this fast growth 😉
and luke is way beyond an easy bake oven. that boy needs a viking or a wolf for christmas. good job momma raising such a fine lot of boys.
That sounds like the best birthday! How sweet that your boys wanted to do something for their baby brother. I hope one day I can experience something similar with my own children.
I have a four-year-old man-boy too. I so get the “a lot a lot” of love in your post. My son calls me “Mamagirl” and makes me feel like a real live superhero. Does it get any better?
Yay! We’re going to celebrate my oldest’s 4th birthday next month and I’m so excited! I love age 4. I also love those things you think you would never say. My husband and I talk about that all the time. Today’s phrase we never thought we’d have to say was “Please take your tounge off the table”. So silly and strange but you gotta love it! Happy Birthday Ryder!
Oh how I love hearing about that love between siblings. You sound like you have a bunch of such fantastic little men. Happy Birthday, Ryder!
This made me cry. My own baby just turned 6 on Thanksgiving day. How fast they do grow up. What sweet sweet boys.
how beautiful! my pregnant self is welling up with tears in expectation of celebrating such times. with a 3 year old boy and another boy on the way in march, i’m just beginning this journey. i am grateful for your inspiring words & your ability to celebrate your boys unique gifts. thanks for sharing.
Oh my- I have my very own photo of myself, shirtless at my fourth birthday party with that same number 4 sort of candle. Happy birthday Ryder.
Thank you for such a sweet post (& congratulations to Ryder!). I have 2 big/little boys and sometimes I think I try to ignore that side of them that is rough & ready & “john wayne” as you so cool-y put it 😉
I am so intent on growing them up to be good human beings that i forget that i need to embrace all of their humanness which includes it all – the magical & wonder-ful as well as the good, the bad, the ugly. Thanks for that big reminder 🙂
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Next month, Ethiopian-American fashion designer, entrepreneur, and FIT alumna Amsale Aberra will be posthumously honored…
Super Bowl week is finally upon us. Every year, we get random gems in the form out-of-context interviews (or non-interviews) and plenty of hot takes ahead of the big game. From the Baltimore perspective, there aren’t many ways to look at an outcome of the game as a pleasing one.
For the entirety of both men’s careers, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan have been compared against each other. The only two quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2008 draft, both entered the league under the dubious circumstances of franchises in free-fall and recently-appointed rookie head coaches.
Thankfully for Ravens fans, Flacco’s birds had instant playoff success. As fans are well aware, Flacco won at least one playoff game in each of his first five seasons in the league — including a trip to the AFC title game in his first season and a legendary Super Bowl run in year five.
Matt Ryan, on the other hand, didn’t build off of modest regular season success in the same way. The Boston College alum didn’t get his first playoff win until his fourth try, sporting a 1-4 record in the postseason in his first five seasons — and failing to make the playoffs at all since the 2012-13 season.
However in the last year, the narratives of the two quarterbacks have flipped. The Falcons brought in a new head coach, and Matt Ryan shut up just about all of his critics in 2016 with the top-rated QB performance of the season.
If Ryan goes on to win the NFL regular season MVP, and leads his team to a Super Bowl Victory, any lingering doubts over whether Joe Flacco has been overtaken as the top quarterback from the 2008 draft go out the window.
On the other side of the matchup, things don’t get any easier as a Ravens fan. As must be the case with most fans of AFC franchises, I can say with relative confidence that no one outside of “Pats Nation” likes Tom Brady or Bill Belichick. I feel like that’s a given.
I may be committing a cardinal sin according to fellow embattled Ravens fans, but I believe the best story is Tom Brady and the Patriots winning it all. For all the perfectly good reasons to hate Tom Brady as the “Golden Boy” of the National Football League, there should be the same reasons for Roger Goodell and the league office to love the man.
For some reason, though, those looking to “protect the shield” have gone on what has amounted to a full-out conspiracy with the aim of smearing Tom Brady and the Patriots organization. I’ll be the first to hate on the Pats organization for being shady. But beyond being a crybaby on the field when it comes to officiating, Tom Brady has done nothing but be a shining example of everything you’d want out of a starting quarterback.
With that in mind, I am rooting for one outcome and one outcome only: a situation where Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and Robert Kraft are on the same stage as Roger Goodell. Unfortunately, the only way this happens is a Patriots victory. As a Ravens fan, I cannot bring myself to go as far to say that I’m rooting for the New England Patriots. However, as a professional wrestling fan, I’m always rooting for the most petty drama.
According to some touts, Tom Brady is currently slated as even money favorite to win the Super Bowl MVP. If that’s the case, we’re going to get the most compelling trophy ceremony in the history of sports. And what’s to hate about that?