Theo is 4

Today, my youngest turns four. On his birthday, I always run over the details of his birth - how I drove to the hospital alone late at night, leaving my sister home with almost two-year-old Bobby; how I almost got sent home as being “not in labor” but thankfully labor kicked in enough to allow me to stay, the agony of it all and me clamping my eyes shut and begging for it to be over, my doula saying, “open your eyes, your baby is being born!” and seeing little Theo emerge, cranky and dark haired and so different from his brother. 

Those were such different times. We are officially out of babyland - and that all feels like a thousand years ago. If not for this blog I doubt I would retain any of it; the breastfeeding woes, the house vibrating with new life energy with a new baby in it, Bobby peering over his car seat to check out this new little person that had joined our lives.

Now, I have a new four-year-old and a kindergartener. I would say the time has flown by, but it doesn’t feel like that to me. It has felt like four years. I think that’s fair.

Theo is easy going, funny, a good sharer, a true cuddle bug. How much of his personality is informed by being the baby of the family and my being a second time mother will remain a mystery - but personally I think both of those things are huge. Theo has one year and two and a half more months of his preschool life and then I am officially a school ager mother. But for now I can still say, Happy birthday, baby boy!