Happy 5th Birthday, Landon!

You're terribly silly. You're terribly sweet. You're terribly smart. Sometimes I just can't physically let you go when we are wrapped up together in a hug. As I like to say: You make my heart happy. And as you like to say: I love you more than the last number on the longest number line.

You love Legos, books, board games, mazes and drawing your own creations of friendly zombies (?). Your alternate ego is "Mr. Goo," a resident vampire who has been with us the majority of the year (and has thankfully decided to evolve from his original mischievous villain state to a more domesticated, gentile version ... lest "Mommy Goo" take his cape away forever).

Your favorite song of the year was Parry Gripp's Neon Pegasus, followed closely by The Cranberries (Zombie, of course) and Weezer. But you're not too cool for school just yet because you can still bust out any Laurie Berkner song with the best of the storytime crowds. You know that the queen of soul is Aretha Franklin and the king of pop is Michael Jackson. I so hope your affinity for a range of music will maintain itself in the years to come. But even if it doesn't, you're still golden.

I love you more than, well, infinity.

Mother's Day 2015

Dear Boys,

We made it another year. This one was a little bit of a solo ride with Daddy gone and I didn't know how it was going to go, but you made it simple, fun and humbling. 

Landon, your obsession with Legos this past year could have been predicted by your founding passion of jigsaw puzzles. Your "creations" and imagination have been an absolute joy to watch. And the fact that you let your little brother play with those creations demonstrates what a special big brother heart you have. Whenever I am laying down for a moment with my eyes closed, you come up to steal a light kiss on my cheek; you make me feel so very loved. 

Anders, your confidence and personality came out of left field this year, especially after Christmastime. For someone who wasn't a particularly smiley baby, you certainly are a funny guy and your laugh just lights up my world. You smile with your whole face - I love it. At the time of this writing, you are delighted by anything Rescue Bots or Transformers or Super Heroes. You love wearing a cape and slipping into your "Super Anders" persona; it involves a lot of running around and yelling "Pshooo!" with your arm extended. You give grade A hugs with your whole body and it reminds me of my mom's genuine hugs; thank you for continuing the legacy.

Together, you guys are one big, goofy energy ball. Whether its playing "goo" (in which you pretend to be stuck in blankets - aka goo - and let the other super hero brother rescue you) or "fight dome" (rough housing under the geo dome in the backyard - not mommy's favorite, but surprisingly a game that hasn't resulted in any injuries...yet), I see brothers. As your daddy likes to say, "Thick as thieves." 

I became more confident as a mom this year, for sure. I finally see the hard work starting to pay off when you stop and hug each other while reading a book (just because), when you express your feelings with words, when you demonstrate good table manners or when you utter "Thank you, Earth and animals, for this lovely food" before you dig into a snack. These snippets are a delight to see and rather incongruent to the constant feeling that no one is listening to me at all on most days. Thanks for planting some seeds of hope this year.

Love you with all my heart,

Mom

Mother's Day 2015