Happy birthday, Nate!

It's hard to believe that on Friday it had been 5 years since our Nathan was born. So, in honor of his birthday, I'm going to share my 5 favorite things (if I can narrow it down...) about our boy!

Happy birth day, Nathan Thomas!

#5: He is all boy....

Nate is such a boy. One of my favorite stories to tell people about Nate is that he's the kind of kid who will climb onto a chair, jump off of it, and get hurt. Me being mom will rush over and see if he's okay, and then ask him if he's going to do that again now that he knows what will happen. He'll say "No mom...next time I'm going to climb higher!". He balances out Paigey's girly personality perfectly. He's into sports, super heroes, and dirt. It is never a dull moment when you have boys!

Nate's first birthday! He'd rather climb the presents than open them!

 #4: He has an amazing imagination....

It is very rare for Nate to have an object in his hands and not be able to create something out of the ordinary with it. I know you're not supposed to compare children, but when you give Paige blocks, she'll build a house. You give Nate blocks, he'll take two other sets of blocks and mix and match to get what he wants. He'll draw these complex pictures for us, and each part of the picture has it's own history and story as to why it's in the picture. We may see a dinosaur and say "oh look, it's a dinosaur!" but Nate says "Oh, here's Fred the dinosaur. He's blue because he fell into blueberry sauce at school one day when he and his friends were being silly. They were being silly because there was a clown...." etc. It's frustrating at times because we can't see the world from his point of view and we can't follow his stories as well as he can, but he loves sharing them with us!

Nate's second birthday! He's a soon to be big brother!

#3: He loves snuggles....

Nate may be all boy (and trust me, this momma has the bruises to prove it!), but boy does he love snuggles. He wakes up slow from naps, and needs just a few minutes of snuggles before he can function. Even out of the blue, he'll just decide that someone needs snuggles!

Nate's third birthday! He loves his new bike

#2: He has a heart full of compassion....

If one of us is sick, tired, or just out of it, Nate is the first one to say "What do you need?" He may even just skip that part and bring you his silky blanket (which is his prized possession!), his favorite stuffed animal of the day, a pillow, a drink, and a snack. I can't even count how many times I've woken up from a nap and I'm surrounded by things he's brought over to me, just so I feel better and know that he loves me.

Happy fourth birthday! He loves his bunk beds.

#1: He loves his Mommy....

Every morning Nate is the first one up. He's the only morning person out of the five of us, and sometimes that's frustrating for him. But when Mommy gets out of bed, he races right in to me to give and get a hug. There are some days that we don't get that hug right away, and he'll just be so grumpy. When I ask him what's wrong, he'll just reply that he's upset he didn't get his Morning Mommy Hug yet. He's told me many times that that hug first thing is the best part of the day, and it makes his day so much happier.

And you know what? It makes my day happier, too.

A very tired five year old enjoying his birthday!

Happy birthday, Nate! We are so proud of who you are and who you are becoming. We love you so much, Boodle, and life would not be the same without your smiling face in it.