Big Brotha

Perhaps it's having a tiny babe in the house, but big brother Gideon seems so very big these days.  And he's not slowing down, developing leaps and bounds every day - physically and mentally; I can hardly keep up somedays.

First, both of his bottom 6-year molars are breaking through.

And this weekend, he rode his bicycle for the first time sans training wheels.

The day after riding this small bike, he took on his big bike without wheels, and did fantastically - until it was time to stop and he crashed into the side of the house, falling into a pokey, leafless lilac bush, and demanding to have his training wheels put back on.  (His mama had a similar experience when she was learning to ride a bike - among the rice paddies of Korea, at age 29.  It took me a few months to come around, but I got up the gumption a week before my 30th birthday and succeeded - I'm sure he'll be the same way and will learn well before he turns 30.)

He continues to love and flourish in school - filling his behavior-oriented sticker chart every 10 days or so for a trip to the "treasure box," eagerly completing his weekly alphabet homework and choosing - of his own accord - the outfit every mom dreams of seeing her son in for picture day: button-down shirt, sweater vest, corduroy pants, and lace-up dress shoes  (I had to curb the outward expression of my enthusiasm for fear of instigating the stubborn streak that would compel him to not make his mama so happy).

In the last year and a half, he's gone from being a relatively calm, low-energy boy to one of full of vim and vigor and orneriness.

One day this week, I tried to gather him into my lap and could not believe how long he is now.  When did that happen?  Where have the last five years gone?  It's hard to believe I spent a good portion of the first year of his life being scared of him - now, I treasure his company and have no idea what I'm going to do without him for the majority of my day come this fall and the beginning of kindergarten.  These are truly golden days.