letter
happy first birthday olive.
Calling you delightful, Olive, seems like a drastic understatement or cliche (sadly, words limit us at times to describe the full measure of a person), but you are indeed delightful. You are quiet, except when
happy 5th birthday burke.
You are a force, Burke. Not the force, but a force nonetheless. Whether throwing your body to tackle someone or wrapping your legs and arms around another for a large hug, you play and love hard.
happy 3rd birthday, blythe.
This last year I often told people, “someone should write a book paralleling toddlers and teenagers.” Both stages, somehow awkardly trapped in the continuum of maturity, force all of us (at some point) to reconcile
happy 6th birthday liam
Dad and I often refer to you as a man trapped in a boy’s body: a man-child, I suppose. The other day we were talking about creation, memorizing the first lines in Genesis, when you
happy birthday olive kay douglass.
olive kay douglass march 4, 2009 10:52 am 6 lbs 2 0z 18 1/2 in Last summer we found out that you, Olive, would be in our family. Since then the five of us have loved you, waiting
happy 4th birthday, burke.
You and your brother love to hear and tell stories. It’s not uncommon for either of you to dictate a story for me to transcribe so in turn you can illustrate it. Recently, you told one like this,
happy 2nd birthday, blythe.
This past summer, while in Florida, the whole group ventured out to dinner at a restaurant that we had been told was “kid-friendly.” Aside from actually having highchairs, this place was nothing of the sort
happy 5th birthday, liam
It seems like a year ago, as opposed to five, that I was holding you for the first time. I remember the nurse handing you to me, bundled up like a little glowworm, and leaving
happy 3rd birthday, sweet boy.
We’re late to be somewhere, anywhere. You approach me and ask, “Mom, will you put on my shoes?” I bend down, wrestling to force your limp foot into submission while supporting your weight bearing down