Five!

Go from this:



to this:




in just 5 short years! (He didn't want to do any "smiley" pictures until dinnertime. Incidentally, I feel like this gives me a pretty good glimpse at what the teen Dex will look like.)

About Declan:

He is my mini-me, for better or worse. I love this kid more than I could possibly put into words. There are so many things that make him him, and all of them work together to build this fabulously fabulous boy that I'm usually thrilled to be mother to.

Declan is rarely found without a song. He makes music all.day.long. We were out in the yard a few days ago on a gorgeous spring day, enjoying the sunshine and freshly-mowed-by-Grandpa-Tiny grass and Declan goes, "Did you know it's such a beautiful day I feel a song coming on?" And then he ran and sang a song about beautiful days. Rides in the car and sitting at the dinner table are two of our guaranteed spots to get a performance from Declan. Even if he's not vocalizing, he's bopping his head along to whatever music his mind is creating. When he was a baby, I loved standing outside his door after he was put to bed to listen to him humming himself to sleep.

Dex is still our little lightswitch - ready to flip between his two moods, happy and angry, at any instant. Lucky for us, he's usually in the happy position. He's a snuggler and freely gives hugs all day long. Often he'll walk up to me for no other reason than to tell me he loves me and give me a hug. He'll give you anything he has if you ask nicely for it, or if he thinks you might benefit from it more than he would. Many times he's offered his precious teddy bear pillow, stuffed animals, and blue blanket to the rest of the family at night for various reasons. He'll share the last bites of his treats with Logan just because he's his brother and he loves him.

The other side of the switch is as far in the other extreme as his happy is. That boy can scowl like nobody's business. While he may be willing to give you anything if you ask nicely, if you try and take something from him before he's ready, he will fight to the death for it. He's still under the impression that whining will get him what he wants sometimes, and he will let you have it full force if he thinks there's any chance of you giving in. He's got the emotional blackmail thing down pat and will threaten to never love you or hug you or kiss you again if you make him angry and try to punish him.

When Dex grows up, he's going to be a strong beast of a man. The days of physical matches between the boys haven't really started, but Declan's demonstrated here and there that he can stand his ground against his older brother. When he was about 2 and Logan was 3 1/2 or 4, the boys were wrestling on the living room floor. They got tired and fell into a heap of giggles, Logan settling on Declan's back. After a moment, Declan decided he was ready to stand up...so he did, showing no sign of effort and toppling Logan onto the floor in the process.

As is the case with most mothers I know, I worry that I'll be able to be the mom he needs as he grows up. I hope I can help him learn to temper his temper and get control over the cutting words he uses when he's angry. I hope I can teach him to enjoy his life and be proud and confident in who he is. I hope some day I'll be able to help him understand how lucky I feel to be the one he calls Mom.

Declan's my baby. My fierce, strong, loving, passionate, stubborn baby. He's the fire to Logan's ice - there's a reason he's been symbolized as a dragon in my world.

Happy birthday, buddy. =)