Six years ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby--just four days after receiving my law school diploma. And somehow that baby is now this boy old enough to have his Kindergarten diploma.
Today was an especially gorgeous one: 70-degree temps, breezy and sunny--pretty much perfect for celebrating Tobin. We've been celebrating for a while, with his NCAA tournament trip, school celebration and zoo visit. But today was also special, very simple and family centered. It happened to also be Tobin's first day of summer break. Matt had to work today but he got up early to make Tobin coffee cake for breakfast. Tobin woke at his usual 6:30 and smiled widely at the new baseball glove from us and new bike from Grandma. I fretted a little that we should have gotten him something else--something that he could play with immediately--but characteristically, he started playing catch with Evan, who was thrilled that Tobin's old baseball glove was now his glove. (Evan also gets a new-to-him bike!) We put a candle in Tobin's coffee cake and sang to him. He smiled sweetly but did quiz me a little afterwards about why there was only one candle; I mean, he is six after all. I reminded him that there will be more candles tomorrow on his official cake, which we'll share with some friends.
The kids and I spent a fairly typical, low-key morning. Of course, "typical" is only "low-key" in the sense that we're all kind of used to a certain level of chaos. Right after singing "Happy Birthday" to Tobin, I ran to fetch Evan from his crib to try to get him to the potty in time. Then later, Tobin asked for another piece of coffee cake, but I told him he'd have to wait a few minutes as I'd just sat down to nurse Lauren. He takes all of this shared attention in stride, which in and of itself helps me so much. Beyond that, he's my helper, mostly taking care of himself and even keeping tabs on his younger siblings when I have to be in another room.
We took advantage of the weather and made the most of Daddy having to work by meeting Matt for a picnic lunch at a local park. Tobin was pretty excited to have a picnic for the second day in a row as we'd just had a picnic lunch at his school. After that we went home, the babies napped and Matt came home too just a couple hours later. Tobin spent a good part of the afternoon building Angry Birds out of Duplo blocks. He spent as much time explaining to me each one's "special power" as he did constructing or playing with them. That's so very characteristic of Tobin, he is imaginative, independent and detail-oriented in his play.
We finished the day with homemade pizza and then a trip out for frozen yogurt. Tobin loves the possibilities offered by self-serve yogurt and toppings. I think he had lemon, chocolate and vanilla yogurt topped with close to ten different confections, including sour gummy worms. He loved it!
Tobin stayed up a little past his bedtime so we could play a game of Qwirkle. Whenever one of us would get a high-score tile placement, he would compare it to past high scores, dating back to Christmas when he got the game. Apparently, Grandma and Uncle Dan are Qwirkle rockstars.
The bittersweetness of this birthday has been especially acute for me, as it's coincided with the end of Kindergarten. I'm sad to say goodbye to his wonderful teachers and sweet friends. And I'm a tad panicked at how quickly he seems to be growing up! But the flip side of that of course is how much fun he is having--that we all are having along side him. It's also been incredibly special to hear from his teachers and friends about how much they have enjoyed their time with him.
Earlier this week at the zoo, we'd been there maybe fifteen minutes and were looking at our third animal exhibit, the ostriches, when Tobin exclaimed: "Man, this place just keeps getting better and better!" Matt and I must have laughed a little because Tobin looked at us confused and asked: "What?" We said something like, "We're just happy you're happy." Indeed we are.
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