The boy

 Today, he was a lumberjack.  Wielding a double-headed axe nearly as tall as he is, full of concentration and unafraid. 

He loves to help and to flirt with danger, playing with independence through handling sharp knives, trying on "big kid" for size.

When did I get a big kid??

Last night I took some work time at Starbucks and ended up meeting a few Boulevard moms, there for a story-and-hot cocoa night that our little coffee shop puts on a few times a year for our neighborhood school.  (I fell in love with our neighborhood all over again when I found that out!)  I was watching the children in their group, second and third graders most likely, as they fetched their hot cocoa and chatted and gathered, so independently, and I marveled.

Tonight, as we lounged with our toddlers and watched Sprout at Melinda and Will's, M. pointed out to me that the age difference between Jack and our littles-- is about the same as that between Jack and those amazing, grown up children at Starbucks. 

Um,  wow.

I love this big kid, though.  Even if he's all elbows and knees and has a tendency to be rude. 

He's damn cute.  And he's loving and sweet and kind, in spite of all the swords in our house right now.

He's smart and curious and interested in so much, and he has the most wonderful laugh.  He takes care of his sister, watching out for her always even when she doesn't really want his help.  He's figuring out the world one day at a time, our little scientist.  He's not afraid to say what he really thinks, and never lets little social niceties get in his way.  I need to work on appreciating that about him a bit more...

He's funny and ever-so-serious all at the same time.  He's frustrating and joyful and easy, independent and needy, walking the line on the edge of childhood but still my baby.

He's going to Kindergarten soon.  How time does fly.