Caleb's Birthday

Caleb turned four years old this week. It is funny how some days can seem so slow. Those hours after nap time and before Eric gets home can last for days. And yet the years go by so fast.

Sometimes Caleb slips into years that seem twice his size. On tuesday at the gym he took my gym bag (its on rollers) and said, "I'll take that for you. And I'll carry your water too, so that you can hold on to Elise." I teared up. He seemed so grown up. But he can shed years pretty quickly as well. In fact, if years were clothes then on Monday he was running around naked. I can't really remember the specifics, thank God, but whatever the crisis was ended with him hollering in the midst of a crowded parking lot, "I WILL PUNISH YOU! I WILL PUNISH YOU, MOM! MAHMMMMMM!"

Monday was a slow day.

But now we've opened the presents, blown out the candles, blown them out a second time, and cut the cake on another birthday. We've put the new toys away (a duplo lego Castle Lionclaw and a harmonica), next to the dinosaurs from the three year birthday, and those dinosaurs still seem new.

Year three was a fast year.