Happy Birthday Owen!

 

Five years ago right now, we were in the hospital preparing to become a family of four- today our little man Owen turns FIVE years old!  I can not even believe it!  When he was born, Owen fit inside my Christmas stocking and now he is very much a BOY... he is 45 1/2 inches tall and weighs 45 pounds (not so little anymore)! 

 

Owen is doing awesome!  He is in Pre-K this year and loving it!  His teacher used to be Avery's day care teacher- which I think helped Owen's adjustment to school as he can sometimes still be extremely shy.  He is starting to come out of his "shell" more often though, which is really nice to see!  He is doing so well in school- he has a best buddy and they are cute looking for each other every day.  Owen loves puzzles (and is really quite good at them), dinosaurs, trucks, and superheros. 

 

For those of you who haven't heard- Owen recently tested the laws of gravity- he thought he could stand on Maddie's plastic toy ballet barre... turns out that he can not!  He fell and broke both bones in his left arm clean through- he's done amazing with it though- he's met the ER staff, OR staff twice, 2 Ortho doctors, xray staff 6 times now... and now 5 weeks later the cast is OFF already.  I was a bit skeptical (maybe I still am) but he's doing great and using his arm a bit more each day... I just hope he doesn't test the strength of the healing bone by falling again anytime soon!

 

Again I had a hard time choosing a song for Owen's video this year.  I almost used "The Walk" by Sawyer Brown but it didn't quiet fit as Owen is becoming more and more outgoing everyday.  After narrowing down a medium sized list, I chose "The Riddle" by Five For Fighting.  I usually choose a song because something in the words reminds me about the particular child or something that hits home from the past year... I've had this song on my "mental list" for a few years now and I guess I just thought it seemed like the right time to use it.  That said, I actually made Owen's video earlier in the month and wasn't sure exactly what I was going to say about it in regards to Owen but (without casting a shadow over the celebration of Owen's birthday) listening to this song today made me think of the senseless tragedy that happen in CT last week and somehow the words were more powerful to me today.   This song makes me think of a father and son- the son asks the father "Dad, what is the sense in this life?" and the father replies "catch a Dylan song or some eclipse of the moon, let an angel sing and make you swoon, then you will see... you will see"- as if to say "don't worry, enjoy being young- you will grow up soon enough... you will see".  The dad does still plant the seed of thought (a riddle)- "find the answer, there's a reason for the world, you and I".  The song shifts and that son has grown and is a dad himself now.  He says that even though we are big, we are still small in this world... there are secrets and mysteries and we don't have all the answers.  His dad gives him a clue "I love you free". 

 

When I think about the father-son relationship I want for my boys, I think about Ben and his dad.  I can't speak for their relationship while Ben was growing up but from the stories I've heard, I think it was mostly good!  And now as adults, they talk several times a week about everything.  I can see that already with Ben and the boys, especially Owen.  He idolizes everything that Ben does.  Any bit of praise, especially from Ben and Owen literally beams from ear to ear!  And so it is my hope that this "seed" of father-son relationship blooms into what Ben and his dad have... I know it will!  And Owen, you are one of MY reasons in this world.  I love you and I hope someday you will understand how much!  Happy Birthday Bud.  We love you !