Will is FIVE!

My darlingest middle son Will had a birthday this week and he is now FIVE!

...or 'almost six, just like Clyde!' as he pointed out that morning.

He has been SO excited for his birthday, so we started off the festivities with a bang... aka crepe paper in his doorway and pancakes for breakfast, hooray!

He invited over two friends from church for a birthday playdate, since his mother thinks birthday parties sound like a lot of work :).

 Alex and Ivy are such sweet girls, and the little trio had lots of fun playing and reading and swinging and gluing and sliding and such.

After we took those girls home, it was time to pick up another girl: Grandma Pam! She came bearing gifts of new legos and a penny collecting folder, both of which immediately became prized possessions.

(Sidenote: is that picture where Jack is sitting up at the table playing on the toy computer the cutest thing you've seen all day or what? Seriously.)

 Will was very involved in his birthday cake - he chose red velvet at the store, despite not really ever having had it before and he was crucial to the mixing process. The decorating was clearly all me - the brown oval-ish shape is obviously a football, as requested by the birthday boy.

He was sooo happy to blow out his candles! So happy, in fact, that his indulgent daddy promptly relit them all so he could do it again.

And we finished off the evening by riding bikes, so Will could try out his special new bike helmet, with the chin strap securely on his actual chin, because, hey why not?

Will is such a light in our lives. I'm amazed when I look back at his fourth birthday and how excited we were that he was understood he was 'FOUR' that day - he's come sooooo far in the last year. His comprehension of the world around him and concepts like actions and consequences, time, family relationships, etc. has grown incredibly. This has helped a great deal in helping minimize meltdowns - both in frequency and intensity. Will is able to more clearly express what he needs and he's also able to understand when we explain what his choices mean in a certain situation.

It's also fun to continue to watch Will's personality develop; lately he's realllly into trying to make us laugh, whether it's with knock-knock jokes or making up 'silly names' for us (aka mixing up other people's names, like I'm usually Jana Clyde Braden). He's an incredible reader, probably surpassing where Clyde was at this stage. He's loving and affectionate and silly and slooowwww and chatty and particular and sweet and we count ourselves very very lucky to be entrusted with his cute little five-year-old self!