Once Upon A Time...

...in the far away kingdom of Upstate NY, there lived a beautiful princess named Courtney. She was married to a handsome prince named Jonny, and together they had a beautiful baby boy. They named him Gabriel Francis....

The above is how Jon and I start "The Story of Gabriel" (or Elliott...or Janna). We get out the kids' baby books and we go through them. They love hearing about themselves as babies, and the pictures are priceless.

So anyway...5 years ago in the lovely kingdom of Upstate NY, the princess and her prince had a baby boy. He was beautiful. See?

Gabriel the day after he came home from the hospital.

Every year he grew bigger...

The Boy on his first birthday.

Playing at Chuck E. Cheese on his second birthday.

Gorging himself on cake and ice cream on his third birthday.

The Boy's love of cake and ice cream grows with each year! Here he's eating the special 4th birthday cake Mommy made him.

In 2009, he turned 5. And his Mommy was in shock!

Where has the last year gone? What happened to the little boy who loved to play trains and take naps? Is it possible that this kid will get on the school bus in September?

I have seriously been asking myself those questions (and many others) all day. Today my baby turned 5. And while I am not at all saddened by this, I am shocked. Gabe changes a little bit each day. I notice the changes but think nothing of them. But as I was wrapping his birthday loot last night, I realized how much he has changed in the last year...how much he has changed in the last 3 months. Last year The Boy was all about trains. He couldn't get enough of them. I knew it was a "phase", but I didn't think it would actually come to an end. At Christmas, he still wanted trains but he also wanted dinosaurs. Something new...and (for us) a little different. It's March now...and he has totally changed again. He still likes trains, but he now prefers real ones (no more Thomas and Friends). He still likes dinosaurs - only now he wants to draw them and read about them and make them eat other animals (no more playing with the Little People variety, and no more making them "be friends"). Star Wars stuff has taken over the spaces that were once filled with smiley-faced trains. Ferocious, red-eyed dinos have taken over the shelves that used to be covered with happy-looking stuffed animals. The Mega Blocks have been replaced with Legos and Lincoln Logs. The board books have been given to Janna and actual encyclopedias of prehistoric creatures have taken their place. The list of changes could go on and on...

I know that all kids change. I know he's growing up. But it just doesn't seem possible that it's happening this fast. I watched - and listened - to him today at school, and it just kind of hit me. He's 5! It feels so surreal...