you are six

Finnian is six years old.
The day started with a bang at 8am!
Chocolate cream pie from Sassafras Bakery for breakfast.
(I made the mistake of saying he could have ANYTHING he wanted for breakfast)
Lego building and the Yearly Click!
It is a day full of Finn and his choices today. (a movie and ice cream too)
Sweet Finn-
We love you
xoxoxoxo

yearly click day Blaise

Blaise.
I love you.
You are three.
I love that we are taking these yearly click photos with the amber necklace.
I love that Finn takes his with an old shirt of dad's.
I love that someday I will frame them all for you.

and what I wrote to Finnian last year applies to you:

It is making for a great growth series I think as I fast forward in my head and imagine him standing in some backyard all lovely and tall and distracted and really wanting to be done with the picture.
He will be 18 and the portraits will be finished and he will run off and not look back.
But some day when he finds his nostalgia, when he wakes up and his invincible skin has rubbed all off and he is broody for the irrecoverable past. Someday when all he wants in the world is to reach backwards to prove it was once really quite so simple and perfect- well then he will have these to remind him of his mama and all the love and hope she had for his future.
And he will smile and show them to his lover and they will hang them in their house and
he will tilt his head and wonder was he ever really that small.

Yes you were.

Thank you for being a giant sunshine on this earth Blaise. xo
We all love you.

"Love actually is all around us."

Dude. I have a two year old and a four year old.
How did this happen? It seems like just a blink ago I was a free spirit traveling the world searching for something big. I have found it but it is like my big toe tripped some sort of freaky fast forward button on the current of life or something. Time is fast.
We had Blaise a small family birthday party yesterday.
Pancakes and Disco.
It was Finn's idea. Well, truth be told no one even ate any pancakes although my mother brought an amazing array of syrups and such. The weather was a bit wonky right before the party and we were worried family would not be able to come. (snow snow snow)
But everyone made it in time for cake and the Bee Gees.
There is something really relaxing about having a low key family party. I love having big parties and being with all my friends, but it was really special yesterday inside our house. There was mad cousin love and everyone was smiling and everyone danced. It was so warm and comfortable inside and looking out the window at the miserable weather made it even cozier. It was like the house glowed with happiness I am sure to any passerby.

But for the record- if you ask Blaise if he is a big boy or a baby he will still reply "bebe".
And I hope he is still for a little bit.

some more pics on flickr

title post- Love Actually 2003

"Old Spice. Phil says it's a timeless classic."

Blaise will be two in a few days and I went and took his yearly click today.
The same date as last year. (how sweet is he?)


I am taking a photograph each birthday with a prop so I will be able to watch them grow and to give them some cool photos in their adult life.
Finnian wears his dad's shirt in his yearly click and Blaise wears an amber necklace.
I wrote about birthday traditions and ideas last year here.
I did not make this idea up as I recall reading about a woman who dressed her baby girl in a vintage Pucci shift and took photos. She hung them on the staircase. It was gorgeous seeing her grow into the dress.
So you should do it too!
And don't fret if yr kid is a bit older and yr just starting.
Just think of collections.
Many of one thing is always cool.
No matter how many.

The Yearly Click:

1. Choose a prop that the child can grow into or outgrow for drama.
(like a dress or a shirt of an adult in child's life or a piece of jewelry or something fun like a clown nose even!)

2. Commit to keeping the prop in a safe place and taking a yearly shot on the child's birthday or birthday time frame.

3. Write the age and date on back of print! yes PRINT it out! My mother and grandmother told me to write the dates on everything and I laughed! Now I am screwed with several photos and it has only been 4.5 years with Finn! Seriously we do not remember all that we think we always will.
6 months old and 8 months old look the fricking same to me now!

4. Display them! (staircase/wall/nursery)

5. Have fun and guess what? Yr creating amazing memories for the future! Yr an archiver of lovely.

title post- My Girl 1991

"Well, I don't know; we were exploited. But they were nice about it."

Disco Baby, originally uploaded by Dave Gorman.

In 23 days Blaise will be two years old.
In the tradition of birthday parties in our house-
this will be his low key birthday.
Even with the low key family year parties there must be a theme...
Finn has chosen the theme for Blaise this year.

Pancakes and Disco.

I mean honestly...How bad ass is that?
I must start planning how we are gonna get granny in a catsuit.
Rawk.


title quote- The Last Days of Disco 1998