"T" for Thomas

What did I tell you about the rain? I love this time of year. I especially love it after the marathon of birthday parties is over with. When the twins were born, I said I would have a separate birthday cake, party, etc. for each of my children, even if I was tempted to squish them together.

So far I'm doing so-so on that promise: the twins had to share a birthday party (which really makes sense for the sake of my relative's nerves) but got separate cakes. Sort of. But that's another story. Nonetheless, Joseph had a family party + a friends party, so the twins party was the third party of a very busy week. I'm glad that week is over. To celebrate, here are a few fun tidbits about my "middle" child, Thomas. He's older than Elijah by one minute.

We couldn't tell the twins apart much when they were born, which shocks me now. I can tell their baby pictures apart now that I have known them for so long, but they were strangers during those first few hours. Thomas had a little bit of fuzz that quickly disappeared. He was essentially bald for about two years, since the hair he did have was so blonde that it was practically invisible.

I'm still in shock that I have a blonde-hair, blue-eyed child.

Thomas' nickname is "Sunshine" because he is such a ray of joy in my life. He rarely fusses about anything and takes everything in stride. Even when he gets very, very upset he stays relatively quiet about it and gets over it quickly. The best word to describe Tommy is "easy going." Thank heaven. Literally. I needed a child like this.

The other best word to describe Thomas is "inquisitive." He quietly observes the world around him, then tries to disassemble it (mentally or physically) to see what he can learn. I'm sad that I couldn't find my picture of him sitting in a pile of books when he was under a year old. He would take every book off the bookshelf, make a little "nest" of books around himself and then sit there staring at them for a long time. It amazed me.

He still loves books. He knows all of his letters, most of his letter sounds and can string basic letter sounds together if he wants to. He can read "Thomas," "Elijah," "EXIT," "Dad" and "Mom" among others. I still can't believe that he is learning to sound out words at his age! For a while, we thought he'd be reading before Joseph! His Halloween costume was a cape with this written on the back: "ABC MAN." It's Thomas to a "T".

I am so grateful for my little Thomas Spencer. Happy Birthday, Sunshine!!