William is 5!

 (I'm posting this after the Christmas post because there were some pictures I wanted to pull off Dan's phone before I posted).  

Our precious William turned five right before Christmas. 

He had a really special day.  

They did a party in his preschool class.  

Birthdays are a really big deal here.  It's not just bring in cupcakes and sing Happy Birthday.  It's much more involved.  The kids form a tunnel and William and a couple of selected friends get to crawl through.

He gets to wear a crown and sit in the birthday chair. And then all the other children take turns coming over and shaking his hand and wishing him Happy Birthday.  Incidentally, it's very common and polite for children to shake hands when greeting one another and adults as well.

For their snack, he gets to pick all the kids to sit at his table - he picked Calvin! and the rest were all boys.

 A class picture (plus Calvin).

 At home we did a cake.  And take note that William, our aspiring cook, put the sprinkles on himself.

Collaborative present playing

I'm just crazy about this kid.  He has a kind, generous heart.  He regularly volunteers to share treats with his brothers, because he really wants to share the experience.  He gets that sharing joy increases joy.  He just gets it. His bellow-ous laugh is infectious.  His charisma is unmatched.  He can get even the stodgiest Viennese to smile.  Our little extrovert has grown in so many ways - not least of which is his ability to communicate.  He's overcome a rather serious speech delay and with his new-found vocabulary and words, he's eager to share a laugh and chat with anyone who will listen.  

His green eyes, wayward curls and mischievous grin still overwhelm me. 

So proud of William Crispin.