Happy Birthday, Andrew!

Today was my little bro Drew's fifth birthday. Crazy! I can remember when he arrived in this world, and it doesn't seem like too long ago. He is so tall and articulate now, so much his own personality that he's grown into over time but that you knew was there almost from the moment he blinked his eyes and looked at you with his little squinchy elf face.

Since he's now 5, here are 5 of my favorite Andrew memories:

1. Burping bliss
When Andrew was very small, and I was living with Dad and Nilofer, unemployed post-college, I used to do the late night feedings. I would be up until 3am sometimes, or I'd wake up at 2 or whenever to give him his bottle. He'd guzzle like it was ambrosia and then sometimes get all gassy and be grumpy and fussy 'cause he'd practically inhaled it. I remember one time in particular where he was crying a fair amount because of it, and was starting to annoy me a fair amount because I wanted to go to BED, yo. And all of a sudden he lets out this enormous belch and then just looks up at me all "ahhhh" with this big goofy smile. Man, that smile!

2. Dance craze
Drew has always liked music. When he was maybe a year or a little younger, you'd put on some Al Green and he would get down with his bad self -- hips shaking, head bopping, bouncing with soul. He liked us to dance with him, too. At that time I had really long hair so I would whip it around in a circle and he would laugh and laugh and say "more" while doing his little sign language. Never knew quite what he liked about it, but it was a hoot.

3. Flowers
Pretty recently, Andrew's been into painting. While babysitting him one day, we started painting some pictures. Being rather a sub-par artist, I went with the good old standby: flowers with one stem, one leaf, a round center, and petals -- maybe 5-7 of 'em. I showed Andrew how to make one, and he put our names on it. A month or two later, I talked to him on the phone and learned he's made more of those flowers since then -- and he writes both of our names on them, because he did them, and I taught him.

4. Giggles
I can't remember how old Andrew was when he first started laughing; I just remember at the very beginning, pretty much only Dad could get him to do it. He'd do it by fake-munching on Andrew's neck while making gobbly noises. We thought it had something to do with the scratchy beard, because none of the rest of us could product the same effect: Andrew would crack up in this little bubbly fountain of giggles that were so delightful, every time. It was such a neat trick. I still love to see him laugh.

5. Poo face
As Drew ages, numerous things get added to the list of "ammunition for if I ever want to embarrass him later." It's a long list. One of the first things to go on it was his poo face. As a baby, you always knew when Drew was taking care of business. He'd make this little O with his mouth, open his eyes wide and look from side to side. "Nothing to see here, folks, move it along." I think he'd have whistled if he knew how. We all tried our hand at reproducing the poo face, but there was something angelic about Andrew's version that none of us could capture. It had a style all its own, which one day I shall use to torment him as a big sister should.

What an awesome kid.