Happy Birthday Cardo Man!

Our little Cardo Man turned 5 this last week and it seems like a big birthday for our little man. 5 seems like the age he has officially become a "big boy".   He has grown so much in the last 22 months we have been blessed to be is family.  When he came to us he came with warnings from his worker and the prior two foster families he had been placed with that he might be severely disabled and have a host of other problems. 

I think he is absolutely perfect.

He was scared and lost.

While it has sometimes not been easy and there are things that he will continue to struggle with for years to come as a result of some of the circumstances of his early life (impulse control....no jumping off the furniture, again today).  He amazes us with his resilience and just plain appetite for life and fun.  We are so, so lucky to be his family.

He has developed healthy attachments and trusts us now to be there for him, and you can see it in how he is growing.  His world is stable again and he is free to just be a little boy.  And there is nothing better than the spontaneous hugs and I love yous that he feels safe to give to us, that say you're  my mommy and daddy.

Pure joy.

We weren't there for his birth or his first three birthdays but I look at him now and think, how did we live each day before our Cardo Man?

Cardo Man and the awesome robot cake Hot Mama made for him.

I'm 5!

Seriously, could he be any cuter?

Buddies.