My son turns 5 .... where did the time go?

My son recently turned five years old. A milestone of sorts for him; an enormous one for me! Why? Because I'm wondering where on earth the past five years has gone.
How did my beautiful newborn become a boy full of boisterous energy & cheeky enthusiasm for life?
He was a beautiful baby. Every parent says that, & so they should. But I truly believe he was. We had waited so long for him, there was no way he'd be anything but beautiful.

Nine years of infertility is quite a build-up to the birth of your first child. All the years of thinking that you're not really infertile... "If we just wait a little longer, it might happen."
Of course the years kept ticking by & it didn't happen. It took us a while to accept that IVF was going to be our only chance at parenthood. We eventually made the decision to try IVF. Once the decision was made we didn't waste any more time.
We were lucky with the treatment; we tried it once & it worked. So many others aren't so lucky. We were so relieved to not have to endure all that stress again..... there's a lot of emotional pressure in IVF.

So, after nine years, we found ourselves pregnant; a baby was actually on the way.... YAY!!
He was kind enough to be a troublefree foetus, giving me the opportunity to love every minute of pregnancy.
Birth was much like the pregnancy; a pleasure! five & a half hours of labour, with an epidural for pain relief... as I said, a pleasure.

Once he was born he started growing & hasn't stopped. He has always been taller than his peers, & at five years old, already stands up to my chest. Nipple height to be precise; a fact that he finds highly amusing.
I can only imagine how tall he will be when fully grown.

He's cheeky. Not in one of those rude, bad mannered ways, but cheeky in the mischievous, fun loving sense. He loves to laugh, he loves to tickle, & loves to play tricks.

Perhaps what I love about him the most is his great sensitivity. He's always considerate of the feelings of others, & so giving of his hugs & kisses, kind words... What more could a Mother ask for but to have a son who loves without reserve, who gives of himself without resentment or expectation.

Five years has come around so fast, who knows where it's gone. but the child I see before me is someone that I am so proud of, someone that I love so much, that I look forward to the next fives years with eager anticipation....
though don't come too fast please.