Sparrow sleeps in her own little bed in our room….and, usually, ends up in the middle of our bed at some point in the night.

Today, Nate turned seven.

Now, when the littlest one is waking up, we wake up, and sleep is a good thing to get enough of.

When we wake up, it’s hard to sleep.

That’s pretty obvious, I suppose.

My oldest daughter called the middle of our big bed the “special middle” when she was little.

Now she’s studying engineering.

These little ones grow up.

I will have time to sleep later.

I won’t always have someone enjoying being with us in the “special middle”.

I should relish that.

Nate turned seven, and we went to Chuck E Cheese and had some pizza….and played some games….and then drove straight home after purchasing some gumballs for his new gumball machine.

He was pretty jacked to check out what it felt like to have access to unlimited and self-administered gumballs.

That’s maturity….when you can eat as many gumballs as you want…before Mom notices you eating all the gumballs you want and puts a stop to the whole operation.

Happy Birthday, Nate!

Long live the “special middle”….even if, at some point in the future, it’s only a figurative thing.

Long live…the special middle.