Ten Things About Our Son

Our son will be 6 years old in about a week - and getting to that age has not been easy. Most parents say "I'm amazed my child has survived this long" because their kids are rotten and ornery! Ours is his own dose of rotten and ornery, but we really ARE amazed he's survived this long - based on his birth and the laundry list of things of health crises he's endured, we don't take a single birthday lightly. Not that everything he's endured has been necessarily life-threatening (some of it has), but it always feels like "Are we ever going to get past this?" And yet every day he gets more amazing. He had a very busy weekend...here are a few things he did that amazed us:


1. Earned his white belt in Karate. He broke a board with his bare hands, bowed to us to show respect and wore that belt all weekend.

2. Went fishing for the first time with his PaPa. He caught three fish - and cleaned and ate them. This is amazing because spending time outside is a rare feat for him - he gets sunbured in a minute and extreme heat OR cold make him sick. So on a cloudy, misty, cool morning, he scored a hole in one.

3. He played X-Box with my cousin's fiance (who is 26) and kicked his REAR, then said "That's ok, Aaron. Someday you'll be as awesome as I am."

4. He pulled out a tooth, sitting in the backseat without saying a word when we'd been bugging him about it for a week and all we got were tears. He just pulled it out and said, "See, I told you I'd do it when I was ready."

5. While sitting at his uncle's concert, he said, "I think I'm too tired. Can I go home and go to bed." So he did - at 8:30 - in the summer time, on a weekend.

6. While shopping at the mall and his sister was begging for presents, he said "you don't need to get me anything this time. I know my birthday is soon and I'd rather wait and be surprised if that's ok." Yep, it was more than ok.

7. When his PaPa was taking him fishing, he said he'd stop and get him lunch somewhere. Our little man informed him which places he could and couldn't eat so he would still feel good enough to fish.

8. He wanted to see my parents. So he just called them up and said, "Can you come over for a visit tonight?"

9. While spending some time in his room for acting out his anger, he wrote me a note that said "I am sorry. I love you" and gave it to me along with a hug.

10. He made his bed on his own every day last week. I asked him why he did that he said, "Because you have enough to do!"

He's our big boy, and I couldn't love him any more. I told my husband the other day that there's just something about him that tears at my heart. The tigress in me is viciously protective and defensive of him. Every moment of his birth is etched in my mind, and as I watch him sleep, I recall the intense love that came over me the first time I held him in my arms. That moment was taken from me on the day he was born - so every moment I have to hold him now I want to last forever.