Baby Boy Blues

Well today is Alex's birthday. He is 8 already! It seems so long ago that I held him in my arms for the first time. I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking of all the memories I have of him. How when he was born, I noticed how long his arms and legs were and that he must have been cramped. I couldn't get that kid to bend his legs for nothing. Then I remembered how I had to leave him for three days for the first time. He was flying back with an aunt to California while Adam and I drove back to California. I cried so much. How when he finally cracked a tooth, he looked like a pirate or how he would take his plastic tools and try and fix something like his daddy does. One day in my parents back yard, he just made a decision to walk. These are just a couple of the many, many, many things I was thinking of last night.

Then, I look to what he is doing now. He is such a stubborn kid when he wants to be. He is too smart for me. How do they seem to get smarter than you at times? The way they talk and act. Like little adults. Like for example, he started cooking his own breakfast in the morning. He gets dressed, goes in the kitchen and makes scrambled eggs. He makes plans for us to. Last weekend, Erin went to a slumber party and it was just Alex and me. Alex says, "Mommy lets take a hike." So he packs up a backpack with a pencil and a notebook, he said it was for anything he finds he can take notes on it. Then he pours a Dr. Pepper into a water bottle, packs a snack, and we take a long walk around the golf course. We stopped periodically for a drink, snack, and for him to write down things he saw. we walked all the way to my parents house just in time for dinner. When we get ready to leave, Alex decides he wants to ride his bike because he left it at my folks house. Then he says, mom you should ride grandma's bike. So I get on and my feet can't even touch the ground. I can barely stay on the bike. (And who says you never forget to ride a bike!) because I was having trouble. I am on an adult bike, my feet can't even reach the ground and the seat was too high. I needed a kids bike. So Alex pipes up and says, " mom, do you need trainging wheels?" Smart ass! Needless to say, I WALKED home. Yes, I was too afraid to try! I'm not ashamed.

I was thinking of how grown up he is. I was also thinking of what Alex and Erin have gone through, which I never would have imagined that they would have to endure. It is way too much for them. but life hands you obstacles you seldom see. They have dealt with the parents being in sperate homes, the anger, the mood swings, and will probably still have those times. But one thing that didn't change was how much I love and admire my kids, even more so now. They are not babies anymore.

Well, here is to Alex on his 8th birthday! I look forward now to so many new memories of him and Erin.