You are a decade old, double digits. This is impossible, you are still just a baby in my eyes.

Ten years ago today you made your entrance into this world in a way that would set the pace for the next ten years of your life, little did I realize. You were born after only 45 minutes of labor, beautifully and quietly. You caused me no pain, just pure joy and complete happiness.

As a baby you had some nasty colic for a few weeks but other than those few hours at night, you were the easiest baby in the world. I remember that I had to make a conscious effort every single day to remember to hold you and nurse you because you wouldn’t demand it otherwise. You were just happy being alive, you needed nothing else. But you deserved so much more and I was not going to let your easy-going nature prevent you from getting what you deserved.

You went on to be the same way about everything. You were my only good and easy sleeper. You slept through the night pretty early on, you never needed to share my bed like your brothers did, but I kept you with me anyway. I think I needed you more than you needed me. You moved into your own bed so easily, without even a second thought, the same time Dalton did.

You ate solids long before your siblings, thanks to Dalton slipping you a slice of cantaloupe at 4 months old, and you ate everything we put in front of you. You still have a mature palate, preferring shell fish and exotic delicacies to grilled chicken or hamburgers. You like the extraordinary and you are an awesome cook.

You were one sick toddler. From the time you could walk you had a steady stream of ear infections that seemed to never cease. You had a runny nose perpetually for years. You wheezed and made all sorts of noise when you breathed and in your sleep. You caught every illness to pass within 10 miles of our home and they all ended up in your chest, causing me to spend countless hours at the doctor with you in order to rule out scary things like pneumonia. And plus, you know, there was the drool that lasted until you were like 3 although your brother tells me you still drool in your sleep And the distinct lack of hair. Yeah, you didn’t have it easy!!!! Even though you were chronically ill, you were so happy and easy-going. You didn’t let it slow you down at all. Finally when you were 4 we figured out that you had chronic allergies and, once treated, you were finally healthy. Of course you were still happy all the time but at least I didn’t worry as much about the pain relief I was sure you needed but you never bothered demanding.

You were my only kid who sailed through the 3’s without effort. You got mad but never really threw fits. You threatened violence if we did not conform (”Do you want me to hit you or kick you? Pick!”) but you never followed through. You were just happy and easy as long as Dalton wasn’t convincing you to eat bugs out in the backyard

You taught yourself to read so subtly and without effort that I am not really even sure when exactly it happened. Probably the same way you taught yourself math and all sorts of things you loved figuring out. You have never been any trouble to teach and your a natural at things that come so hard for your siblings and other kids. And you’ve always had such passion about things. When you were tiny, you loved dinosaurs so much, probably prompted by your love for Dalton who also loved dinosaurs. But you really loved them, inside and out. You could name dinosaurs just by their skeletons and knew more long dinosaur names that some docents at museums we went to. You were always impressing adults with your insane knowledge of dinosaurs, inside and out. You might not have been able to say your “r’s” but you could say 1000 different kinds of dinosaurs as if they were colors of the rainbow.

Eventually your love of dinos fell by the wayside as you discovered legos. And did I mention about your passion? Still 7 years later you are a lego freak. It may drive the family crazy that they can never get you anything but the same old presents every holiday but I think its really cool that you have such passion for things that are important to you and that you aren’t the kind of kid who just goes with every passing trend or commercial you happen to see. You love what you love and your love is contagious. You are far more likely to induce others to love what you love than you are to conform to other people’s trends. To me, that’s so admirable.

You were a total fish since the day you were born. Really you wanted to be born in the water but it was against the policy at the Birth Center. They had to drag me kicking and screaming out of that tub! You just loved the water. When you were just Addison’s age you would dive head in into wave pools and off the sides of pools way deeper than you. You thought you could swim and sometimes I look back and am amazed that you didn’t drown! You were fearless in the water, a total natural. Remember when you were little (and short!) and you were required to wear a life jacket to attend some amusement park attractions and you were so mad that you refused to go in the water? Man, nothing made you more mad that being treated like a “baby” in the water.

You are a total clown. If you went to school I am sure you’d be the class clown. I’d have phone calls and notes home all the time about your antics, I have no doubt. You love to make people laugh and you are so good at it. You are a pun-master and an actor-extraordinaire. You are a talented singer and entertainer. You keep people entranced while you steal center stage. See, that’s part of your magic. You manage to be both completely easy-going and  laid back but also the center of attention in any room all at the same time! You totally did not get it from me but I wish you gave lessons! But you are so the funniest kid I know, I love that about you.

I have to mention the babies. What is it about you and babies?!?! They all love you. Noah was obsessed with you from the moment he was born and you were so good with him, always making him laugh while you let him pull your hair and squeeze your face. And now with Addy, she just loves to beat you up and poke your belly button and you just humor her without complaint! Every friend we have with little kids is just madly in love with you. You have the Baby Charm, that’s for sure. I don’t know what it is but you should bottle it up and sell it. You are already getting requests to babysit, you definitely have a career in the making!

Another amazing thing about you is that you are a giver, not a taker. You are the kid who will give back the souvenir money becuase you don’t want to “waste it”, who will turn down candy and soda and other treats because you don’t “need them”. You will give away your toys to friends who show interest. You will do your siblings chores, just because. Sometimes I worry that you are too selfless and I want you to know it’s ok for you to be a little selfish sometimes. So on your birthday you can expect that at least this one day of the year you are going to live it up.

I hope I’ve been the kind of Mom you’ve needed for the last ten years. I hope I’ve managed to draw you out and offer you what you won’t ask for on your own. I hope you know that everyone loves you for the amazing soul that you are. A Mom couldn’t possibly have asked for or hoped for a more wonderful child than you. 10 years of watching you grow into this amazing person has been such a gift to me. I can’t wait to see you in 10 more years, a full grown man - an adult. Meanwhile don’t forget you get to be a kid for a lot longer and I love watching every minute of it.

Happy 10th Birthday. And don’t tell your siblings but I love you best.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 1:00 am and is filed under Holidays & Vacations, Milestones, Photos & Videos, Things I Love. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.