Today You Are 11

You tell me you are going to stay up until 12:01 AM so you can open a present.  I think not.

It took many, many hours before you decided it was time to come into my life, but the wait, and all the other stuff, was so worth it.  I would go through it all again 100 times just to have you as my son.  Being your mom is the most important thing I could have ever accomplished.  You make me so proud every day with your kindness, your smarts, and most of all your bravery.

You know by the look on my face how big a hug I need from you when I pick you up from school.  When I have a bad headache, you kiss me in just the right spot on my forehead.  We complete each other's sentences, we crave the same things for dinner, every single night, and you know just what movie I would like to watch when I tell YOU to pick one.

The other day we were out shopping and you found footy pajamas.  In the women's pajama section.  You thought I should have some, and I said I would get them if I could get you some too.  Of course, now that you are 11, footy pajamas are way too dorky for you.  It got me thinking back to when you were just a little boy.  You would get out of your tubby, I would put you in your nice, warm, fuzzy jammies, and you would grab your favorite blankie, and your sippy cup, and crawl into the crook of my arm, to have some milk before sleep, and doze off in my arms while we read your favorite book of the week or watched a dinosaur movie for the hundredth time.  I never wanted to put you to bed, I could have sat with you forever and foregone all sleep, just to be able to watch you, and keep you little forever.

We still cuddle before bed each night.  The time we have together after work and school never seems quite enough for either of us, and your bed time isn't always a welcome sight.  I know that the years of us feeling so desperate for each other's company are dwindling and soon I will lose you to the privacy of your room with the door closed perhaps a bit too forcefully behind you, music blaring, and, of course, girls.  So for now I will hold you tight, and love you more than I could ever imagine I would the day you arrived.

Happy Birthday, Riley.  You are my whole world.