Growing Up

He's growing up and I don't like it. Not one little bitty bit. In just a few weeks, he will be 14. Just a few years ago, I was a young bride, a young mom with a scrawny, new baby that I lived and breathed for. He was the tiniest thing with the longest little bird legs. He cried. A lot. He woke up every time I put him down. And then he cried. Again. A lot.

But I was in love.
And now, now, this boy has gone off and gotten a job. Look closely at his shirt. It says '09 Staff' and then it says...'Jonah'

I find it necessary to bite my (quivering) lip everytime I see his little name printed so nicely on his uniform...

And gosh dangit if I'm not a sentimental fool, but seeing his name on his shirt reminds me of all those things that you put a baby's name on. Blankets, certificates, diaper bags, everything proudly bears your beautiful baby's name. A mom never gets tired of personalized belongings.

sniff.

And since his birthday is approaching quickly, we are still receiving helpful 'notes' and pictures of what this child is interested in for his birthday. You may remember the difficult-to-decipher-cellphone birthday request that we received. Our latest request was a little drawing of a beanie-clad boy, a very sad looking boy. It read, 'me without a wii'.

Under that sad captioned boy, there was another little boy. A very, happy, delightful child with a beanie on his head and a caption that read, 'me with a wii'. Written above his head are his thoughts: 'I love my mom!'

Sheesh. When he was two he didn't ask for a wii.

(He did ask, however, for a little Barney backpack...)