My birthday boy

It's hard to believe that this sweet boy can already be 7. How is it possible? I don't know if other mothers do this, but each year on my child's birthday, I spend a few moments re-living the details of their birth in my mind. It could be because I am so fascinated by the birthing process, but really I think it is purely because these were some of the most sacred moments of my life, and I never want to forget them.

7 years ago on this day at 3:16am, this sweet boy was born. He came out screaming VERY loudly. (hmmm, that should have been my first clue that he was a noisy sort of boy) He had a head full of dark fuzzy hair that stood up on end. I used to love touching his hair, it was so feathery and almost fluffy like a baby chick. Upon seeing his son for the first time, his father proclaimed that he was cute, but he had kind of big nose that made him look like Tom Cruise in his eyes. Thankfully, his nose was just a little swollen from the birth, and he didn't really have a Tom Cruise schnoz. Even with his swollen little nose, his mother thought he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Some of my most cherished memories of Josh as a baby are our many late nights spent together in the rocking chair. He was so snugly, and loved to just curl up and snooze on my chest. This worked well while he was a newborn, but he grew very quickly and soon it got to be rather hard. I can remember trying to shift his weight while he slept because I could no longer breathe. But still, we carried on this little ritual every night until he was 6 months old. As you can imagine, our nightly snuggle fest created quite the horrendous sleeping habits for my little guy. Finally, I decided that he needed to sleep on his own, and let me tell ya, he did not like that one bit! But I'm happy to say that after a few nights of crying it out for 30 minutes to an hour, he finally learned to sleep on his own, and has been a champ sleeper ever since. But I will always remember those special moments spent with my little babe in the blue rocker.

It really does seem just like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. How is it that he can already be a 1st grader? I am going to miss him when he is gone all day at school. He is growing up so fast, but I am so proud of the little man that he is becoming.

Josh is

• kind hearted
• sensitive
• funny
• imaginative
• loyal
• loud
• loving
• smart
• entertaining
• tender
• silly

I love my Joshua so much and am so thankful that I am his mother. He brings so much love and laughter to our home, and I can't imagine what our lives would be like without him.

Happy Birthday Josh boy! I love you.