My How He's Grown

From the first moment we laid eyes on him, Nathan changed our lives in more ways than we thought possible. He has already, in his six short years, taught me more about myself than I managed to learn all those years before him. He was long awaited and well worth the wait. We've spoiled him at times, been too rough on him, expected too much and tolerated more than we should, but he IS our first and thus has been somewhat of an experiment. All those things you tell yourself about how you will be as a parent BEFORE you are a parent come back to haunt you in ways you never thought possible. I've laughed more and cried more for and because of this little person than I ever thought possible. I've made lots of mistakes and am certain there will be more. Because of that, I am grateful that children are so resilient and so very forgiving. It's been six years since the day he came into our lives. It's going by all too quickly.

Nathan is a unique character. He is wise beyond his years in many ways, and more silly than I've ever seen. He's compassionate and worries about other people's feelings. He's trying to be a good big brother. He struggles sometimes, but his eyes light up when he sees his little brother. He's wild and has lots of energy. He's bright and likes to do things perfect on the very first try. He's up for anything and has a real adventuresome spirit. He will try anything once. He has a vivid imagination, and always has us in stitches with the things he says. To that end, I am going to post some of the funny and most often embarrassing things he has said lately.

One day after asking him the same question three or four times with no response, he finally looked at me and said "Mom, is your mouth broke or something because I think it's stuck in rewind."

He's also very fond of saying to me, when he thinks I've interuppted him, "Well, as I was saying..."

He barged in on me in the bathroom the other day just as I was pulling back the shower curtain and said "I feel like I should cover my eyes or something. Your chest looks really 'funKAAAY.'" (funky)

He has this ongoing dialogue about his bathroom business and why it takes so long. Somehow he has related moving his bowels to people at the carnival. Sometimes the lines are long. One time he said "Attention passengers! Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times." On another occasion, when it was taking him a particularly long time and I was pretty sure he was stalling because he didn't want to go to bed, he explained to me "Mom sometimes there are old people in the front of the line at the carnival and you know old people are slow".

On a more serious note he frequently has bad dreams and prays every night that he will not have them. A few days ago he told me that he had a dream that Heavenly Father came for a visit and gave Nathan a big hug before He left. Nathan said that he was pretty sure he had that dream because Heavenly Father was trying to keep the bad dreams away. I love his innocence and faith.

So, Happy Birthday, Nathan. I love you.