2191 days

I've spent the last half hour or so looking at pictures from when Nate was a baby.  It's brought back all kinds of wonderful memories of those first few months of summer 2005, when my whole life changed.

There are a lot of things that strike me as I look at these photos.  How young we all look.  How Nate is smiling in absolutely every single photo.  He's smiling because he is that happy.  All the time.  Even now he is the happiest kid I have ever met.

 

I'm reflecting on the past six years.  The years that have molded me as a mother, first of one, then of two, now of three.  I'm so incredibly blessed to have my children.  Each of them is so very special to me.  But there is something about the first.  The oldest is the first to go to school.  The first to play organized sports.  The one that I have to rely on to be the "bigger brother."  Expectations are so high for the firstborn.  As parents, we want him to be able to do everything he wants.  We want him to succeed, to thrive.  But we also expect him to be mature, to understand that he may not be able to do everything.  And that sometimes, he can't be the center of attention. 

I'm rambling a bit.  But I'm just trying to put into words tonight, how incredibly proud I am of Nate.  He has gone from the kid in preschool who couldn't sit still, who couldn't keep his hands to himself, to this amazingly mature, capable 6 year old.  One who comes home from school and tells me exactly what the teacher told them they would need to do.  Where I need to sign the paperwork.  Who, on Tuesday evening, reminds me that he has a soccer game on Saturday, at 8:30 am, at Richmond Hill, and he needs to be there at 8:15.

Tonight, Nate asked me, "Do you know how many days I've been alive?"  But this question, in its simplicity, is the essence of who Nate is.  He is constantly learning.  Constantly questioning.  His brain is racing at full speed, down the highway, but he's capturing all the details of every road sign.  I love the moments when he lights up because he has understood something.  Watching him learn to read this year has been a joy.  Hearing him read a story to me, well, that's one of the best things in the world.  I love giving him a challenge (particularly a math problem) and watching him work through it in his head.  I actually can't wait to be able to sit down and do math homework with him.  

I couldn't be happier, or prouder, to say I'm his mom.  I told him tonight that I will always think he is the coolest kid in the world, even when he's older and he doesn't think I'm cool any more.  As he hugged me, he said into my ear, "You are pretty cool, Mom."

Tonight Nate is 2191 days old.  

On Friday, he'll be six years old.  

Happy birthday, buddy.