Happy 9th Birthday

My baby boy is 9 years old.  Wow, that is hard to believe.  In some ways it seems like such a blur and in other ways, it seems like it was just yesterday.

I remember being scared at the hospital and having a horrible, horrible delivery.  A delivery that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. 

I remember him being so, so tiny.  So tiny that his preemie take-home clothes swallowed him.

 
I remember coming home and really not knowing what to do.  

I remember hearing so many people say that if you hold the baby all of the time that he would get spoiled and I remember believing them.  My, how I wish I wouldn't have listened to them.  I can't tell you how many times through the years that I have wanted so badly to hold Kanin, like he was a little baby again, and kicking myself for listening to those silly old wives' tales about spoiling a newborn.

Kanin and I are so much alike that we butt heads quite often.  We are both stubborn, strong-willed, smart, Type A personalities and we each want our own way.  This has caused many heartaches (on both sides) and my biggest hope is that one day we will each learn to give a little bit.

Through everything, though, I have always been proud of Kanin.  He surprises me so much in so many different ways.  He is inquisitive and loves history.  He loves sports.  He is sensitive and sweet.   He has a fantastic imagination and surprises me with some of the stories that he comes up with.  He likes to write and is really creative when it comes to rhyming.

When Kanin laughs, a real laugh, it absolutely melts my heart.  
  
Of course, I love Kanin because he is my son but I especially love Kanin because he is the one that made me a mom.  Kanin is the one who truly taught me what it was like to love somebody more than I love myself.  Kanin made me realize that I could and would do without things for myself just so he could have things that he needed . . . or wanted . . .and I'd be happy about it.  Kanin is the one who taught me that even though I don't believe that things happen for a reason, I believe that a reason, and a lesson, can be found in everything that happens.