My Baby...he is no longer....

Today....I celebrate the 9th birthday of my youngest..Maxwell....oh, my how time has flown....I remember the beginning...down to the very moment he was conceived..the near loss of my pregnancy with him, not once, but twice...and his premature birth...how scared I was through it all...but how much I knew I loved him and wanted him...how much his Daddy, who at 39 years old, had never been a Father before...who thought he would never ever have a child, met me...fell in love instantly and we conceived this wonderful,funny, inspiring handsome little man....the little man that makes us laugh, when he begs to listen to the 50's channel in the car on XM radio...singing along to the Big Bopper, Jerry Lewis and the like...the same little man that goes to sleep at night..whose covers have to be "just so"...this pillow here and this one there and who is lullabied to sleep with his favorite Elvis CD softly coming from his own little boom box....and without fail..every single time, gets up again to tell me something, just one last thing, after I have already tucked him in...just like last night, to tell me you wanted a guitar for Christmas (and it is just now February..lol) and how you are going to dress all in black, and be in the talent show at school and sing Johnny Cash's I walk the line...your mind never stops working and I adore that about you...even though I may order you back to bed, I listen, I hear you....and I love you for it!

It is amazing to see how you have grown, to see what your interests are: You love your weekends at Grandma and Grandpa's...you are his little "butch" and you follow him everywhere...your 2nd home down there, especially in the Summer, you absolutely love...the fishing, the bike riding, the swimming..going to the Sprint Car Races with Grandpa...you are without a doubt, the light of their life...they can't stand to be without you...the same goes for me and your Dad...but those cherished weekends and Summers down at the lake, with your Grandparents are treasured times indeed and although I miss you on those weekends, and summer weeks, I know that the time you have to spend with them won't last forever...so those memories you will have and cherish one day...so, I let you go..and every time you come back, you seem to have grown up just a little more...

He has had his struggles in his short little live...his diagnosis with ADHD...and having to struggle his first two years in school while we tried to figure things out...how sometimes, our patience is stretched thin by his hyperactivity...his incessant talking, at home and in school...then there are mornings like today, his birthday...he is happy, taking his shower, singing Johnny Cash, I Walk The Line and Ring of Fire...just like the man in black himself..and I honestly laugh out loud at his innocence and his zest for life...and I realize, he is happy....and that sound, that laughter, his little voice truly resonates deep down in my soul...and I thank God for this little boy, and I hug him as he steps out of the shower, his wet little bony butt, with his towel wrapped snug and I breathe him in and wish time could stop...he is growing up too fast....he may no longer physically be a baby..but in my heart, my baby he will always be..

Happy Birthday Maxter....your Daddy and I love you to pieces...you are without a doubt a true Gift from God...and I can't wait to celebrate your birthday, tonight with your Birthday dinner at Red Lobster, your favorite restaurant and your family party at Grandma's and Grandpa's tomorrow.

You rock kiddo! Happy 9th Birthday!