A Gift a Day

Not quite four years ago, I celebrated my last birthday as a DINK (double-income, no kids). A short 22 days afterwards, my precious baby boy was born. Watching him grow and change over the last four years has been one of the most rewarding (and occasionally frustrating) experiences of my life. As I approach my 39th birthday and his fourth, I find I love him more now than I did when he was born. In so many ways, he brings joy into my life every day.

There is this cartoon he watches, "The Imagination Movers," and every episode ends with the same song and dance routine. They sing "Jump up! Get down! Stand up! Turn around, turn around, turn around, turn around." Well, every time we hear the song, Andrew and I get up and dance to it while holding hands. We jump up and down, drop to our knees, stand back up, and then turn in circles until we are both dizzy (Andrew's favorite part). I always take the opportunity to dance with him to this song because I know the day will come when he will no longer want to dance with his mom. It is one of our special moments.

In addition to dancing, Andrew loves to sing. Now, he usually prefers to sing at the top of his lungs and to make up his own words. But he also started recently singing with me. There is a little song from Maggie and the Ferocious Beast that starts off "Paper flowers bloom, On the Walls of my room, When I sing my song." I was singing it recently and I sang "Paper flowers bloom" and then Andrew filled in "On the walls of my room" and then we both sang "When I sing my song." It was so sweet. I love the song, but I didn't think he had paid any attention to it. Sometimes he surprises me.

These are just two examples of the sweet things my son surprises me with every day (not including the hugs, kisses, and giggles). So as my birthday approaches, along with the fabulous gift my husband has gotten me...and while we are on the topic, not a single one of you has found out what the gift is and called me, shame on you! But as I was saying, as my birthday approaches, along with the fabulous gift my husband has gotten me, I have discovered that my little boy gives me a gift every day.