Today, my youngest child turns 18 years old.  Legally, he will be an adult.  In fact, at his oral surgeon appointment this week since the day was so close, they made him sign all the consent forms as well as me.  Emotionally, he is far from being an adult and still has pivotal roads to choose and travel.

I remember so clearly the very first moment that I looked into his dark eyes.  He had the most powerful and concentrated stare from birth.  He seemed so serious and seemed to study me so intensely.  He was a force to be reckoned with from birth. The very first night home, he cried nearly the entire night.  I was breastfeeding, so if I did not have him at the breast it seemed he was crying.  He could definitely make his needs be known, and he seemed angry to be a helpless babe.  The crying began to subside as soon as he developed some control over his world and could sit up and interact with smiles and babbling.  He was a beautiful baby and by 5 months had a head full of soft, blond, angel hair.  

With those big brown eyes  that twinkled with mischief and that mop of white blond hair, we did not stand a chance.  He was rotten from toddlerhood.  He made us laugh constantly with his antics and his personality.  If you could fall from it, through it, or in it, he did.  If you could climb it, he would climb it as skillfully as a little monkey and we so we often called him ‘monkey.’  Eventually he became little Al to both Kenney and I and neither of us was very good at resisting his powerful charms.

With Alex, it was either all good or all bad.  He was either having the best moment of his life or the very worst.  He could throw a fit to rival the very best tantrum throwers I have ever seen.  We were not used to this at all.  His older brother, Jason, from birth was soft-hearted, golden, and sweet.  He was easy to please, easy to raise, a joy to parent.  Alex was the challenge that was thrown our way.  He took our world and shook it upside down.  But, we are all the richer for having him in our lives.  These brothers have always had much to teach one another and will continue to complement one another and lend lessons to the other as they navigate manhood.

I am a so grateful to be a mother– to have two sons who are healthy, well, funny, intelligent, and gifted in so many ways.  And so to my Mother’s Day baby, Alexander Scott, I wish you the happiest of birthdays and I pray that your life will be rich and full and that your journey will always be interesting and satisfying.

I love you.

♡