the one who made me a mama

Oh, Henry, my dear sweet boy. You are the one who made me a mama, first thing in the morning on a hot July day. You were the most welcome sight there ever was to see at 3 o'clock in the morning. A tiny baby, all 6 pounds and 13 ounces of you, with dark hair as fine as silk and a bright blond highlight grazing the top of your tiny little head. You, my summer baby, were born with a tan. The moment I felt the weight of your little baby body in my arms I fell in love, completely in love with you.
And now you are six.

And it happened so fast.

You are a big six year old boy with your very first loose tooth. The dentist told us so last week.

You are cautious but daring. You went off the diving board for the first time with no floaties on the eve of your sixth birthday.

You like baseball and you are just learning to play football. You are excited to play on a team this Fall. You love tractors. And pizza. And apples. {And cookies.}

You love to think about things. You ask questions. You love to listen to stories. You are curious about the way things work. You have passion and a will of steel. And even though sometimes it lands you in time-out, I love your determination and the way you know what you like and what you want. You like numbers and math. You are creative.
You are a gem, sweet Henry. Even though it's easiest to look back at the past six years and talk about how fast they all went by {because, really truly they did}, I'm happiest this year to look forward at the years ahead and think about the drop in the bucket that those first six years really are compared to what we get to look forward to with you. We love you.
Happy 6th Birthday, dear sweet boy.