A Mom and a Family of Men!

Thursday, November 06, 2008

My little "Man-Man" is now 10 years old...

Yes, My baby is now ten!

It doesn't seem that long since he came into my world...but it also feels like he was always here. :) *sigh*

I hugged him this morning and I thanked him for the best 10 years of my life. He smiled sweetly and said, "Yeah". *laugh*

I love you Man-Man!

When he was first talking and really starting to not be a baby he decided that his name was Man-Man. We always called him our little Eliman. :) One day someone called him Elijah and he screamed and pounded his chest and said, "My name is MAN MAN"! He was so upset. Hee hee.

Gosh, with Eli the start of my journey to now began. I was so different than I am now. He just softened me around the edges and made me aware of the fierce love that threatens to burst your heart open at any moment. It was amazingly delicious...that ache. :) I hadn't known love until that hard labor with him in the hospital. I hadn't known sacrifice until his birth. He gave me the first taste of what it really was to be human and a woman. How one baby can do that I will never know.

He was the first thing I hadn't quit. He was my best creation ever. I was amazed that Matthew and I had made this tiny creature who I wanted to tend to and love. I had hated kids before him. I never wanted any. But the call on my heart to have him had started about a year before his birth. I was fearful that I would have to have one of those snotty crying babies who would need me. And then he came. He was born and I was hooked on him. :)

And now I raise him to leave me. I raise him to leave and to make his own way into the world. I am not aware of when this shift took place. I only know it did. One day he wasn't my baby and we were not living for each day with kisses and hugs and snuggles. One day he was a young man who questioned me and desired the big world beyound the safety of my arms. I am only glad that I can give that to him. I work now to finish the good work I started in him...so he can go out and live a grand life.

He is so brilliant and so brave. He has had so much happen in his little life. He has always had the frame of mind to take it. He lives with a disease that threatens to break my air supply when I think on it too much. To him...it is just a part of him. A part of his walk in life. And I am amazed.

Young man, I love you.

Young man, I adore you.

Young man, I thank you for so much.

You and I will always be very special to each other. Let's promise to always respect and allow each other to grow in our own ways. I only ask that I am allowed to always be the one you talk to about everything. I promise to be gentle and respectful of that title. I love the talks we have. I love who you are becoming.

I love you more now than I did when I first laid eyes on you. How can that be? How can my heart handle anymore?

I will always remember these days....
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And I will always look forward to each new year with you.
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Have a Beautiful WONDERFUL year! I will see you when you are 11! :)

10 comments:

Unknown said...

*sniff* How does it happen so fast? I swear you blink and they're grown. I never understood that, but 7 years into it, I'm certainly getting a taste of it. I love, love, love that picture of you and he as a baby. So sweet, so young (both of you), and so beautiful. *HUGS* to you, because I know I'll need them the day my baby is TEN!

Laura said...

Pass the kleenex! I'm crying, now, too!! Happy Birthday, Man-Man!

Mama Teaching 3 said...

Yes, I will be sure to pass on those hugs! :) All of our boys are growing so big Mrs. Charlotte! :( Atleast you have a wee one to do it all over with again. :)

Laura, you are so much like me!

Tisha said...

woo, girl, you know how to tug at some heart strings! I love how when I was reading it made me go back those 5 short years and remember those same feelings of becoming human and a woman. Thanks for rekindling those memories! Happy 10 years, Man Man! :)

Anonymous said...

Oh my, Chelita...I surely understand exactly what you mean! Bryce is 9 and I just have no idea where the time went. *sniff sniff* Happy belated bithday, man man!

Michelle said...

What a beautiful tribute to a mother's love for her child. How we can love someone that much is a miracle in itself.

Heather the Mama Duk said...

Beautiful. Happy birthday!

Rhonda said...

This was so beautiful Chelita. Happy birthday Eli!

Vicki said...

I've had to pass the ten year mark with three of my kids already and that's always a hard number for me...double digits. Now look at me with a soon to be 19 year old and 16 year old. I don't even know how that happened! Stephen and I have always had a special relationship and still do. He calls to tell me every little thing good or bad that happens to him. We've had some rough times with girlfriends but he always comes back to me because he knows who loves him no matter what and always will :-).
Happy Birthday to your baby/young man.

Jessica said...

wow, 10 year old! That is amazing that you have a son that is in the 2 digits now. Congrats to him on a great day and some fun presents. He will enjoy Sims I am sure.