Silver Lining

OK, I've been complaining enough about how tired I am and how difficult things get (for now, anyways).  At the end of the day, as much as things take a lot of work, and a fair amount of banging my head against a solid brick wall, I get to spend every day with the most interesting and loving boy on the planet. OK, I might be biased, but he's a keeper, for sure!

Here are just a few of the things I'd miss if he wasn't exactly the way he is:

He will not go to bed without a hug, kiss, nose kiss, pet and rub.  So I have to hug and kiss him, then rub our noses together and rub, then pet his head.  The last two is because about 80% of the time when he goes to bed, he pretends to be some kind of animal.  Lately a snake named Viper. He insists on being wrapped as tight as possible, and makes sure he has a tail hanging off the bed.

Viper the snake, ready to go to sleep.

He doesn't lie!  Not because he is perfectly behaved, but because in a world where he adheres to rules, lying is not an obvious option for him.  So when I try to get him to make a promise, he will not make it if he isn't sure he can do it.

He lives the way most of us wouldn't dare to.  He doesn't worry about how he "looks", so he'll pretend to be something from a movie or game, even if people can see him, he'll go pick his dad up at work in December - dressed as a devil, and he will play in the park, wearing a Star Wars mask.

Going to the playground!

He gets so excited about unexpected things!  Like when I took him to the petting zoo, expecting him to love the baby goats - in stead all he wanted to do was be in the chicken coop!  One day, driving through the Rockies, we found a small stream next to the road - and Alexander was thrilled beyond belief, because he got to "touch a waterfall"!

The magic of touching a waterfall!

When he wants to spend a day at home (that's how he unwinds), he is honest about needing it, but expresses it as "Mommy I just love you too much, and I want to be with you today".  Melts my heart!

Even when he was stuck at home in a cast and a wheelchair, he didn't complain about it, but quietly asked if he could still pretend to be a bad guy.  I told him "of course", and he got his bucket of swords and played on, like nothing had changed at all.

"bag guy" with wheels ;)

His boundless curiosity and imagination.  We have spent hours talking about "baby chickies",  difficult levels in computer games, black holes,  tentacles, meteors, squids (or, as he calls them "squibs"), and lately it's all about Nile Perch (yep, that's a fish living in the Nile), Stingrays and other dangerous river fish all across the planet. We learn together, and because of Alexander, I now know about so many things I'd never have thought to look up or learn more about.

The more you learn, the more you'll grow!