God grant him many years!

Today is my fourth child's ninth birthday. This child was the baby that I enjoyed completely. Partly because of the fact I was a more experienced mother, partly because he was a delightful baby. He literally smiled all the time. His eyes were full of joy and had a spark of life in them that was contagious. He is still happy, content child, and therefore was a late walker, talker, and now reader. He is now, and always has been, very at ease with the present moment. He is a naturally mild mannered person, and while that makes him pleasant, it opens him up to lots of hurt and being taken advantage of. I see this beginning with some of his siblings and friends, and it rips at my heart.

He has always been fascinated with priests and monks, and wears his St. Benedict medal like a soldier. He prays fiercely after he received Holy Communion, and takes every bit of his faith seriously.

He is a master at sound effects, and can not tell a story without peppering it with all kinds of noises and hand gestures.

He is the "middle child", 4th out of seven, and gets caught between the big kids and the little kids all the time. I try to be aware of this, but if I miss a time to include him with the big kids, he reminds me right readily the he isn't little anymore. But he shares a room with his little brother, and remarked to me that now he understands his older brother (with whom he used to share a room) better.

His biggest trial now is that he is reading at a primer level, and he has friends and cousins younger than him who are much better readers. He asked me if that meant he was stupid. What a question! This child can take things apart and put them back together, figuring out the way the item works as he goes. He is the only one of my children who has his own garden, and who takes care of it all by himself and who will rake our entire 3 acres on a nice fall day, just to be outside.

He is a loner, a bit, and sometimes I worry that he will get hurt because of his mild nature, his natural kindness and his desire to please. My prayer is that those traits bring him to the vocation in life God has planned for him, and that God will hold my son in his hand, guiding him in love and confidence, so that my boy will grow into the man God has made him to be.

So happy birthday, my son, I am so blessed to have you in my life~