To Andrew

After nearly a year of blogging silence (yes, I realize this is becoming a trend for me), I logged in to attempt to post something worthwhile. I was surprised to see that I had never posted my letter to Andrew that I wrote on his birthday earlier this year. After a few touch-ups, I decided to go ahead and post it. Better late than never, right?

2/17/09

Andrew,

You woke up this morning at 4:30 with an earache. You came into my room and told me you couldn't go back to sleep. I sent you back to your room with a groggy "try harder". Thirty minutes later, you came back apologetically and asked for some medicine. I got up, found you some ibuprofren and some crackers and milk, and came and sat on your bed. Even with your ear pounding, you had a grin on your face. "I'm almost ten, Mom...can you believe it? Only a few more minutes!" I couldn't even suppress my smile.

After a few minutes of munching on crackers and drinking milk, we watched the clock together. When it finally changed, we did some silent cheering and I wished you a Happy Birthday. You're ten!! I told you that ten years ago at that moment, I was crying tears of joy as I listened to your newborn wails. I told you that Daddy was standing next to me and we were so happy that you had finally arrived and that your cries were strong and loud. We were scared when we learned that you had an infection and had to be in the NICU for five days. We rarely left your side. You were surrounded by tiny, premature babies, all in incubators like yours. The other parents marveled at how big you were- all eight pounds of you. You looked tiny to me.

You started to look embarrassed while I was telling you these things, so I cut my story short and just reminded you that I loved you and that I was so glad that I was your Mom. Here are a few things that I truly love about who you are:



You are an amazing big brother. Anna loves you so much and you are very tolerant of her antics. You are almost always willing to help her find a game (and even show her how to play it). You let her watch her shows sometimes when you really want to play Wii or watch your own show. You talk to her on a level that she understands and you are great at explaining things about the world to her. You are helping her become a smartie like you!



You are a great friend. When one of your friends has a problem, you are there with them, wanting to help. When one of your friends is upset, you stop what you are doing and hurry over to see what happened. You do your best to include everyone who wants to be included. You are empathetic on a level that takes me by surprise sometimes.



You are very inquisitive. I will admit that sometimes, this is difficult for me to handle. I do truly appreciate this about you, though. I love that you want to know how everything works and why things are the way they are. I love that you trust me enough to answer your difficult and embarrassing questions. I also like that when I don't have the answers, you don't hold it against me. :)


You are eager to learn about God and His word. You listen attentively during the sermons on Sunday mornings. You fill in the blanks on the sermon note pages. You discuss the lessons with us sometimes and this truly warms my heart. Your prayers at bedtime are often beyond your years. I know God has great plans for your life and I trust that you will keep looking to Him to find out what they are.

I love you, my sweet son. Happy 10th Birthday!!