He Just Stops My Heart

I let my son skip school yesterday and took him to the movies instead to celebrate 10 years since this day:

I know I'm his mom, but come on....was he the cutest thing ever or what?

This is what I looked like on that day:

Clearly, he wins....although, in my defense I had just spent the last 19 hours pushing out a baby...you know...so....

Anyway, I just love looking that that picture of his little face.  His little nose.  His little cheekies.  I loved him.

And I loved him when he was 2 and has pasta sauce all over him:

You can see, not much has changed....

I loved him when he was 3, and stood for a pole shot in his little Bob the Builder tee shirt and cargo jeans and work boots just like Daddy's....

I found this picture not long ago and held it up to him.

"Look at your little face!  I could just kiss you all over!!  Muah, muah, muah"

In hindsight, I probably would have gotten a better reaction if I'd not tried to do that while he was playing Battlefield Heroes, because the reaction that I got was 

"Mom, stop!"...and then I had to cry.

Moving on...

I loved him when he was 5 and getting ready to go to Kindergarten.  I was so nervous that it wouldn't go well and that he'd get lost and be scared and would need me to hold his hand and stay with him forever.

He didn't.

And when he turned 6 and wanted to be a firefighter, I loved him, even though I knew I'd never allow him to have a job that dangerous.

"No.  You can do something safe.  Like walking."

"Walking?!  That's the most boring thing ever besides yoga!"

When he was 7,  he would smile at me and I would die.

When he was 9, he would laugh and I would die.

And when he turned 10 and told his grandmother that his dad thought it was so funny when he was crashing cars on his new video game that he was "laughing his ass off"....well, I thought I would die.

But, I took him to the movies

and let him keep his eyes open during the naked drawing scene

even though he did ask if he should close them, and only once, at a totally different part of the movie, tried to reach out with his 3D glasses and touch the screen.

When we got home, I pulled out the baby book and had a good cry about how big he's getting and how short my time with him really is.

Then we ate pizza and apple pie, and I smooched him and cuddled him and called my baby.

And he said, "You know I love you more than I say I do."

And I died.