Dear Gibson,

For a long time now, I have had the nagging feeling (persistent impression) that I needed to write down, each day, all of the reasons and ways you bring me joy.  And, like a faithful resolution-maker, I am making this goal for this new year.  I hope this blog will be something that I can reflect on as you grow, and remind me of things that are so simple the mind lets them slip away, underneath the more complicated things that inevitably fill our lives.  So, let me begin.

I want, first and foremost, to tell you that I love you.  You and your sister are the sum of my creation, the best gifts I have ever received.  You are my special boy; my baby.  You have such special gifts - a tender heart, a desire to do good, a great love for music and reading, a contagious laugh, a twinkly smile...I could go on and on.  You make me laugh.  You make me angry.  You make me happy.  You bring me joy.

Today, you were concerned about having a tardy on your report card, and so I took you to school before the carpool arrived to pick you up.  When you got out of the car, you said, "I love you," three times, just to make sure I heard you before you shut the door.  I was so proud of you, crossing the street and going into school.  I hope you heard me say that I love you, too.

After school, you had to clean your room, which you did without complaining, for once.  Once everything was clean, you played with your zhu zhu pets which you keep in the dollhouse Georgia got for Christmas last year.  It's pink, but you told my it isn't a dollhouse, it's a guinea pig house.  Your toys are hamsters, but I let you say guinea pig because it's way cuter.  I went downstairs, and pretty soon you called me upstairs to follow the "clues."  You had hidden 5 of your toys around your room and you wanted me to find them.  I looked behind the door, under the bed, and you just laughed.  "Follow the clue, mom."  you said.  "Look inside the backpack."  You gave them all away, you were so excited.  You hid them all several times today, and it was really cute.  It is fun to see you create your own fun and let me share in some of it with you.

I was a bad mom today and sent you to bed with only cereal for dinner.  You're probably starving right now.  But you did brush your teeth before bed (another resolution of mine), so that was a step in the right direction.  You asked me to make you a bed in my room, so if you get scared in the night you can come and sleep by me.  I didn't make a bed for you, because I know you'll be fine.  Plus, you're tired!  And the alarms will be going off sooner than later, so until tomorrow...

Love,
Mommy