Will is 13! His birthday was yesterday and I had started a post, but I didn’t get a chance to finish it and put it up. Better late than never!
I can’t believe I have a teenager. I can still remember him as a baby. He was such a great baby. He was so sweet and placid. He had the tiniest little cry that sounded like a siren, and when Kimberly heard him cry for the first time, she said “Oh how CUTE!! Make him do it again!”. He ate, he slept and he pooped without any fuss whatsoever…well, at least until about 10 months of age, at which point the dark days of constipation set in. That’s a blog post in and of itself.
Will was a great talker, and we tormented him endlessly by asking him various things every time we turned the video camera on. What does Pooh say? What does Tigger say? Can you say SHOW ME THE MONEY!!??. He was very obliging, for the most part. He had a very cute little squeaky voice, and even now when you call our house and get our voicemail, you can still hear the outgoing message he recorded for us when he was 3. It was just too cute to erase without somehow saving a recording of it. I guess we should get on that.
I love this picture of Will. It's his Grade 1 picture, and we were thrilled with it when he brought it home. It's cute, with the little sippy cup ears and no missing teeth yet. And then I examined it a little closer. What is THAT on his shirt? It looks like an alligator or something...On close inspection, I discovered that it was in fact an alligator-shaped booger. Yep. Why use a Kleenex when you can just grab a handful of your shirt? I wish I could say he's outgrown that nasty habit...
Boogers aside, he’s growing up to be such a great kid. He has a fantastic sense of humor and makes us laugh on a daily basis. He works hard in school (honour roll all year!) and on his piano (most of the time, Carol!). He’s responsible and considerate and a very good big brother to Lauren and Emma. He’s also moody, inappropriate (tard props!), antagonizing and snarky at times, but he’d be boring if he was Mr. Wonderful all the time. I love seeing him grow and mature, and I love that I can still see the little boy he was just yesterday. At least, it feels like it was just yesterday.
A long time ago, I got some good advice about praying for our kids the way Paul prayed for the Ephesians. So this is my prayer for Will:
...I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers. Oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! Ephesians 1:15-19 (The Message)
