12 Years with My Favorite Little Mister

This past weekend, we celebrated My Favorite Little Mister’s birthday. TWELVE YEARS!!!! Where did the time go?! I remember receiving the above outfit as a baby gift, thinking, “How will this ever fit him?!” {as it appeared to be “huge”} And, now I am almost eye to eye with my beloved son. {I keep teasing him that next year he will be taller than I am … not too hard to do though!}

His “bird feathered hair” was just one of my favorite traits about this unique boy. Unfortunately, his first hair cut took that light texture away forever. I cried. What had I done??? {At age 4 he was obsessed with Mustang cars & asked for a “racing stripe” on his head and I asked, “Like a mohawk?!” & he said, “What’s a mohawk?” and we did it anyways!}

We live a block from the train tracks and thus began the obsession with trains. He was 2 years old in this photo & he learned all of his colors & numbers based on the Thomas characters. And, boy if I gave him Gordon instead of Thomas {they are both blue} he corrected me right away. Oh, I loved those toddler years. That is when the humming began. I knew when he was really concentrating on something, like building tracks, a puzzle or Duplos, because I could hear humming from the other room.

From a very young age he developed what I would call a special relationship with nature. He is truly in wonder with the natural world around him. This is one of our favorite trees at the arboretum.

And, then came LEGOS!!!! Sam bought him his first set when he was 4 years old {the batmobile set – not shown here} & there was no looking back! It is his current dream in life to grow up & become a LEGO designer & apparently we are all moving to Denmark. Sounds great to me! I LOVE how he plays with LEGOS: receive a set, build it in seconds per directions perfectly, set it up for a day, take it apart the next day & build via his imagination. He literally floors me every day with his new creations.

In first grade came origami. Almost daily he is still creating origami. If you have not seen the documentary Between the Folds, you should. It is very fascinating!

Meet Bubo. His best friend. We got him this stuffed owl at another one of our favorite places, Willowbrook Wildlife Center. When he was in 3rd grade, he and his sisters organized a fundraiser to raise money to “adopt” owls at Willowbrook. It was a huge success!

Some call My Favorite Little Mister “the animal rescuer” & that is a great nickname for him. He is famous for rescuing spiders before they are smashed to death & above he caught a salamander while we were hiking in the Smoky Mountains {one of the hardest animals he’s tried to catch by the way!}Here he is with a caterpillar. I love how gentle he is with animals.My Favorite Little Mister also loves botany. Have you ever seen a sausage tree??? Crazy! You can come see them here.If LEGO designer does not work out for him, his other profession of choice is to be added to The Piano Guys. He currently plays both piano & cello & LOVES their music. He even wrote an entire essay on how Steven Sharp Nelson is his hero!And reading. While not found playing music, building or chasing bugs, you will find this kid reading. LOVE!Happy Birthday to you, My Favorite Little Mister. I love you more than words can say & it is truly fascinating being your mama. You have taught me more than you will ever know and I am intrigued by you daily.Here is some of my art that features my son.

Grace & Peace,

Julie