Top 10 Reasons to Love a Smidget.

1. I love his sense of adventure. In the pool, he'll suddenly grab my neck and tell me to hide because the dinosaurs are coming. In the bathtub, the spout becomes a waterfall and we swim through the river. The shower is a powerful rain storm. In the car, we get chased by dinosaurs or run over by tractors or we crash something and he tells me the story as I drive along. When he is feeling a little bored, he grabs my hand and assigns me a role and we act out his fantasy. We build forts out of pillows and sheets and chairs. We make mustaches with markers and make faces in the mirror. We paint wild scenes on big pieces of paper (The Big Bad Wolf blows down Mr Pine's Purple House sometimes). We make big adventures out of chalk in the driveway. We go for long walks to treasure hunt or see the animals.  We go to the beach simply because it's Thursday and we feel like it. We go to the zoo because its fun to watch the animals...be animals! We pretend to be animals. We sing songs loudly and off key. We dance for no reason to only the beat of our own drummers. We play naked (okay, he does. I wear jammies). We wrestle. We do somersaults. We think puddles are made for jumping in. We know dirt washes off. We know clothes are replaceable. We know that wounds are just another way to tell a story. We know that bare feet feel better in the grass. We catch ladybugs (and other bugs. LOTS of bugs in my life). We wash the car by "painting" it with soap. We turn every source of water into a source of splashing and mess and competition and fun. We take flying leaps into Mama's arms because the best part of leaping off into thin air is knowing you'll be caught and swept up by someone who will always be there to protect you. We take ridiculous pictures for Daddy. We catch lightning bugs. We defy bedtime because its summer and some things just have to be experienced. We watch the sun come up. We watch the sun set. We swim at dusk until it becomes so cold we have to stay in up to our chins. We, simply, make adventure in every single thing we do. Because little boys were made for adventuring.

2. His love of learning about what other people might think to be mundane: We go on treasure hunts and find new kinds of leaves, nuts, seeds, rocks, bark, bones, shells, nests, bugs, animals and more. Anything that is not alive goes right into his treasure bucket for him to keep. Anything alive we either observe from afar (deer, hawks, buzzards, snakes, horses, etc) or pick up and touch and handle and get to know. He loves learning about the gum-ball seeds and helicopter seeds. He likes watching plants grow in the garden and picking the vegetables and finding the bugs (he really likes bugs). And he REMEMBERS it all. If he sees an elephant, he can remember what THAT elephant was doign the last time he saw it. If you tell him a fact about an animal, he can repeat it a week later. If you show him how to drop a helicopter leaf, he'll want to do it from a higher and higher surface so he can watch it go down. He sees the miraculousness in ALL of the tiny details of everything he touches and sees. He loves the texture of a frog's skin. He loves the flicker of the lightning bug. He loves the way the plane flies across the sky. And he loves to just soak it all up and astound you with it later.

3. His amazing amount of joy and his ability to just let go and SCREAM his happiness so loud that everyone within 100 yards just has to smile at the sounds coming out of him. The neighbor girls LOVE his excited squeals and the way he LOVES to startle dogs/cats/birds by screaming and giggling. He catches frogs. As many as he can (and we're talking multiple every evening) and EVERY time its just like the first time all over. We explore the frog and count his fingers and toes and examine his parts and we pet him and put them in little boats or buckets and play with them for just a little while. Then, EVERY single time, we set the froggy free to go find his mommy or daddy or some such (I make up reasons for the froggy to need to be set free) and Smidget willingly sets him loose in the grass, only to cry because his friend hopped away. And then he catches another and squeals and giggles and runs around showing EVERYONE his new froggy friend and we repeat the process over and over with more shrieks of joy and exclamations about the frog's noises and jumps than I ever thought one boy would make.  Who knew you could spend an hour with a frog and smile and giggle so much?

4. His love of stories, the sillier the better. He has a stack of books by his bed and can tell you about each and every one, quoting most of them verbatim and whole lines from others. He doesn't just listen to the story, he gets drawn into it and every story becomes interactive. He gasps in surprise, yells "Oh no!" if he suspects something bad might happen, he gets concerned about the characters if they look sad, he giggles/squeals uproariously when he is amused, he SCREAMS the punch lines to the jokes. He GETS the jokes. His whole body gets into it and he gets miffed if the reader isn't excited enough! And tha'ts just the stories we READ! The stories he TELLS! Wow. There's danger and suspense and humor and always a hug and a kiss and reassurance that its all better when he's done. He has an amazing gift at age 3 to captivate his audience. And I look forward to watching his gift grow and what he does with it.

5. The unexpected sweetness. From a boy who is constantly moving and who's emotions run to the extreme of loud and boisterous (including when he's mad....he's a true Gemini that way, I guess). Every one of his emotions is deeply felt. When he is sad, he is absolutely heartbroken. When he is angry, he is bitterly angry and can hold a grudge quite strongly...for about 5 minutes when his emotions have changed and gone somewhere new. Amidst all these loud and overpowering emotions, sometimes he just slows down and is totally at peace and is the most loving and sweet kid in the world. He tells you he loves you repeatedly, hugs you and kisses you a dozen times. He holds your hand or sits with you and snuggles. Every once in a while you get this peek of him that is just nothing but sweet. Sure, he kisses his Mama and various others (Mama most of all still!) just about any time---especially if there is an audience to perform for. He loves showing off! But, you only get that truly meltingly sweet man every once in a while during those quiet and peaceful times. This is one of the reasons I most love 7am. Squishy little Smidget is the sweetest midget of all (except when he is a dinosaur jumping on his mama's head :D).

6. His BOY-ness. He has a pet mummified frog...actually two. He loves bones and teeth. He likes mud and dirt. He LOVES catchign bugs and animals. He pets snakes and frogs and catches worms.  He is almost always barefoot, dirty, and totally happy. He fishes. He loves cars and trucks and fire engines and planes and trains and dinosaurs. He likes to grill. He likes superheroes. He thinks I'm a superhero. He flirts. He smooches girls (especially his Auntie Jenny and his Mama). He talks about girls like they're some wonderful thing. He is a romantic and says nice things to girls and gives them presents (a leaf here, a rock there, a kiss later). He wants to be a pilot and a fireman and a superhero and a ninja and zookeeper and a circus performer and a train engineer. He is everything that epitomizes a little boy...and so very much more.

7. His feet. Smooth and yet callused. Soft and yet firm. Dirty and then so clean. In shiny loafers or bare in the dirt. Limp over the arm of a chair or wedged up under my ribs just like they were before he was even born. Playing "stinky feet" with him. Making footprints with him. Piggybacking him and holding them to keep him up. Lotioning them. Comparing our feet sizes---he still thinks mama has big feet! Watching those first shaky wobbly steps become the frantic mad-dash across the lawn. Climbing stairs one foot at a time. Standing on tippy toe to brush his teeth or drink from the fountain. The way he crosses his ankles when he sits/lays. The way he thinks Mama is an ottoman. All the steps in life he'll take and hoping I get to be along for the walk.

8. His face. So expressive. There is never any doubt as to exactly what he's feeling---even if he only wants you to THINK that's how he feels---the kid is a great actor. The quick grin, the slow smile, the bashful half smile, the smirk, the frown, the worried look, the mischief, the tired, the cranky, the mad, the disappointed, the happy, the gleeful, the flirtatious, the completely limp exhaustion, the curiosity, the concentration, the wonder, the awe, the joy, the grief, the love. Everything he is, reflected on the most beautiful face on Earth.

9. His generosity. He shares food and picks flowers for me. He shares is toys. He doesn't want anyone to feel left out, so he draws them in with little tiny gifts---a painting, a flower, a leaf, anything he thinks will make you happy.

10. Because he's mine. Because I longed for him. Because I wanted him more than I've ever wanted anything. Because I had to work so hard for him. Because I've worked so hard for others. Because I know what loss is. Because I know that he is the most important person in the entire world. Because I know that he is perfect. Because I can make him into an amazing man. Because of the amazing little man he already is. Because he was perfect the moment he was born. Because he has brought me so much and love and already broken my heart 1000 times over by outgrowing some of the things I love most. Because he will always be mine, no matter where life takes him. Because every bit of me will always belong to him. Because I am his first love. Because he is my greatest love.