A flower for my thoughts:

Have I told you lately how unbearably freaking sweet my kid is?

Oh I haven't? Well then maybe it's about time I do.

Truth is, he's not always all that sweet. He's actually quite a little monster. When he gets mad he scrunches his face together and hits his own thigh super hard. Sometimes he asks me for things (like a slice of cheese) from the kitchen, then suddenly decides that he doesn't want it...so he throws it on the floor, screams "nooooooo!" and runs away, smashing the damn cheese into the hardwood floor.

But then again, most of the time he's a real sweetheart.

As his personality has started to really blossom over these last few months I have noticed that my son is a lover. He's a big fan of things like cuddling, giving eskimo kisses, and holding hands. He enjoys telling people thank you, which in Ian language comes out "Dee-do". He likes to give things to people. He likes to pet the dogs super gently. He likes to rub his Daddy's back. He's even learning to hold the door for people at the grocery store. He really is a rather nice little boy, if I do say so myself.

About a week ago, he picked me a flower for the very first time. Er, well, let me rephrase that. He picked me a flower for the very first time on his own. He has been prompted to pick me flowers before, and he has. However, this time was different. He was off playing in the yard all by himself and I was sitting in the lawn chair on the patio. Then he walked up to me, laid the flower on my belly and says "here go" and gives me a kiss. And just like that, he walked away.

I may have teared up, just a little. I certainly got sentimental enough about it to whip out Toby's iPhone and take a picture.

I can't believe how fast this kid is growing up. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

It's moments like that though, that make me feel like I'm doing this whole "parenting" deal correctly. If I've done well enough to teach little boys to pick their Mommies flowers (flowers that match their bathing suits so perfectly for photo ops no less) than I'm doing pretty darn good. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.