Birthdays

I just turned 25 for the 9^th time. My husband is a year younger than me AND he has been ID'd three times this summer. Celebrating birthdays (aka "aging") has never been my thing.

These days though I have nothing but birthdays on my mind. Both my husband and I just celebrated our mid thirties and both of my kids birthdays are coming up. Actually, Shiloh was due one year ago today.... I remember very clearly the agony I was in just one short year ago, begging that baby to leave my body alone!

Shiloh will be one next week, and Sam 3 next month. My baby years are officially over. I am trying hard to feel sorry for myself, well up some kind of sad feeling and wither myself into a big blue funk. Fortunately it hasn't happened. So far, for me my kids always seem "the perfect age". I remember when Sam was a baby; I would see moms with toddlers and feel secretly sorry for them that their baby was gone. But as Sam grows I forget (sadly) the little guy he once was and marvel at the little boy he is becoming. As Shiloh grows into a big baby I am so happy to get see her powerful personality that seemed to take awhile to shine in that smaller baby of 6 months ago.

Shiloh is just about the cutest, cuddliest, jolly hardy laughing baby I have ever known. She is headstrong, and thick skinned; both good qualities when you have a smartypants big brother trying to steal the spot light all the time. She is beautiful. Really, it is not just because she is mine, I really think the kid is something else (she also looks a lot like meJ...that is my big head floating around cyber space).

Everyday I find many reasons to celebrate who my kids are right at that moment. Today Shiloh spent 20 minutes putting her head inside a box and squealing with delight at the hollow darkness before she peaked out to do it all over again. Yesterday Sam pointed out Sheldon`s (the dog) ``big stiffy`` as he was pooping in the park. Embarrassing yes, but I will gladly take it when I also get days like today. Today Sam was sitting on top of my neighbours slide, there were about 4 kids waiting for him to go down the slide and a few parents standing around waiting for their kids turn. I was trying to get Sam to come down when he put his little hand up in the air and said ``Mommy, I just have something to say.........I just love you....(long pause) because I miss you a lot (I had been shopping for an hour) and I just love you when you are with me.`` How could I possibly wish he was any form of himself other than that one right thereÉ I am sure that all the other parents were wishing it was their kid talking to them like that.

So in the next few weeks Shi will graduate to not counting her life in months but in years, and Sam will be 3, which according to him is big enough to do just about anything.

These are the `days of our lives` and they are pretty great!