My not so little boy....

Today my little boy turned 7. He's not so little anymore though. He has grown into a caring, sensitive, headstrong, hard working and athletic boy. He loves the outdoors and everything that has to do with gardening, athletics and nature. This year was full of emotional challenges for Aiden and he has come through them with a unique quirkiness and a lovable attitude. He has done well in school and has improved in leaps and bounds with his reading and writing. He can pretty much read independently and writes words and stories by sounding things out. He always has the greatest stories on so many different subjects! He will be starting baseball again next week! He is very excited.
It is so hard to believe that seven years ago we were surprised with Aiden entering our lives almost six weeks early. I was not fully prepared for what I had ahead of me that morning when I got up to go to a routine checkup. I didn't know I would get there and be rushed right over to the hospital to be induced and that I would have you in our world in just a few short hours. It was quick. I went over and within four hours you were here with us. It was so hard having you whisked away to the NICU because you couldn't breathe on your own. It was so heartbreaking to not be able to hold you in my arms for the first 24 hours of your life. Watching you in the incubator with your little arms and legs kicking I knew you were going to have a spirit that would be strong and able to bounce back from just about anything.
I will never forget the first time I got to hold you. I never knew that I would instantly be bonded to your heart. Not in a way that can be explained. It is the strongest thing in the world.
I never knew that when you cried I would want to cry too. I never dreamed that I could love and be loved so openly and without any kind of worry. I never imagined that when you said your first word my heart would skip a beat, when you took your first step a piece of my heart broke off with you and walked outside of my body forever. I couldn't imagine the way a giggle can make any bad day instantly better. Nobody told me that watching you grow would be so painful but so rewarding all at the same time.
I love you Aiden James and I can't wait to see where your heart takes me next.