Double Digits??!!

Where have the past nine years gone? Wait, he turned TEN today?? Double Digits ... already??!!

We 'met' our "firstborn" Guatemalan Treasure when he was 11 months old. We had 'met' his newborn sister a few days earlier, and wanting a big brother for her, we were asked to consider adopting an 11-month-old boy waiting in an orphanage ... and below was one of the photos we received. Do you see that impish little face? Of course we gave a resounding and unanimous "YES!" Seven months later we were a forever family.

This adorably handsome young man is delightful. What he lacks in stature, he makes up for in personality. He loves hip-hop dancing, bouncing on the trampoline, chasing/wrangling/hanging out with chickens, all things Despicable Me, especially Minions, family movie nights, collecting stuff, Star Wars, listening to music, reading, Kindle time (games), imagining inventions, and pushing his sister's buttons ... to name a few things! His favorite color is green. His very favorite food? Pasta in any form, flavor, or sauce. 

K-man lives with a number of developmental challenges. D.A.M.P. syndrome (Deficits in Attention, Motor & Perception), ADD Inattentive and Speech Dysfluency (stutter). But he is a Super Trooper. Though he finds it difficult to stay focused, understand and retain academic information, he has (seemingly) every radio tune stored away in his head, and can name a song in the first bar, or tell you another song the artist sings, or a movie it is featured in! Though his writing is labored, he can draw some pretty cool Minions and Super Heroes. Though his speech is not fluent, he can talk up a storm — it is often hard to get him to stop!! Although he perceives the world and those he encounters very differently to the rest of us, and reacts disproportionately to everyday situations, he has a uniquely quirky sense of humor, and yet is sensitively sweet. 

This wonderful boy is quick to thank me for most every meal I prepare. And I mean, "Thanks for the fantastic dinner Mom! Your a great cooker!" after which he asks, "Did I fill your bucket?" (read: make you feel good?) ... his Love Language is definitely words of encouragement and affirmation. My heart melts when he says "You're my best forever Mama in the whole wide world!" I love this boy and I am so very blessed to be his "forever Mama." 

His Birthday Menu requests included: 

I am thankful for the opportunity to spend much of the summer off with the kids ... it's an investment, as much in my life as in theirs! This is just as I imagined and hoped motherhood would be.