Birthday Boy

Yes, yes, yes, James is already almost 14 months old, so the title of this post doesn't fit the day....but it does fit the picture.

This is the only picture we actually got of James on his first birthday. We took him to the Milwaukee Zoo, and there he not only had LOTS of fun, especially looking at the aquarium, but he also had his first experience with becoming rain-drenched. We had to run through the pouring rain to leave in time for Grandpa D to be at his piano lesson, and James was more than a little confused about how the outdoors became a shower! We have a couple of pictures of the zoo that the grandparents took, but none on the computer, so you'll have to use your imagination for now.

Throughout that day, as we petted a turtle and watched the lions prowl and ate birthday cake and ran around the yard, one thought kept going through my mind. It is a phrase that our friend Megan uses for her monthly letters to her daughter, our friend Ana. And I think it is perfect. It is what every mother feels whenever she looks at her child, and even more so on the days when we have cause to reflect on the many twists and turns on the path of life that brought that child to us.

Thank you, James, for being mine.