Happy Birthday Elusive Offspring

On the eve of the elusive offspring's 21st birthday, I find myself thinking about what I was doing 21 years ago at this time. Well, I was drugged and working hard to help the little guy to make an appearance. It's hard to believe the six-foot-two ginger-head was once a mere nine pounds. My cats weigh more than that! Once he got here, my life was completely devoted to him. Day and night. We were lucky that he was such an easy-going baby. I'd rock him to sleep every night at 7:00, singing stuff like "Michael Row the Boat Ashore" and "If I Had a Hammer" and "Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone"...all such lovely happy songs for a baby, right? But hey, I knew the words.

He started sleeping through the night at three months. It was a bit scarey the morning we awoke at 7:00 and I looked at H and said "Oh, I didn't wake up when you took care of the baby last night." He looked at me "I thought YOU took care of him." And we both rushed to the bassinette to make sure he was allright, and there he was, doing the wake-up stretch. From then on, he slept from 7 at night to 7 in the morning and we loved it. Of course, when he reached three or four, he wanted to go to bed later and get up earlier. Why is it that they get up so early when they are young, but when they reach the teen years (and the elusive university life years), they can sleep through thunder storms and vacuum cleaners ... until three in the afternoon?

The kid turned out pretty good, if you ask me. Of course, I'm his mom. But, I like the person he has become. He has exceeded any expectations I had when I looked at the baby and wondered what kind of man he would be. He's intelligent, kind and thoughtful, talented, caring, and a very interesting person. Not to mention movie-star attractive...hehehe. Mom's can say that but other people have said it, too.

So, happy birthday, elusive offspring. It's a good thing I now have a dog to keep me busy now.