My Sweetheart

Each of my children have term of endearment that I use to refer to them. My sweetheart is my middle child Michael. If you know him, you will know instantly why this is his moniker. He is such a mild and sweet, sugary, little guy. He is a charmer of girls and has been from a very early age. He prefers to hang with boys that are older than him, 'cause they are cool and inspiring I guess. When he was born we were expecting another girl. My first intuition was that he was a boy and my heart sunk when the Dr. told me it would be another girl. Two weeks later I was filled with joy at the prospect of having another girl who would be able to wear all the pretty dresses that Bailey had worn. Trivial, maybe, but I was just so sure it was a boy. So two weeks before he was born, a thought raced across my brain. What if it's a boy? Everyone was convinced it was a girl and my question was brushed off. I said, "shouldn't we pick a boy name just in case?" David didn't even want to discuss it. So, I started thinking of boy names just in case and came up with Michael James. Michael after my mother's father and James after Dave's mother's father. Whenever I broached the subject of the possibility of the baby's boyness it was as if it was just pregnant delusions. No one said yeah or neah about the name they didn't worry about it 'cause it was gonna be a girl. He picked the most perfect day to be born. He arrived at dawn on Easter Sunday, 2000 at our home in Bozeman, MT. Weighing in at about 11lbs or possibly more. When the midwife saw his obvious non-girlness she gasped and whispered, "don't say anything". When I beheld my son I sighed and said, "Oh, it's a Michael." This is how the love story between my sweetheart and I began.

This year for Michael's birthday we went to the zoo. We packed our lunches and headed out for a day of fun. He was sure to bring his binoculars to get a closer look at the animals. His favorite animal that day was the okapi which is like a cross between a giraffe an a zebra.

We bought nectar and fed the Lories. They are funny little parrots. One was giving Michael love bites on his ear.

We saw the baby ducklings. We got ice cream and then went to eat our lunches before...

riding the train.

Michael just HAD to sit in the last car. It was a wonderful time. After all this we ran some errands before we had dinner and fun at Chuck E. Cheeses. It was a day for him and I think we all enjoyed it. I love my sweetheart more and more as he grows.

Happy Birthday Mikey!