Braised Lambchop
a nurse trying to work while suffering with chronic pain - she rambles a bit

We're about to leave to go to Tulsa to a baseball game. These days everything we do includes Maddie, his girlfriend, so this time we got five tickets instead of four. Maddie has never been to, or even seen, a baseball game. This should be fun.

Friday was also spent in Tulsa, so Chris could finish his driving lessons. He took his driving test this morning (a special favor from a friend who is an examiner, so Chris could do it on his birthday), and he passed. I don't care what the examiner said, though - he still makes me nervous, especially because one of the deductions was for not looking back when he was pulling out of a parking space.

So Monday morning we'll take the paperwork to the tag agency, pay the $10 tax, and another chapter of childhood will close. Chris has this idea that he's going to be able to go anywhere anytime he wants now. I don't think so. I want him right here beside me for as long as I can hold him.

When Chris was a newborn, he was a wonderful baby. He was quiet, and curious, and just wanted to look around and take it all in. He slept through the night when he was three weeks old, most likely because he was 8.5 pounds at birth. He never had colic. He was rarely disagreeable. I called him 'shy boy' as part of a little rhyme I made up to say to him when I was changing him or feeding him.

Chris has always been a happy, easy-going boy. He gets this big grin on his face when he knows he's going to make you laugh. These days, one of the things he likes to pull on me most is to yell something like "Mom, you're such a hard-ass!!" after I ask him to go do some chore, because he knows I know he's just kidding. Sure enough, about two seconds after he says that, the grin comes out.

I'm very lucky to have a wonderful son who loves me and his dad, loves his sister, and loves life. His future is limitless, and he's just starting to realize that. When Chris fully understands that he can truly accomplish anything, he'll be unstoppable.

Happy birthday, shy boy. Mom loves you.