THAT WASN'T QUITE HOW I IMAGINED IT (part two)...

when i imagined having kids,
i pictured many girls standing in a row.
each in coordinating outfits
and topped off with a bow from tallest to smallest.

i can squeal with the best of them.
my tears know no limits.

i know how to french-braid.
i have a gift for painting fingernails and toenails.

i always imagined how sharing these things with daughters.

when i even tried to imagine having a son,

all i could think of was stinky feet and a stinky bathroom.

this wasn't quite what i imagined:

many people tried to tell me how sons squeeze into a special spot in your heart,

but until i discovered the sweetness for myself i simply couldn't understand it.

i cried the happiest tears the moment he was born.

evan announced, "it's a boy!" and i immediately declared,

"i did always want a son! i just didn't know it until right now."

he runs laps shrieking through the house at bedtime.
he insists his name is (whoever he is pretending to be in the moment).
he gives a commentary for everything that happens every minute of the day.
he not only speaks for himself, he dictates our scripts and insists we use them.
he asks me to stop every two feet on walks so we can pick up each stick spied.
he swings said sticks to and fro with no thought to what gets poked along the way.
he taught me the joys of thomas, buzz and, hermie.
he often declares "i love you" in a drive-by manner.
he knows every word to his favorite songs and requests them constantly.
no detail goes unnoticed or forgotten. ever.

i love that the sisters in our family
have the best brother ever between them.
i love how this guy turned my imagination
of having a son inside-out and upside-down.

this wasn't quite how i imagined our family.
because of this character, it's even better.