Jeremy, you totally get it!

Dear Jeremy,

I have heard all my life that the people in the family who are most alike tend to get on each others' nerves the most. Sweetheart, we are no exception. One of the things I marvel at with our adoption of you and Zachary is how much you and I have in common. We are both actors, we both have a flair for the dramatic, we are joyful souls, we have artistic talents, and we both want the complete attention of whomever we are talking to. Don't get me wrong, with all this in common, we aren't constantly at odds with each other. In fact, we get along famously! It's just that we also know how to press each others' buttons. So it's more like we're constantly getting along AND bugging each other all at the same time!  It's not uncommon for us to be laughing one moment, bugging each other the next and then hugging and making up two seconds later. That just seems to be how we roll.

But my do we have FUN! Since I love photography, you have grown accustomed to regularly mugging for the camera, but you're not always in the mood, which results in many of photos of you ignoring me, making silly faces or running around like a crazy person. Imagine my surprise and delight when this morning, you put your arm around Zachary while you were sitting on the sofa and said, "Mama, take picture!"

"Yes!", I thought to myself, "Jeremy totally gets it!"

After that, you wanted me to take pictures of you dancing. Your one-man dance parties consist of you hurling yourself across the floor in a break-dancing sort of way, accompanied by an occasional somersault, and general swaying to the rhythm of the music. It's awesome.

This morning, during one of our many regular mall walks, we passed an open door to a closed off warehouse area, and through the door, we beheld the beauty of many Christmas trees and decorations being prepared to deck the halls of our local mall.

"What are those?" I asked you.

"Trees!" you responded.

"What kind of trees?"

You paused for a long while, then a look of cautious optimism flashed across your face as if you weren't sure you wanted to risk saying it out loud. "Christmas?" you asked so hopefully.

"Yes! Christmas!" I confirmed.

"Mama! Me feel SO HAPPY!"

Mama does, too, Jeremy. Mama does, too.

In that moment, I felt so grateful and thrilled to have a son who is so much like me, who delights in the same things that I do. I don't care that Halloween hasn't arrived yet. I LOVE seeing the store windows beginning to be trimmed with lights and trees. Jeremy, I look forward to a lifetime of sharing in the sheer JOY of Christmas with you, year after year after year!

God bless us, everyone!

Love,
Mama