Another Month Comes To A Close...

I stayed up too late tonight, so I am passing on the blogging duties to my Mom.

Hello Anthony's blog readers. I am full of emotions today. Mush, Anthony and I went to our dear friend AJ's birthday party today to help him celebrate his second birthday. What a wonderful party it was! It was at the Schaumburg Park District and Anthony was able to play with all of the kids on the soft playground equipment. There was lots of running and jumping!

I saw the deep love mothers have for their children so apparent today. Everywhere I looked, I saw moms (dads too) looking after their little ones as they played on the equipment. They watched their little ones take risks, knowing how disasterous it could turn out, but knowing that the little ones needed to take those risks in order to succeed at another event (such as going down a slide).

Most of all, I saw the tremendous amount of love my friend Liz has for her son, AJ. Liz's face lights up when she sees AJ...and for that matter, AJ's face lights up when he sees his Mom. I love it. Ordinary events like this that I see everyday, but suddenly, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Liz helped me seize the moment today. When we got home from AJ's party, we ate dinner. I was aware of each second I spent with Anthony today as he DOWNED his chicken gyros. He was so full that he just sat and played with my water bottle for a good fifteen minutes. Any of you that know Anthony know that fifteen minutes of stillness is not often heard of. I watched him and saw a little boy where there once was a little baby. I will not hold Anthony back from growing up, and I am so excited to watch him grow. But for those few moments, I just wanted to stop time.

Every night I read with Anthony before he takes a bath. Tonight, he seemed so calm and still. He was so interested in every page of Goodnight Moon and His ABC Picture Book. I wanted to bottle this up!

I have never experienced so great a love as I have as being Anthony's mom...

Thank you Liz, and happy belated birthday AJ!