Becoming a Boy

This face.

This boy.

When did it happen? In just four weeks he will be three years old. No longer a baby. No longer a toddler.

I feel like I am standing at the precipice of his boyhood, just as I will some day stand at the precipice of his manhood. As I peer over the edge into the muddy waters of the future, I catch glimpses of this new Kieran – a sneak peek of his first day of school, his first bike ride without training wheels, and the first time he stands up for his brother. I can almost hear the cries the first time someone calls him a name or when we rush him to get stitches. He has so much life ahead of him.

Every week brings new joys and challenges: the independence and the sassiness, the sweetness and the naughtiness, the tenderness and the stubbornness, and the maturity and the immaturity. Oftentimes, I can look back at the end of the day and see where I became too frustrated with this boy … but writing this now, all I can feel is joy and awe that I get to be his mom.

I just hope he can handle all of the extra cuddles he's going to get this month. :)