Dear Miles,

Dear Miles,

I love you, my perfect, handsome son. You amaze me day by day, and your smile brightens my world. When you are sad, my heart breaks, and when you are happy, I am filled with such joy as I have never known. In the past seven months, you have brought me more happiness than I could have thought possible.

You are getting so big. And so strong! When you want something, you go for it, even if I am holding you three feet off of the ground. Sometimes, when you struggle, I have to sit down or risk dropping you. You are so determined to get what you want, and now you're beginning to have the strength to back it up.

You have inherited your mother's stubborn streak. When you set your mind to something, you will fight until either you get what you want, or you fall asleep from sheer exhaustion. I foresee many epic battles of will between the two of us, and I know I will find this characteristic of yours trying at times. If I were to be entirely honest, I already do find it trying at times. Yet, when I have a quiet moment to contemplate it, like now, I realize that I love this about you. You are going to be a person who will fight for what you want, never stopping until you've achieved your objective. And I trust, with time, you will learn to temper that with an understanding of what is worth fighting for, and what is better left alone. For now, though, I am just happy to have a child who is so determined.

This determination also shows up in your desire to make people happy. Anytime that someone seems unhappy in any way, you study them, and I can see you thinking. After a few seconds, you catch their attention, and flash them a huge smile. Or you blow a raspberry and laugh. Or you just reach out, and pat their hand with your tiny fingers as if to say, "It's ok. I'm here." Regardless, no one can resist your wide blue eyes, and before long, they are smiling. People at the office actually take breaks throughout the day to come and play with you, and Maestro continues to call you the "bright spot in our world." When you are happy, the world is happy.

My dear, sweet little man; I love you, more than I could ever say. I look forward to each day that I get to spend with you, and I thank God every night that He sent you to me. And I know that whatever else I may do in this life, nothing will ever be better than you. You are my little dinosaur, my monster, my son. I love you.

Love,

Mommy