Today is my little guy's birthday. He turns 10. I'm not sure why this hit me so hard last night. I thought maybe it was because it was getting to me about my age, but that wasn't it at all. I look back over all that has happened in these ten years and it is quite a shift. Laura and I were just out of college and living in Virginia. I was working for a government consulting agency and we were figuring out our lives on all levels.
What might be scaring me is the thought that if you look over all the blocks of years as a parents I believe I'm headed into one of the toughest blocks. Becoming a teenager. Going through puberty. Girls. Boys. High School. All kinds of obstacles, goals, broken hearts and moment of great joy. All the way figuring it out as we go along.
I see a lot of myself in Dylan. This picture here shows him playing around with my old camera. I think I'm going to stick a memory card in it and let it be the family camera around the house so he can continue to experiment with it. In school he is a lot like me and I know that is going to cause him problems, but I'm ready for them. Plus he's got the Chapman smile. I hope he learns to appreciate it younger then I did. *laugh* Wait, maybe I don't want that!
The snow is falling very heavily right now. The kids got a snow day so Dylan is psyched. I came downstairs to him on the Xbox with a breakfast that Emily made him. (cocoa pebbles) They get along great for the most part and I hope that continues, but we all know how siblings are.
Dylan, if you ever get around to reading this some day. The first ten years were awesome and I hope we both enjoy the next ten and beyond as well. You are a hell of a kid and I love you big time. Happy Birthday Buddy.
