Happy Birthday to E.
My younger son, E., turned three yesterday. For the past three years, his impish smile has lit up my life. The feel of him running into my arms, often pajama-clad, as I walk into the front door at the end of the day is what keeps me going. For all the effort, time and expense put toward therapy and treatment of his older brother's condition, and for all that his brother is in a very good place now (more about that in another post), I think E. has often been left on his own as the "normal" child needing less attention.
So it was wonderful yesterday, seeing him realize that the tiny party we threw for him was all about him. It was the first time, I think, that he was aware of being the center of attention, and the look of surprised joy on his face when we sang his name in the Happy Birthday song was something I will never forget. The two families who came to the little party were so gracious to have shared their Father's Day with us (I didn't realize that the 15th was Father's Day this year until after I had sent out the invitations), and even though E. shared the limelight again, I was glad to have given him, finally, a day he could think of as his own.
So it was wonderful yesterday, seeing him realize that the tiny party we threw for him was all about him. It was the first time, I think, that he was aware of being the center of attention, and the look of surprised joy on his face when we sang his name in the Happy Birthday song was something I will never forget. The two families who came to the little party were so gracious to have shared their Father's Day with us (I didn't realize that the 15th was Father's Day this year until after I had sent out the invitations), and even though E. shared the limelight again, I was glad to have given him, finally, a day he could think of as his own.