My handsome prince is a teenager today.

It doesn't seem that long ago that my prayers were answered with the birth of my son. Right from the start he was a sweet-mannered baby who loved to cuddle. So many people like to brag about their kids - tallest, smartest, strongest, etc. My boy was average... he smiled at 3 weeks, laughed at 6 weeks... he even sat up the day he turned 6 months. At the well-baby check-ups, I usually told the nurse what his length and weight would be - he was 50th percentile for height, 25th for weight.

Even from an early age, his empathy and compassion were obvious to everyone. Shortly after his 2nd birthday, our dog got cancer and lost weight at an alarming rate. He seemed to understand our cautions that he be very gentle with Cassie - one of my favourite pictures is one I took of him sitting beside her "reading" her a story from one of his books. He was also very upset when all the other elephants shunned Dumbo, saying "he's not an elephant anymore". Every report card has mentioned his kind, caring attitude, and notes how he treats his fellow students with respect.

When he was little, he never went around something if he could climb over it or go through it. Even from a young age it was apparent that gymnastics was the sport for him. His first class was 9 years ago today - he started on his 4th birthday. He took to the various apparatus like the monkey that he is, but his favourites were vault and floor, and sometimes parallel bars. He's freakishly flexible - he can lay almost flat on his back with his arms laid out straight behind him. It looks like he's on his stomach with his head on backwards.

As he grew older, he tried his hand in various other sports. Fortunately (for me) he didn't like hockey, but he loves soccer and baseball, and his current favourite is football. I can see the benefits of his years of gymnastics training when he makes a flying save (he plays goal in soccer) or a leaping tackle. He has no fear - even after a spectacular tumble off his dirt-bike which cracked his shoulder pad and put some impressive scratches on his helmet, he climbed right back on and continued trying to out-do his best friend, challenging each other as to who could go fastest. There's not a jump he wouldn't try, and not a puddle he won't splash through.

He's very open with me - some of the questions he's asked me. I make it a policy to answer whatever he asks when he asks it, so I've explained to him the meanings of words such as stud, slut and pervert, as well as told him what that little round ball-like thing is... and then tried not to smile when he discovered that there were indeed two of them.

He's such a delight to watch as he grows up. I'm looking forward to everything that's going to come along - first girlfriend, learning how to drive, going away to school....

I love my boy - happy birthday, sweet prince.

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