Beyond his years...

Have I mentioned how smitten I am with my 8 year old? I don't brag about him nearly as much as I should.

Being the oldest of 5 carries a lot of responsibility. We expect a great deal from him. Sometimes I think we tend to pick too much on the few mistakes he makes and often let his good deeds go unnoticed.

Shame on us.

That brings me to Wes. No one helps me out with Wes more than Evan. The oldest and the youngest. They have a special relationship. Evan spends an abundance of time with his littlest brother.

During our last blizzard, Evan took Wes outside for his first time playing in the snow. Evan did his best to make sure Wes only ate the clean snow and even took him for a sled ride.

Sometimes Evan went too fast.

Lately Wes has felt it necessary to be held at all times. When I neglect to pick him up, he hangs on my belt with all his weight, lifting his feet off the floor. This makes me lose my balance and tip over. For fear of falling on my son, I pick him up. He wins.

Another trick of his is to pull my shirt into his carnivorous mouth and bite it with his teeth. I don't have a huge wardrobe and definitely don't have the dough to replace damaged duds. For fear of only having shirts with holes in them, I pick him up. He wins again.

This is my view most of the time.

This morning I needed to dry my hair and knew (once again) that I needed Evan's assistance. I carried Wes into Evan's room. There Evan sat (in peace and quiet) on his bed, plunking away at his computer. I politely asked if Wes could join him while I finished getting ready.

"No problem, Mom." Evan said.

Our morning was crazy as always and Evan headed to school. An hour later, I turned on my computer to check my email and found this email from Evan...

Mom,

f rfg escg wxfcjhugyum n y8cv es r45rvvvvv z35 v z

I let wes push some buttons on my computer cause

b BBBBBZBBB there he went again!

I'll 21!

talk to you later,

Evan and Wes

What an amazing kid.