Getting Closer

J in Pencil and China Marker, originally uploaded by diahn.

This little guy escapes me. I just can't quite get his eyes, no matter how hard I try and the eyes are really the key, aren't they? I will keep trying - I've got him around for another 12 years or so, now don't I? Nothing like a captive model...

This is the One

This is the one who made me a mother. This is the one whose sweet face I adored from the moment I saw it. This is the one who taught me how to not be so selfish and full of myself. This is the one who I have 973 hours of video of sleeping.

He is the one who made my heart stop the first time he took a step near the edge of a pool. He is the one who made me realize that I cared more for that little man than I had ever cared for myself. He is the one who drives me completely nuts when he doesn't live up to his potential. He is the one who made me understand what that meant. He is the one who made me a mother.

This is the boy who makes me laugh. This is the one who, when he was small, fell asleep on my chest and tickled it with his eyelashes. This is the boy who doesn't like to sit in Mama's lap anymore, but will if I insist. This is the one who doesn't like to hold Mama's hand when we walk across the parking lots of life...but will if I make him. This is the boy who runs up to me if I visit his class and hugs me tightly - right there in front of his classmates. This is the boy who taught me patience.

This is the boy with the heart as big as an ocean. The one who cries when he sees people or animals in any kind of pain. This is the boy who wept when he thought Benji wasn't going to make it after the bad guys knocked him out. The one who wept for a dog that no one wanted while he watched "The Dog Whisperer." This is the greatest compassion rolled up into skinned knees, freckles and curls. This is the boy who is just like his dad.

This is the boy who made me a mother.