And now he is ten. And there are untold stories in his journey because who the heck has time. A few months after the "two" entry, his oldest brother was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and our lives took another medical turn. And that settled down but four kids and two jobs and life is a lot. It didn't seem right to keep recording all of that here, in the space where Sam lived and grew.
Every birthday still feels reflective and emotional to me, but not in a bad way. This morning his brothers joked that when you go from single-digits to double-digits you go from being a baby to a young man. But then we decided he will keep being our baby. I am sure there is some psychological harm in that but we can't help it.
Sam is amazing. He has had no more medical issues, surgeries or hospitalisations. He eats. He has two working lungs and a perfect heart. He is smart - mostly about the things that he really likes, such as species of animals that we've never heard of, every type and sub-type of Pokemon, and the date that each Super Mario game came out. He is hilarious. He talks a LOT and has a crazy good vocabulary (that may or may not include curse words). We all just try to keep up.
Sam loves his people. He hates sleeping by himself. He loves jumping and ninja games. He hates anyone trying to tell him what to do. He loves camping. He hates being outside if it's too cold or too hot or too windy. He loves math. He hates school (which is why he is now homeschooled by his mum and Nana). He loves us. We love him back.
I am not going to pretend there hasn't been hard. There has been so much hard. Sam has a unique way of being. I want to help him be the very best version of himself, to bring his light to the world, to ease his challenges while not taking away the growing that emerges from them. I don't know how to get that right. I keep learning that I don't have to. He keeps teaching me. Plus, he makes me laugh every day and he is a top-notch snuggler.
Our boy who was supposed to live a few hours, or a few days, is a decade old. I am filled with gratitude.
