Philip

That is Philip in the back. ***sigh*** I love this kid. ***Disclaimer-I love all of my kids. But, today is Phil's birthday and he's not here. :( The one thing he wanted for his birthday was to spend a week with Nana and Papa in Dallas. So he's there and I miss him.

This kid was special from the moment I felt him squirming in my belly. He was conceived on Valentines Day, due on Thanksgiving and born on Halloween. And he was fat. I like my babies fat and he did not disappoint. He weighed a whopping 9 lbs. 9 oz. And he was a little early. He had (and still has 'em) huge eyes with ridiculously long eye lashes. There were so many kissy places on that kid he was like a walking hickey.

Philip liked to dress up. He wore a cape for the first four years of his life. One year my mom made him a Santa costume. He was crazy about Santa. He wore it until June the next year. The year he was Spiderman for two months Halloween, I couldn't get the mask off of him. One day, while driving in the minivan, cars would pass me and these people were just staring at me. I thought maybe my tire was going flat or something. Nope. I looked in the rear view mirror and Phil was in the back seat peering out the window with his Spiderman mask on his head. That couldn't have looked normal.

So he's 12 today and he's really good at it. If you have a 12 yo boy, you feel my pain know of which I speak. To say he's easily distracted would be huge understatement. And fuggedabout keeping his attention if there is a T.V. on within 100 feet of him. My DH jokes that if we just sit him in front of a lighted box, he'd be happy. I don't know how many times I've walked into the living room and he's standing there with a bag of garbage watching the boob tube. It caught him while he was trying to take the trash out, you see. "Close your mouth, son, and keep on moving."

The one thing I respect most about Philip is his huge heart. He is so tolerant. He sees everyone as a potential friend. He's not intimidated by race, disability, wealth, coolness, etc. I think most of us have subconscious standards that we judge people by whether we like it or not. He's able to look right past the surface and concentrate on what is good about a person. I want to be more like him in that way. If someone is hurt, he's the first one to try and give comfort. He can't stand to see someone in pain.

He likes Harry Potter and has read all of the books. I am so proud of him because he was such a reluctant reader before Harry. He loves to listen to audio books. He also went through the Star Wars phase which I think has become a right of passage for boys between the ages of 7 and 12. I have yet to meet a boy that hasn't used a stick, pole, pipe, tennis racket, pencil, pen, or any other similar shaped object as a light saber.

Philip thinks he wants to go into the military. He'd like to be a police officer some day. He loves to watch war movies with Papa Larry. He also loves to cook. He made his cake for his birthday. And makes a mean meatloaf!

Happy Birthday, Phil. I love you sooooooo much!!!!!!!

Here's Phil with his cake that he made and a nerf gun Nanny and Papa bought for him.