Jeremiah turns 5 years old tomorrow and out of fear of getting too busy I am writing this now. His birthday tribute.

On his second birthday, I made this video for Tabitha. It was to thank her for allowing Jeremiah to be a part of our lives.  I was digging through all the videos and tearing up as I have seen him from the day he was born up until now.  Being a part of his life has been a blessing I can’t be more grateful for.

He has always had a way of becoming apart of who you are. He molds you into a better person. This has never been more apparent as when Tabitha and I were at our worst.  Jeremiah knocked all his baseballs over the fence and he asked her if he could come over and ask if he can get them.  Looking through the peep hole and seeing her made my blood boil, but then I saw him take a step back and my heart burst open.
She asked if he could his baseballs back and I asked if he could go with me to get them.  I want to believe she saw the softening as he held out his arms for me to pick him up. “Hi Auntie.”
I remember that day my back was hurting something fierce, but I picked him up and spun him around and nuzzled into his curls, headed for the backyard.   Putting him down was impossible because I never wanted to let him go.  We gathered them up and headed back to the front door.  I could see she had softened too because she genuinely thanked me.  That was the first step to mending one of the worst broken, splintered fences ever.

Jeremiah loves his sisters.  Alyx, Shea and Kiki will never be his Rina or Jen, but he knows that he is more than loved.  Last weekend he was sitting on Shea and he turned to me, “I’m a little love bug. I love people. People love me right back.”  And he nuzzled back into Shea and continued to play his video game.  Yeah, buddy…you are loved right back.

The first night he was there we were getting ready to go to bed and he nuzzled up next to me. His little hands so much bigger than they were when he was just a baby. He held my hand and remembered when he was just barely a year and he would need to take a nap. I would put him up in bed, turn on Sprout tv and he would find ways to communicate with me. His words, his sign language or his big brown eyes had a way of telling exactly what he needed.  Mostly he needed to cuddle up in my arms until his sweet, curly head would be sweating and his drool would be covering the front of my sweat drenched shirt.
“What do you want for your birthday, Buddy?”
“Mostly just video games. I like those. I want the Superhero Squad for my DS. I mostly just want all games. No toys. I don’t play with toys.” He sighed and scootched in closer.
“I was thinking about getting you a coloring book and a box of crayons.” I burrow my smiling face into his curls, he still has the little boy hair smell.
He pulls away to see my face.  That is something he can do, he can read you and has used that trick to his advantage his whole life.  He can spot a fake and won’t have anything to do with them.
“AUNTIE!  he sees my sly grin. “My mommy made me color with her for TEN HOURS one night. I didn’t want to, but it makes her happy. I just wanted to teach her how to play that video game so she could help me. She does help me all the time.”
“You have the best mommy in the world?”
“Yep!” He digs his feet into my stomach and pushes his little body half way across the bed.
He then gives me details about this video game and I have to smile and wonder if this is exactly how Tyler was when he was his age.  He looks so much like Tyler it’s just crazy.  I noticed when he was playing his video game he has the exact same mannerisms as his brother, and if anyone knows what Tyler looks like when he’s playing video games, it would be me.
“I think i’m going to get you a stack of books.” I try to say with a straight face.
We spend the rest of the night talking about his other Auntie. Auntie Jessie and how she needs to get some video games for him when he goes to her house.  “She has chalk.” he says like it’s a crime against childhood. “I just need to teach her how to play Batman Lego.”

It’s hard to imagine he’s only been in our lives for 5 years. It feels like he has always been here, at this age, playing, talking, joking and ‘tuddling’ with us.

Watching the video proves that he was just a little guy with the wisdom we didn’t understand.  He will get even older and his voice will change, he won’t be as bouncy…but that face and his eyes will always, to me, just that little boy that looks at me and says, “I love you, Auntie.”  and melts my heart.

Happy 5th Birthday, Buddy. I love you so very much.