Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Happy Birthday Son!















It's my third child's birthday today. He is turning 17. I was reminiscing about when he was a baby, and I remembered some funny things that happened.

When he was born, the doctor handed him to me and asked us what we were going to name him. We had really been struggling to come up with a name, so my husband turned to the doctor and said, "What's your name?". The doctor answered, "Thomas". My husband answered, "Oh.".....
I think what he really meant was, "Thanks, but no thanks." lol It was an awkward, funny moment.

It's interesting that when he was born, he had TONS of very dark hair. Then by the time he was 2, it had turned blonde! Now it's a medium brown. It will be interesting to see if it changes color as he ages.

This son was only 3 months old when we moved to China. He was quite a spectacle every where we went. People were always stopping to look at him or to offer me advice. I finally figured out that in China, offering advice is a way of showing care and concern. So it really doesn't even matter what advice you offer, just that you offer some. Thus, I got all kinds of conflicting advice. "Cover him up, he will get cold." "Uncover him, he will get hot." I just thanked people and did what I wanted to do. :P But there was great interest in seeing an American baby.

One day I was riding in a taxi with him. Looking back, it's a wonder we didn't die in a car crash because we didn't even have a car seat, and most of those "bread" taxis didn't have any seat belts. And on this day in particular, I was sitting in the front seat holding the baby. The taxi driver and I talked as we drove. At one point he motioned to my baby and asked, "Where did you get that?" I questioned, "Where did I get what?" He looked at my baby more carefully and then said, "Oh, I thought it was a doll!" :)

The nice thing about having my son turn 17 is that I can see that he is turning out to be a good person. I think what we have taught him has stuck. :) But the bad thing about him turning 17 is that I know he won't be at home too many more years! :(

2 comments:

Amber said...

Allen's hair was blonde most of his life but it's really darkened as an adult and now it's a light brown.

Wendy was saying the other day that she's so sad that Joel is almost grown up and out of the house because she says once a boy leaves you sort of lose him forever, its not like girls who are always close to the mom.

Your kids are awesome though, they all have great personalities and are so smart and strong, I know they'll all do great things! :D

I hope he had a great birthday!

Ramana Rajgopaul said...

My perhaps, belated birthday greetings to that handsome young man there. I see a lot of potential there. He is likely to break some hearts alright!