To Be Nine Again...

Happy Tuesday ...I have a card (a baby card for a co-worker not tied to any challenge!)...and then I have a Marcel post for you.  People ask me all the time, did you keep trying to have a girl?  And my consistent answer is no.  I simply didn't feel done after Collin was born or maybe better stated, I didn't feel like our family was complete.  Sometimes I feel as though people don't understand that as a parent your heart can swell with love for the child you never had, the child you may have lost or all the children you do have.  My heart swells with love for my boys...each for their unique personalities.  Man oh man did I never realize how much love could be inside me for my children.

So...today I'm going to chat about Marcel. That little man (who really isn't that little, but will always be my little man) makes my heart swell and who has a personality that connects people to his heart. Here's a few of my favorites about Marcel at nine years old:

• Mom, "When I get older, I think I'm going to help people with heart problems. And I think Collin will be a cooker at a fast food restaurant."  So why does he talk about helping people with heart problems?  One of Marcel's best friends is Bobby.  Bobby was born with down syndrome. To Marcel, down syndrome doesn't mean a thing.  To him it means, Bobby has a heart problem. He loves Bobby with all his heart.  I would love to see Marcel grow up to "help people with heart problems". 
• He's in Peter Pan this week and next and he LOVES being on stage.  In his words, "I have lots of lyrics this year."  Comparing himself to last year in Oliver, he has about 10 to 12 lines versus one (love that he calls lines "lyrics").  Throughout the whole performance he smiles; even when Hook is yelling at the Lost Boys, Because he is so happy being on stage...he smiles through the whole thing. I wish I could learn that 9 year old lesson. Smile away...when you're happy smile, smile away!  
• He loves music.  He will write out the lyrics to his favorite songs one of which Ryan's show choir sang this year (Twenty One Guns by Green Day). Or he'll share with me, Mom, "Have you listed to the new Twenty One Pilots song?  My  number one wish is that I could get an autograph by Twenty One Pilots."  Of course, this made Ryan's day because Marcel is following his musical taste.
• Conversations with him are hilarious.  He loves vocabulary...now he wouldn't say that he loves vocabulary, but if he doesn't know what a word means, he will definitely ask, remember it and use it in proper contact. Here are a few recent examples:
• "Mom, I went to get Collin from Jake's, but he is slow as a sloth."  Asked him what a sloth was, "I don't know, but it makes sense, doesn't it?!"
• "Or...tomorrow night, the elderlies are coming to watch Peter Pan."  The folks from the local nurse home were coming to watch the show.  We are wondering when you go from being old to being an elderly and decided we might now want to know his answer.
• Pat and I are regularly trading texts about him.  The most recent was Marcel saying, "Screwing is not my thing."  That sounds really off color and Pat was dying laughing, but he was talking about unscrewing a bottle.  
• He may not want to hold my hand very often, but he still loves a kiss good bye or a kiss good night or a cuddle on the couch. Oh how I cherish those moments.

My little man simply makes my heart swell. Here's a picture of him in action at Peter Pan.

And yes..I realize I posted a baby card for a girl...subliminal...not sure!