Just the Way you Are

After all the birthday celebrations were over, my Kaden touched my heart... again...

The Saturday before Kaden's birthday the boys' woke us up at 7:30 in the morning saying we were sleeping forever so they had all grown facial hair waiting for us to make a pancake breakfast.

They had found some stick-on moustaches... (LONG story!)

The morning of Kaden's birthday should have been another pancake or bacon & egg breakfast (Dean's love for breakfast has taken on monstrous proportions in his children), but the "cupboards were bare", so Dean and Kaden got up early and went out for breakfast.  Then he opened up one of his presents - Wii games.

Mama came with a present from her and us - the coveted Lego Bounty Hunter.  She stayed for a homemade cheese pizza dinner (Kaden's favorite).

12 children, including Kaden descended on Scotia Drive for hotdogs and chips.

And gifts...

      

And cake...

 

Finally it was time for Kaden's plans of glo-bowling to come true...

We ended the evening with a blue slushie and a trip with Papa for icecream at McDonald's.  The goal was to make sure Kaden felt special.  My sensitive boy blew me away as we drove home. 

"I'm sorry I wanted so many kids.  I'm sorry that cost you a lot of money."

How can you possibly explain to an 8 year old that they are worth far more than a glo-bowling party -

That I would do whatever I had to do let him know he's special...

Where does this strange maturity come from, that let's him see into the adult world of finances?  And care enough to apologize for his birthday party expenses? 

Anyone with more than one child can attest to the amazing differences kids from the same 2 parents can exhibit.  Kaden is definitely one of a kind.

Kaden finds some things harder than other kids.  He struggles with perfectionism, and interprets all of his senses more intensely than reality would demand.  In a word, Kaden is very AWARE of his surroundings.

Things that are truly Kaden-esque:
He is bothered by the SMELL of the patio chairs at our vacation site.
He buries his face and cries when he hears about someone that has been hurt.
He tells all of his birthday guests to stop talking because it's driving him crazy.
He stood backwards with his hands over his ears for his first few Christmas concerts.
He still thinks he's small enough to fit on my lap.
He can tell from the basement if I'm cutting an onion upstairs.
He called the oven vent fan a "storm" by the time he was 3.
He finds the bright/busy/loud aspect of Disneyland very annoying.
and a million other things that are "so Kaden" and they make me smile... with a bit of an ache.

Funny how, no matter what title an expert may give my child, no matter if it should ever be called a "syndrome", a "diagnosis", or a "disability", these very quirks are the things that make him so amazingly unique and infinitely valuable.


Is that how God sees all of us?  All the things our world tells us are "wrong", "below average", or "odd" - are these the things that endear us to Father-Creator?

All I want my son to know is "I love you just the way you are."