The Fabric of Faithfulness

Antonio is one! Today is the birthday of my son. It seems hard to believe that it was just one year ago when we were in the hospital. Or on the other hand it seems hard to believe that it was only one year ago. It has been a good year. He has been very healthy, no sign at all of the malady that was predicted in utero. He has developed in so many different ways than Elena. She was walking by now - he seems content to crawl. He is climbing on beds, chairs, stools - she was happier on the floor. She communicated very well with signs, he seems happy just to grunt, squeal and cry. He has a mouth full of teeth (16 at last count) she didn't. He has a shock of blonding hair -she was a baldie. She was (and is) such a girl - he is such a boy! Just the other day - Marialice had him out with a friend and Antonio started making his usual "hide and grin" eyes at this friend. "I think he is shy." We wondered, is he a flirt or is he shy. Elena seemed so willing to greet a stranger happily - to wave and strike up a friendship. He seems more serious, more reserved, but at the same time, more of a flirt. Mom said how glad she was that he was happy to be with her this past weekend, but even then, one afternoon when she went in to pick him up - he sat up and looked at her with an incredibly serious expression as if to say "I'm not so sure I want to be with you..." Stubborn. The boy is stubborn. He loves to play with the animals water bowl and gets a regular swat for it. Yesterday Marilaice told me that he had put his hand in it, got swatted on the hand, then went right back and put a magnet in it. Got swatted on the leg and howled as if it were the end of the world. Got put back down and went right over and dunked his hand in it again. Another swat on the same leg - treason, infamy, distress accompanied by a big lower lip and huge tears. "How dare you punish me for disobeying..." That's my boy on his first birthday!