Happy Birthday, Alfredo!

 

Happy birthday, my sweet boy! I love you so much.

 

Alfredo's birthday always reminds me of when we first met him a week before his first birthday and how he instantly charmed us. The very first time his big beautiful eyes met ours, we became a family.

 

I remember that first week...how I'd make a little nest for him of pillows and blankets and we'd spend those days reading books, playing games and watching shows. If I left his side, even just to go to the bathroom, he cried and cried. I remember him looking at me square in the eyes, holding my face with his dear little chubby hands. We fell in love instantly.

 

Rich and he, from the very first night, found that they shared a crazy sense of humor. They played this funny game where Alfredo would play with this toy...closing all the little doors that flipped up...and Rich would open them back up. Alfredo would shake his head "no" like crazy and then laugh and laugh. They did it over and over. That's how they fell in love that first night.

 



 

This picture was taken on his first birthday, just about a week after his arrival. This picture breaks my heart. I imagine what this little baby had witnessed, what he'd already been through in his short life. And there's a sadness in his eyes that just gets me. That look haunts me.

 

But here we are, 5 years later...a family. That sadness and those unhappy things are washed away by all the love we have together.

 

Happy, happy birthday, Alfredo!