A diploma and cast removal-- what a day

Well today my oldest graduated from pre-school. The ceremony was very nice and my son looked very handsome . I must say as I saw him walk down the isle, my eyes filled with tears. I saw my baby officially become a school aged child. This is a big jump. It makes me reflect on the past 5 years. These past five years have brought me more happiness than I have ever imagined possible. I love my children more than anything in this world, and I think the sun rises and sets on them. As they presented a slide show of the children. It had a picture of each child and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Well most of the boys wanted to be police officers or firefighters, not mine. Dylan wants to be a teacher, He informed me that he wanted to teach big kids like mommy and daddy. Although my husband made the joke by saying, you wont make any money... haha. I said to him that we should be flattered that our child thinks that highly of us. He agreed, here I am thinking that I can't compete with a race car driver or ESPN, and he wants to be like me! I am so proud of him, words can't express how I am feeling at this moment. I decided to reminicise a little about my oldest, the one who made me the mom I am. March 21, 2001 at 3:41pm Dylan entered the world. The devils won that day as well so overall it was a great day. We had a little difficulty getting the feeding thing established, well actually I did, you see Dylan wanted to eat every 90 minutes around the clock for his first 5 months! He was not using me as a pacifier either, he weighed 21lbs at 5months! not bad considering he began at 7lbs. To all you mothers out there... yes I worried deep inside that maybe obesity would be in his future but at 5 years old he is 42lbs and is right at the 50% mark, so there is nothing to worry about. Dylan was the happiest little baby. He smiled all of the time. He began walking at about 12 1/2 months and has been running ever since. He went on a cruise at 14 months, and had surgery at 15months. He gained a little sister at 19 months, and a little brother when he was just 4 years old. Dylan has been a terrific big brother. Around 2-4 years old DYlan was obsessed with Thomas the train. I must have 5000 dollars worth of trains and track. Hopefully Alex will become obsessed too, this way I won't have to buy too much more. Yes I know they have new ones each year, but only about 5 or so, so that wont be too bad. He went to pre school at 3 and has loved every minute of it. He really loves school. Dylan is smart as a whip! I am not just saying that as his mother, he is brilliant.( I know every other mother out there is saying the same about their child!, and you know what... to all of us mommies, our kid is the most brilliant and the best, we are not objective at all). So which brings me to today... Diploma day. I can see why parents get so worked up for graduation day at HS. Even though their child walks across that stage for a period of 10 seconds at most. They are making that leap in life. As they walk across the stage they are changing right in front of their parents eyes. In HS they are officially entering adulthood, in my case, he is entering "real" school. He is growing up, and this fact brings tears to my eyes. Happy tears because he is happy, but sad because as he continues to grow, I can't protect him as much. I can't shelter him from all of the hurt in grammar school. It is bound to happen at some point and he has to learn how to deal himself. Right now I am the center of his universe, I must admit that I like it this way, but know soon it will come to an end. He told me today that I will always be his best girlfriend, and I said DYlan one day when you get big like daddy, you will find another person that you will love more than mommy. He then said to me... No mommy, I will always love you bestest! And I said that I will always love you, your brother and sister more than anything else ever too!( In my case this is the truth, in his who knows!) Dylan taught me how to be a good mommy and taught me how to love unconditionally. I can still remember looking into his big brown eyes when he was about 8 weeks old and becoming overwhelmed with feelings for him, and realizing that the greatest love one can have is for their child. So as I reflect on the days events, I think about that walk across the stage. One brief moment in time... that I will remember forever, then I imagine my other two children completing that same walk, but somehow things will be easier for them because Dylan led the way!