An online present – yes, I know it’s being shared with everyone, but it is for you – with much love.

I truly know that this year will be a transformative one. The one that will mean lasting change for the better. I promise to do my part to make it so.

I want to say so much about how amazing and brilliant and beautiful you are, but I’ve already done it here. I won’t repeat myself, but ask that it be re-read by everyone.

It’s actually him when he was 6 years old, but it’s the best one I have and I’m not able to add a new one at this time due to, let’s say, technical difficulties.

He turned 8 back on January 23. It’s amazing how much he has grown in the intervening time. Our “Little Man” is really turning into a little man. Words are not enough to tell you how proud I am of this boy. I am truly amazed by him on a very regular basis. He is immensely clever, his intelligence shining through those big brown eyes, coming up with brilliant ideas and asking insightful and probing questions. He is good at everything he does, even if he doesn’t always think so. He speaks with music in his voice, walks with rhythm in every step and the mere sight of him smiling is enough to cheer even complete strangers up. He’s a bit crazy on the kooky side, but also capable of being more sensible than most adults I know. He’s ambitious and wants to try everything. He has a dozen careers in mind for his future, and has the ability to do any of them if he wants to.

He’s especially keen on dancing and is very excited to find his new school has weekly classes in dance. He has a natural talent for it. He’s keen on music, and increasingly into drawing and writing. He was a reluctant reader who was turned around by Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Ideas always abound and nothing seems impossible to him. Although he keeps trying to poke holes in the anything is possible theory.

It might sound odd, but I’ve always been struck by how grounded in himself he seems to be. As though he is always just completely there. I don’t know if this would make sense to anyone else. Maybe it’s about presence, or maybe something less tangible. In any case, the boy is magnetic. While people say he looks like me, I think he’s far better looking, and this is because he has his beautiful mother’s genes too. He’s inherited most of his best traits from his mum. The caring, loving, compassionate, thoughtful side. He loves those around him so much that, when asked what the greatest gift he’d ever received was, his reply was “my family”.

I’d say it’s the other way around. The greatest gift his family has ever received was him.

I know it’s not strictly writing, but this is another blog inspired by the weekly Writing Workshop at Josie G’s Sleep is for the Weak blog. I chose prompt #5 this week: What do you do or where do you go to escape the stresses of every-day life? Please note that my workspace is not usually this neat.

Strangely enough, I barely used the featured desk when I drew this. I had to sit over the other side of the room to look at it.

This is another post inspired by one of the writing prompts so kindly provided by Josie at Sleep is for the Weak every week. They’re always fun to do.

The shoe isn’t entirely accurate, and sorry about the dodgy lettering, but I was a bit rushed. Two posts in two days is a record for me.

She turns 10 years old today. 10! The big double-digit milestone. It really doesn’t feel like that long since I did the same. I certainly don’t feel old enough to have a daughter of this age.

Then again, there are those days when she behaves so much like a teenager that I need to remind myself how young she actually is. I live with a fair amount of trepidation about the years to come when she actually is a teenager. But for now, before the brain explosion, she’s still my little girl.

My little girl who has drawn so much from her parents, and does everything her own way (or tries really damn hard to). Artistic blood flows in her veins. She has a growing passion for acting that is inevitable, given that AK is an actor and I used to be. Hopefully she inherited her mother’s talent for it. She’s already inherited her mother’s beauty.

In my eyes, her greatest talent thus far lies in visual art. She’s always been advanced in that realm, and will surpass my modest talents long before she even finishes school. I’ve always admired her ability to just sit and draw. No false starts or sketchy lines. Bold, confident lines that show no fear. I’m in awe of her output (I’d love to be so prolific). She develops new techniques without guidance and when shown how to do something more advanced, she picks it up in about 5 minutes and doesn’t look back. Needless to say, I’m very proud of her.

She also loves movies (and wants to make them) and stories and is quite obsessed with dogs. She’s a cat whisperer, somehow attuned to our weird, semi-balding, aptly-named Tempest, whom she can summon with a mere whistle.  She makes friends easily and excels at school. She’s smart and kind and funny. And stubborn, another inherited trait.

I can still clearly remember that moment, minutes after she was born, when she first opened her beautiful deep-blue (sometimes greenish, sometimes greyish) eyes. From that moment to this one, and forevermore, I adore my girl.

Happy birthday little J Bear.

To read a far better tribute to our daughter, go to AK’s blog at Lifeslightlyused.