I was looking through old pictures (and videos) a few days ago, trying to find one to put on Caedmon’s birthday card.  I don’t do it often, so every time I do, old memories and old sentiment are stirred up anew.  I laughed so hard at how Caedmon was just SO unbelievably cute (which made me feel a little guilty, because even with an absolutely adorable 9-month old, seeing Caedmon at 18-months was almost too much cuteness to handle).

I was also reminded of how talkative he was.  Non-stop.  All the time.  In videos about him.  In the background of videos of Bethany.  When we were trying to explain something to him or show him something or get him to do something, the mouth was running.  And it was cute, but also a little naughty, sometimes.

So, I naturally compared our two-year old Caedmon to our fourteen-year old Caedmon, who does still love to talk, but has learned self-control, and respect, and patience.  I saw in the videos the raw material that has been shaped and nurtured to form our intelligent, articulate, insightful oldest child; saw how natural ability mixed with character has developed into someone I am regularly impressed by and thankful for.

And not just in how he communicates.

Caedmon does so many things well.   He is a talented musician and a natural writer.  He began learning the alto saxophone this year and has caught on very quickly, and though his piano practice has waned recently, when he does sit down at the piano, I don’t ever really want him to stop because I so enjoy listening.  He writes history papers that have made me look at the notes he wrote from because I didn’t think he could have come up with such detailed, well-explained writing on his own (and I always just found exactly what notes should be – snippets, ideas, key points…nothing copied or even well-written at that point).  He has a series of tall-tale stories that he has been adding to for several years now, and he actually chooses to write for fun on a regular basis (though not history reports – ha!).

He is diligent, hard-working and kind.  He listens carefully to correction and I rarely have to explain anything to him twice.  While there is still bickering and annoyance with his siblings at times, I also regularly hear him being the peace-maker, offering perspective, and reminding them of what their attitudes should be.

He can take it pretty hard when he’s hoping for a well-done, but gets correction instead, and he sometimes glosses over details in his rush to just finish.  Occasionally, his responses tend toward debating instead of doing.  And obviously, there are talents and character traits that can be nourished and strengthened…but that is about the sum of his areas-that-need-work.  He is an amazing young man at fourteen.  My life and our home – every day – is made better because he is in it and I couldn’t be happier to be spending today celebrating him.