Nine.

Nine years later and Leo's birthday still chokes me up a little, in a way that the others do not.



What strikes me is how much can happen in nine years. How much can change. How much a boy can change, yes, of course.




But also, how much I have changed.

Nine years ago today I became a mom for the first time.



I went to school for eighteen years but this birthday boy is the best teacher I ever had.











Nine years later, it's wonderful to celebrate this day with rainbow saturn cakes (Leo's request) and super hero masks.



And the only tears are happy ones.