My baby boy is 21 today.

Happy, happy Birthday to my wonderful, amazing son, 

Joseph William Mills, 

born at 7:46pm on January 14th, 1990, weighing 8lbs, 5oz., 

exactly 21 years ago today.

In honor of birthday traditions, I have dedicated my blog to Joe today, highlighting the special man he is...21 observations for 21 years of life.

1. Joe's birth occurred on one of the coldest January days that year, but surprisingly, 3 days later when we took him home, it was one of the warmest January days on record (68 degrees) and he only needed a little sweater to wear home.

2. Joe's birth was a monumental life changing event for me.

After having my first birth end in a Cesarean, I desperately wanted to try for a 

normal (vaginal) birth next time. 

Pushing out my (almost a pound bigger) second baby into my waiting arms was one of the most empowering things I have ever done in my life. 

The fact that he was a BOY made it all the more sweeter.

3. Joseph is named after his two grandfathers (Joseph Louis Mills and William Michael LaPoint).

Before Joe was born, I told everybody he would be called Joseph, not Joey.

That lasted all of a day or two...he WAS a Joey.

Now, he is Joe. Also fitting. He IS a Joe :)

4. Joe was always a very serious baby. He smiled, but only when you really deserved it..haha

5. Joey started crawling at four months, and was off and running by 9 months of age. 

And I mean running. If he could run instead of walk, he did.

I don't think he stopped running everywhere until he went to school and was required to walk slowly.

He still got to run around during sports seasons though, and loved playing all sports...hockey, soccer, baseball, basketball, and even football one year. 

You were thrilled when tennis finally came to EHS, as that was one of your favorite sports.

6. Once he started moving, we had to gate and latch EVERYTHING. His favorite pastime was to dump objects into the toilet and watch whether they floated or sank.

7. One spring morning when he was barely 2, I woke up at 6 am and had a feeling something was missing. I began to panic when I couldn't find Joey.

I finally found him outside in the backyard playing in the sandbox. 

We installed inside latches on all the doors after that....way up high.

8. Joe was a homebody, and had no desire to go to preschool, so we decided to keep him home with us until kindergarten. He was SO nervous about finally going to school, but ended up having a great year at Cornerstone Christian School, thanks to his wonderful teacher, Karen Adams, who LOVED Joey.

9. Entering first grade, Joe couldn't read, and couldn't even recognize all the upper and lower case letters. I was a tiny bit concerned, but his wonderful first grade teacher reassured me that it was perfectly normal. 

By early spring of his first grade year, he was reading at a 3rd grade level.

If that same scenario happened today, he would have been put in a Reading Recovery program.

 

10. Joe's favorite toys were balls (his first word after mama and dada), sticks, plugs (yes!), blocks, and eventually Legos. He could spend hours building elaborate structures. 

He also loved to read.

11. Joe was always such a kind friend; he was nice to everyone and his classmates loved him too.

 

12. Joe's favorite things at school were recess and gym. He chose not to join chorus or play an instrument in elementary school because it meant giving up recess! He was heartbroken when he found out there was NO RECESS once you got to middle school.

 

13. Joe would spend entire weekends from the time he could walk following his Dad around. He would ride on his lap on the mower, happy as could be, for at least 2 hours until the lawn was mowed. 

His favorite thing to do was to ride shotgun in Dad's black jeep. (top down)

14. Joe hated to get his haircut. He would cry and cry just waiting to get it cut. I never allowed my kids candy at a young age, but I caved and let him have a lollipop during haircuts :)

15. Joe became very attached to certain clothes, and did not like going from shorts to long pants come winter weather, or wearing boots instead of sneakers out to play in the snow.

One year I hid all of his shorts so that he had to wear long pants to school. (he was not happy)

16. Joe has had some of the same best friends since he was a little boy...they have always got along (no drama!) and still are very close despite being far away from each other.

Joining the OKP (Drama club at EHS) in your sophomore yr 

(which honed your chocolate voice :), and being captain of your tennis team in your senior year gave you many new friends who are still good buddies of yours today.

17. There were many times over the years that Joe and I butted heads....I have come to the conclusion it is because we are very alike in many ways. 

We know what we want, and we can be very stubborn about it :) 

We think we are always right, too.

We become immersed in something...concentrating so hard, life can take a back seat.

This is hard when your mom wants you to do something when you are 12 years old, but it also can be a trait that will serve you well, my darling son. Use it wisely.

 

 18. Joe can be a tease (his sisters can tell you stories!), but he is also kind, 

thoughtful and very patient.

I have seen him explaining things to his younger cousins, or his grandmother, or even his peers with the utmost patience, respect and kindness you can imagine.

He has grown to become a man that friends and family tell me what a nice young man Joe is...how wonderful he is to talk to. 

They describe him as sweet, charming, personable :)

19. Joe still loves to read, and is very careful and considerate of his books. If he lends you a book to read, he expects you to take good care of it too. But he has a techie side too, and amazed me by building an entire computer from scratch!

20. Joe loves to eat good food, but is not a big sweets guy. He has become more and more adventurous in the kitchen and really has become a great cook...someone who can cook great meals without a recipe! (I can't do that!)

21. And finally, one of the main things I admire about you, Joe, is your sense of responsibility. 

You were never late to school or work when you got a job.

I never had to wake you up...your alarm rings once...and you are up. (one area we are NOT alike!)

You had perfect attendance at school your freshman year of high school.

Only two absences your sophomore year when you had the flu.

 Junior and senior year...less than 5 absences total., and being tardy was extremely rare.

Even in high school, your teachers told me you were still one of the best behaved students in their class.

 

Joseph William Mills, you have become a man among men. 

I am so proud of who you are, and what you will still become.

I love you with all my heart, and always will.

Happy Birthday, my one and only son.

A boy who has become the man Dad and I hoped you would be.

Someday you will make someone a wonderful husband and father.

But you will always be my little boy.

 Love,
 Mom