my little man

today is brendan's 11th birthday and i don't have his birthday post ready yet. but i couldn't let the day finish without acknowledging how much i love this kid and how glad i am that heavenly father blessed us with his sweet spirit. brendan has always been fiercely independent and when he was younger i was concerned that this would hinder him in building relationships with others. but over the last few years, he has become such a caring and sympathetic kid. the past few days, we have had to talk about some of the trials that people go through in life. i wanted him to understand what was going on in the lives of our friends so that he in turn would be prepared for certain conversations. immediately, he surprised me with his overwhelming compassion and desire to do whatever we could to make things easier for them. touched my little heart his love and concern did. brendan is also going to be a great dad someday. i love to watch him interact with babies. he loves them and they love him. i think they can sense his kind heart. sometimes it is so easy for me to get caught up in the craziness of boyhood that it's hard for me to see the budding man who will emerge quicker than i can even imagine.