Child #2

Now this one has given me a run for my money! He scares me still to this day with the things he is willing to do and try. As a toddler he simply had no fear, and probably only survived that stage because his mother was terrified he would be hit by a car or something and rarely let him out of her sight! If he wanted something, you could put five barriers between him and it, and it only lengthened the time before he got it, he truly would NEVER give up!

For that matter, as a small child he had three people he would go to or stay with, Mommy, Gramma, and Great Grammy. Yes, my mom and her mom. Crazy as it may seem, Daddy was not on the list. He also had trouble learning to talk, spending years in speech therapy. When he was two he wouldn't put his lips together for sounds like m and b. Someone asked me what he called me then, and I said, "He doesn't have to call me anything, I'm always here!"

All that time and energy paid off though, today he is pretty well adjusted. I figured out a lot about him as he grew, including the reasons he wouldn't stay with other people, he is connected to the McDonald family (my mom) in a manner that is just unique. First to be born after my Granddad passed away, he looks like him, acts like him in many ways, and has taught us a lot about ourselves!!

Something that skipped over my mom and me, though, is his adventurous side! He was the first to be invited to drive the boat when we spent the day at the Harrington's camp this month:

Doesn't he look cool! He asked several times if he could go faster, but I answered before Mr. Harrington with a firm no! We also held onto the toddlers a bit more tightly, because turning becomes a bit precarious at those speeds!!

And then there's the thing from Philadelphia he did, at The Franklin, a museum. They had a contraption a good 50 feet in the air, and he wanted to ride it. Mom put him off when they were walking in, but on the way out he begged and she caved, figuring there was a safety net, how bad could it be?

Cool as a cucumber, enjoying the ride!

But the best part about him, in my opinion, is his love for the underdog. He has such a strong heart, and compassion like no one else I know. He roots for the team that no one else (at least in our family) likes, the NASCAR driver everyone else is glad to see lose, and the kid on the playground that no one else wants to play with.

Never was his compassion more evident than during his friendship with Savannah. She was Michael's age, but Michael has always been drawn to play with Kiara, her sister. Brian on the other hand would sit for hours, playing Gameboy, or watching a movie, joking back and forth quietly. Even when we were making that ridiculous amount of strawberry jam, Savannah was allowed to use the Kitchen Aid to mush the berries, she ran to invite Brian to come help her, and they had a blast! It's one of my fondest memories.

Definitely having given me the most exhaustion of any of my young children, I have learned from him that the more work put in, the greater feeling is the reward. He is smart, diligent, stubborn as a bear, and for that I am eternally grateful!