Makes my heart feel like the wind.

Izzy is not a perfect child. Trust me, I'm very, very aware of that. But he has such a sweet soul that it pains me sometimes. Like when we were talking the other night about what he wanted for Christmas and he named off several different stuffed animals, including a bat and a bunny. I said, "But you don't want that Butterscotch anymore, do you?" It's a giant, expensive horse that moves it's head around and whinnies.

"No," he says to me. "I now understand that I'm too big for it." Ouch. Poor kid.

He woke up Sunday not feeling well. I was asking him what was wrong and I asked how his stomach was. He said, "It's a little bit sick. It feels like hot sauce and pepperoni." He said his neck also felt like hot sauce and he asked for a little cold pack to put on it. After a while he brought the cold pack to me to put back in the freezer, and I asked him how it now felt.

"Better," he said. "Like the wind."

Since he was feeling better, we asked him if he wanted to go shopping. We hit a couple of stores and then stopped at the dollar store. He asked to buy a Ninja set, then a FBI set, but I don't buy him weapons, so the answer was no to both, but I asked him how about a balloon instead? Thrilled, we headed over and he picked out his favorite. A heart. Why? Because, he said, "It says, 'I love mommy'." A heart was the first shape he learned, and he was barely talking when he told me it meant love. It's been his favorite ever since.

We then ended up at Sam's, one of his favorite places to shop because we usually have a cheap, quick meal there. He wouldn't eat any of his hot dog and just took a few nibbles of his pretzel, and then asked if he could just ride in the buggy. About half way through the store, he looked at me and asked, "Mom, could you hug me please?" I love that a hug or kiss from me still has the power to make him feel better. I wish it always could.

Last night we were all watching a Snoopy Christmas cartoon and I griped at Chris over something or another, so he said he was going to move out, and he asked Izzy who he wanted to live with, Mommy or Daddy? Sophie jumped up and said, "Daddy!," but without missing a beat, Izzy said, "With mommy," looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and he scooted across the couch to curl up beside me and said, "Mom, you sure are lucky to have me."

I put my arm around him, kissed the top of his dark blonde head and said, "I sure am, Izzy. Very, very lucky." Indeed.