Eden and his Glasses (or: I can't believe my baby is so grown up I want to cry)

Here is Eden. Here are his new glasses.

First of all, he LOVES them.

Second, I love him.

Third, Jude wants a pair just like them.

And fourth, Eden looks so grown up I want to cry.

It was obvious from the very beginning that at some point he would need glasses since both his dad and I have terrible eyesight. When he was 4 years old he decided to give us all a good scare by walking around smacking his hands together in front of his face and saying "Look Mommy! Don't you see the colors? They're everywhere!" I promptly freaked out, as only a mother can, and took him to the eye doctor. The eye doctor examined him and proceeded to tell me that I had a very imaginitive child, with perfectly good eyes, who was probably getting a good laugh out of telling everyone he was seeing spots. At that point, Eden began giggling uncontrollably. Not only were his eyes fine, but his sense of humor was well developed for a four year old. I think this may have been only one of a handful of times I would have called Eden "mischevious", because thats normally not his nature. But when he does pull a prank, its a good one.

So, now here he is in the third grade,eight years old, with his first pair of glasses. Hes turning in to such a big kid. Notice also the tight-lipped smile. He refuses to smile with his teeth showing since two of the top ones are missing and his very front teeth are now those akward too big for his face grown up teeth that he will someday grow in to, but which for now make him feel self-conscious.

How can such a beautiful child feel self-conscious I wonder?

I wish he could see himself the way I see him.