Today Aidan is 11

He's been talking about this day for months. After Ian's, Dave's, Emma's and the Liam's birthdays Aidan would subtract how many days were left until his. He loves to celebrate - especially when it involves himself.

Vain, no! Aidan is anything but vain. He simply loves to celebrate. From an early age he would come up with any reason to light candles, set flowers, arrange the table just so - to make the meal that much more special.

Aidan is my adventurer. This summer typifies Aidan and his free spirit. This is his third year on the swim team. He joined it during Emma's second year. Last year Emma didn't swim because she was in Cyprus with her grandparents. I thought Aidan would hang back, but no, he committed to the team. This year he was the only boy swimming his level during practice. Yep, Aidan and 10 other girls. He loved it. He would jump into their conversations, practice his magic tricks to razzle-dazzle them and buy extra large pretzels during meets just to share with them. He's not a flirt. He's a socializer. Never at a loss for words, Aidan will eagerly enter into conversation with anyone, regardless of age or sex.

I remember 3 years ago we had a couple over from church for Easter lunch. Now Bob and Ruthie are rather eccentric. Ruthie was blind and Alzheimers was doing its work on her. Conversations with her were sometimes hard to follow. That Sunday Aidan helped Ruthie to her seat, asked her if she wanted something to drink, served her and began asking her questions without any prompting from the significant adults in his life.

Aidan also has an addictive personality (like his mother). He gets lost in his xbox, computer games, and (I don't mind this one) books. He loves legos, star wars, and cheese pizza. He is winsome, loving, sentimental and sees beauty where others don't. I can't count how many times we'd be in the car during sunset and he'd look out the window and say, "Mom, look at the sky. It's just beautiful." (And he started noticing things like that when he was a preschooler.) While we were driving out to California he commented on the landscape of Oklahoma. "It is really beautiful out here. I can see for miles."

Aidan was my easiest pregnany and delivery. He loves hearing that. I was biking 7 miles a day when I was pregnant with him. I was in labor for 2 hours and pushed for 5 minutes.

He's a character and just like Dumbledore said to Harry Potter, I expect great things from him!