Thomas is Blossoming

Our friend Ellen Patton took this of Thomas at 2 yrs.

Since the day Thomas joined our family, he has kept me running.  The way he moved in my stomach was truly a phenomenon... definitely a precursor of what was to come.  When he 11 months old and was learning to walk, he would grab a footstool and push that thing all over our hard-wood floors.  It was hilarious because it did not help Thomas learn to walk, rather it forced him to run...full speed.  He would spend his day running back and forth and only take breaks to watch the "woos" (sirens) outside of our apartment window in Sommerville, Massachusetts.


He has one of the kindest hearts I know.  He loves to be a big brother and his relationship with Christian is so tender.  It melts my heart.  His mind is so creative and his ability to execute that creativity into Lego creations or hotel drawings blows my mind.

Our move to Sugarhouse last year however, was really hard on him.  There were not any kids his age in our ward or immediate neighborhood and his social life at school was stagnant.  No one ever called to hang out with him and worse than that, he knew it.  Sometimes he would say, "Mom and Dad, why doesn't any one ever call me?"  Ouch!  It was hard because there was nothing we could do for him.  And of course it did not help that the lovely principal at Bonneville Elementary tagged him as a trouble maker and he began to believe her.  He was not himself and no matter what we tried, the spark was fading from Thomas.

For this reason, our move to Colorado terrified me.  He was going to be in 6th grade and worse yet, he was going to be in middle school.  I had many sleepless nights imagining how he would react to another major change.  The day I took him to Rocky Top Middle School was harder on me than the day I took him to Kindergarten.  I truly felt like I was dropping him in a pool of sharks and warning him with a smile to, "Swim fast!"  My heart ached.  He did not know a soul and he seemed so small.  I still get tears just thinking about that lump in my throat as I watched him walk away from me.

In so many ways, I wanted to grab him and hide...to keep him safe from all that was coming.  I am learning however, that part of this journey of motherhood is learning to let go.  Learning to trust that the storms of life are necessary for growth.  My job as the mom is just to make sure that home is the safety from those storms.

Romney's cousin Allyson Bos took these photos this past summer.

But, I am proud, shocked and overwhelmed to say, that Thomas is doing incredibly well.  He is truly beginning to blossom.  He has told me on multiple occasions that he loves school.  He gets his homework done on his own and actually enjoys doing it.  He wakes up early with a smile and this past Sunday, when I was just too wiped out to wake up from my rare Sunday nap to help him with a paper, I woke up to find that he had completed it on his own.  This may not seem like a big deal, but this is HUGE.

He has joined a soccer team and he actually gets out of the car to go to practice...something that NEVER happened when he was on a soccer team a few years ago.  He is making good friends and he is even being a great little missionary.  He has invited a non-member friend to church and this past Sunday, Thomas was responsible for the fact that one of his inactive friends came to church with his mom.  When their home teacher asked the mom what motivated her to come back after several years, her reply was that her son Dylan was friends with Thomas.

This is not to say that we won't continue to have ups and downs, but I cannot believe how well Thomas has done.  He has landed on his feet and is beginning to soar.  I feel blessed.