![\"jasper](\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/theirbadmother\/nikon%20california%20trip%20221.JPG\")
<\/a><\/span>He blows kisses at me, and my heart swells with happiness, and then the swell starts to hurt, a little, and I have to stop, turn around, take a breath, and remind myself that a swelling heart is a big heart, a loving heart, and that the pain is worth it, always worth it, and that he’ll always be my baby, no matter what<\/a>. I tell myself that, and I believe it, I do.<\/p>\n
But still. I keep a tissue at hand, for those stray tears.<\/p>\n
(Happy birthday, baby boy.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They Say It's His Birthday - Their Bad Mother<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/theirbadmother\/2010\/05\/they-say-its-his-birthday.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"They Say It's His Birthday - Their Bad Mother\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s Jasper’s second birthday. I would be celebrating, if I weren’t sniffling fat, maudlin tears into my Cabernet. I love that he’s getting bigger, that he’s turning into a boy, I do. But also, I hate it. 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I would be celebrating, if I weren’t sniffling fat, maudlin tears into my Cabernet. I love that he’s getting bigger, that he’s turning into a boy, I do. But also, I hate it. 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It’s Jasper’s second birthday. I would be celebrating, if I weren’t sniffling fat, maudlin tears into my Cabernet. I love that he’s getting bigger, that he’s turning into a boy, I do. But also, I hate it. I hate it because he’s my baby, he’s my last baby, and I love his baby-ness, and it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jasper","category-mush"],"yoast_head":"\n