Dearest Raffie – You Are Nine!

Dearest Raffie,

Happy Birthday my baby boy. Nine whole years since we had the biggest struggle on that October the 9th in 2017 when you didn’t want to come out, and my body didn’t want to help you get there either. Thank goodness for our medical team and for the great care we both received before, during and after that worrying day which brought me, in the end, all the sunshine that you are!

I remember seeing your face for the first time but knowing you right away. Your face, the face of the baby I had dreamed about and felt sure I would have one day because it had been so vivid and felt so real. And then, after waiting so long and wondering if it was really just a dream then, wondering if I wasn’t actually ever going to meet that baby I had felt so strongly connected to, even though it was just a dream, there you were!

I always called you my sunshine boy because despite it being October and grey, and even though we were both so poorly and grey ourselves, our family lit up like the sunshine with you in it, and it still does! At nine you are sunnier than ever and as ever you make us sp proud.

You are excellent at maths, a wonderful story teller, you can act and sing and dance and keep us all so entertained with your lovely ways. You love Traitors and Bake Off and King Gary, Miranda (as always), Motherland and more recently the very definitely non age appropriate Friday Night Dinners (I think non age appropriate comedy is our speciality – I hope some of it goes over your head because I love watching you laugh and enjoy the same things I do and love to watch with you)! You are a great swimmer, build great things on the beach,enjoy paddle boarding and rugby and noodles, pasta and a late night movie night too.

You also adore to play football. Of course. Morning, noon and night! And boy, are you getting good at it! You are so lovely to watch play and even when you get grumpy we forgive you because Raffie, you’re just so yummy and brilliant how could we not!

Happy, happy birthday special baby boy! Here are your best bits about turning 9 (which I will add to over your birthday weekend and beyond when you will be a mascot for NCFC next weekend as your present)!