A Child with a SERIOUSLY Positive Attitude

We've known this about him for a long time -- basically, since the first few days we spent with him: our son has a seriously positive attitude. This boy is ever the optimist. Without a doubt this is true about Kyle too, but Owen is this way to an extreme. And because I've been thinking so much about Owen's incredibly positive attitude these past few days, I want to focus here on just him. The first moments we spent with Owen it was clear-- He left that orphanage with an intense look in his eyes, a smile on his face, in his Papi's arms, and never looked back. At eight months old, with two perfect strangers and his twin brother, leaving everything they'd ever known, Owen never hesitated, not even for a second. He was bright-eyed and ready to see the world. He was thrilled with everything we introduced to him. A brand new formula? Awesome! Pureed green beans? Cool! Being carried, hot and sweaty, in a front-pack baby carrier for 8 hour stretches at a time in Port au Prince? Let's go! No problemo. His first morning home he babbled and screeched with joy like there was no tomorrow. Owen never fussed over a wet or dirty diaper. I don't think he ever cried once from falling down when trying to learn to walk; he'd bounce right back up and try it again. To this day he rarely even bats an eye when he falls/slams/smashes/scrapes down; he always jumps right back up, laughs it off (quite literally), brushes himself off (quite literally), and goes for it (whatever it is) again in a heartbeat. More than once I've discovered trails of blood droplets through the house and had that be my very first clue that Owen was hurt. "My God!!!" I've screamed, when I've followed the blood-drop-paths to find Owen with his bloody cuts. "WHAT happened Owen???" His typical response: "It is just a little itty bitty blood Mommy, I'm O.K.!!! Don't worry!" I'm not kidding. The boy is amazing. Every day is a "BEAUTIFUL day!!!" for him -- rain, snow, sleet, or hail. Every field is a "PRETTY field!!" Every person is "Soooo NICE!" Everything is so good. This recent bought of sickness has brought with it, for me, a new-found sense of awe at Owen's incredibly positive attitude. Despite a long stint of barf and diarrhea (almost 5 full days straight), he was unbelievably upbeat the entire time. He'd puke a ton, then look up at us and announce cheerily, "I just throwed up a little itty bit!" He'd be sitting on the toilet for the 100th time that day and shout out to us cheerily, "I'm o.k.! I'm just having a little bit of di-rea, but I'm O.K., and my belly is JUST RIGHT!" He'd be lying on the couch in misery, but when asked which video he'd like to watch next (in a long, long string of the same old boring videos) he'd say cheerily, "I know! How about Diego!?! That would be a good idea!! Diego!!" Really, the whole thing is mind-boggling. Yes, Braydon and I tend to be the-glass-is-half-full-kinds-of-people. Surely that is part of it. But Owen takes it about 1,000 miles further. Owen is a glass-is-overflowingly-full-kind-of-person... even when the glass appears to everyone else to be quite empty... and Owen is this way to an extreme which I've honestly never previously witnessed. Owen is, if nothing else, a child with a seriously positive attitude.