5 years ago I woke up in the hospital on this day and got to spend some time with my 1 day old son in the nursery...he was so tiny, but no longer under the oxygen hood, though he did have oxygen thru his nose and some other things connected to him, but we could tell he was strong, and a fighter, and the nurses were confident that he was not going to need a NICU. He has brought joy and frustration to my life every day since his early birth, and I wouldn't trade it for anything! He put me through some moments of anxiety when I was pregnant with him, and forced me to slow down my pace and to take care of myself, thus taking care of him. He tried to enter the world on July 5th, but my doctor was able to stop the contractions and keep him in there to cook a bit longer. When I woke up at 2:30am on July 12th, I knew that was going to be the day. (I had complete placenta previa, and after the labor was stopped the week before, my doctor said if there was any more bleeding he would have to do a C-section right away). It was scary, knowing he was coming at just 35 weeks along, but I also knew that God had it under control, and I just needed to stay calm. He entered the world on July 12, 2010 at 8:53am, a little thing at just over 5 pounds, no complications with the C-section, and other than his lungs being a bit underdeveloped, he seemed good. They put him under an oxygen hood for 24 hours, kept him in the nursery for 5 days, only Doug and I could see him, and the hardest thing I had to do was leave the hospital one day before he was released, but we live so very close and I knew it would be my last "good" night of sleep for awhile! They warned us he couldn't leave the hospital until he had been without oxygen in his nose for 24 hours, and each time they removed it they had to put it back after a few hours. Until the day that he pulled it out of his nose himself, and didn't need it again! They warned us he would likely not pass the "car seat test" and would have to leave in a special bucket seat, but he sat strapped in to his car seat in the nursery for 90 minutes keeping his head up, therefore not cutting off his airflow, and was able to go home in his own seat. They warned us his jaundice might get worse and require coming back to be under the lights, but being July there was plenty of sunlight outside so we put him on the floor by the patio several times each day and his skin lost it's orange-y tint quickly. We heeded their warnings but didn't worry, we knew God was in control, and what needed to be would be.
Being early, we were warned that he would likely be a bit behind with the typical milestones...sitting up, crawling, walking, cutting teeth, etc. While he was pretty small the first couple months and we had to feed him constantly to get his weight up, by six months old you wouldn't even know he had been born early. When we had his first birthday party, he was walking all over the park and showing off his top and bottom teeth. He started throwing a ball around as soon as he could hold one, and at 18 months old was throwing a softball with amazing accuracy to his great-grandpa during a California visit. He picked up a love of trucks early on (kinda a given with his dad's influence!!), and has amassed quite the collection over the years, but more impressive is that he knows every car and truck he has! He can stand in the Hot Wheels section at the store and pick through them quickly, "I have that one, I have that one but it's red instead of yellow, I don't have that one yet!" He has a head for numbers and loves to count, and he likes things to be even, fair, and make sense. He's methodical and careful, as can be evidenced when watching him open his birthday presents. One piece of wrapping paper at a time, and disposing of it before tearing off another piece! He's aware of rules and wants everyone to follow them, which makes for some interesting times playing with his big sister who has a tendency to make rules up as she goes (rules that play in her favor, of course!).
He can throw a tantrum to rival that of a typical 2 year old, and he can be very intense in his frustration about not getting his way. We have to remind him that stomping, throwing things, punching out into the air, are NOT ways to ensure he will get what he wants, and the garage is full of toys that have been taken away as a result of him continually trying to learn that lesson. He's stubborn, luckily his dad and I are as well so we can out-stubborn him when need be! He's active, and can spend hours playing basketball inside or out (there are hoops on almost every door inside the house), and doing American Ninja Warrior obstacles on the swing set. He's careful, and isn't too keen on getting greasy working on trucks with dad, he prefers to be inside playing with toy trucks while dad is outside playing with real ones.
He loves his momma, and enjoys snuggling up and watching TV or reading. He doesn't like me being gone so much, and will often ask "how many days until you don't have work?" and "how many days don't you have to go to work?" We make the most of evenings, weekends, days off, and talk a lot about how lucky he is to have a daddy at home with him all day, playing and taking care of him. He is a night owl and stays up way too late most days, which will be a difficult thing to break him of before school starts. He likes to sleep in, which will also be a difficult habit to break him of, but we'll get there! He's excited to be going to Kindergarten at "Gracie's school", and while he seems so small to me to be at a big school all day, he also is seeming more and more ready as the summer weeks go by. There are less of the "toddler" moments and more of the "wow, he's such a kid now!" moments. He is enjoying time with his friends this summer, and it's fun to watch him interact with others his age, to listen to their conversations about sports and TV shows, about superheroes and poop, about siblings and technology. He has a great sense of humor, and makes us laugh with his silly comments and goofy antics.
He turned 5 yesterday, and it was a fantastically fun day celebrated with family and friends. We had a party for him at the same park we had his 1st birthday party at, and many of the same family and friends were in attendance. He's so blessed to have such love in his life; close family, lifetime friends, new friends. We're so blessed as a family unit, and we look so forward to the upcoming year of positive changes and growth as we head into the fall and both kids being in school. It's a new chapter, not yet written but full of expectation, and we will take each day as it comes, embracing the trials and rejoicing in the triumphs, but focusing on the moments that make up each day and living each one fully.
