I love my oldest dearly. I can recall everything about his birth even though I've birthed 3 babes in about 3 years. I remember when I was in labor his heart rate kept dropping so they broke my water to put a monitor on his head. Upon breaking my water they discovered there wasn't much and the little bit that was there had meconium in it. There seemed to be a bit of worry and panic in the room at that point. The nurses called NICU and decided to fast forward my delivery to get him out. After he made his entrance, I wasn't able to hold him right away b/c the NICU nurses swooped him up and had to check him out thoroughly for fear that he had meconium in his lungs. This as you can imagine was all a bit frightening but he ended up being okay and I got to hold him about 2.5 hours later.
I remember being asked if I wanted him in the room that first night and all I could think was if he leaves my sight he would be stolen or swapped with someone else's babe! When they left him with me I recall standing over his little crib and just crying b/c I couldn't believe he came from my body and that such a miracle could occur. I also recall about 2 hours later being scared awake out of my exhaustion by a screaming infant! The Hub and I at that point desparately fought for the nurse call button to get him shuttled to the nursery.
I cried so much during the next few days, weeks, and months. I cried b/c I was so in awe of this little miracle. I cried b/c I was grieved that breast feeding was so painful and that I had to quit so soon b/c of infection. I cried b/c of lack of sleep and post partum depression. I cried b/c my nether region had changed and I couldn't believe that it would ever be functional again!
Things did get better when he started to sleep through the night and I got used to having a baby. I remember that first summer I would sit in a chair in the living room and watch Gilmore Girls and feed W. To this day he recognizes the show's theme song! I also would walk him around the block often-just he and I.
When W was 1 week shy of his 1st birthday he started crawling. We ended up in the ER that same week b/c he pulled a lamp down onto his head resulting in a large knot and a cut on his forehead. It was so swollen I couldn't tell if the cut needed stitches so I took him to the ER.
When he turned 1 he got really stubborn and he seemed frustrated a lot of the time. That year was a bit of a trial for me b/c I was pregnant with Super N, we had our bathroom remodeled and W seemed to throw a lot of tantrums. I could tell he was frustrated b/c of the inability to communicate, I felt sorry for him (and for myself at times!)
He started to walk at 18 months. I remember before Super N was born I would pray that W would be walking before I gave birth. But that wasn't the case. I can remember carrying both babes down the stairs in the morning, I did that for 3 months! That was a challenging period of time for many reasons.
When W turned 2 it was if he had a pocket full of words he was saving to use for when he turned 2. He had always communicated jibber jabber and said a few words (1st word was vacuum-no kidding!) but it just took off at that point. W's second year, if I had to sum it up, was all about him talking and trying to keep him from taking his sister out.
Fast forward to the here and now...Here is a pic of my three year old ready to burst into tears b/c Super N gets to hold Baby J.
The age of three is really enjoyable for us most of the time. There are some qualities that well...are a little more difficult to enjoy at times. But nonetheless W is 3 and we love him regardless! The little Turkey!
To list a few of his milestones/quirks:
- Our 3 year old can talk in mostly complete sentences making it easier for him to communicate his needs and wants.
- He's more patient.
- His tantrums are less frequent and they're more controlled it seems.
- When he gets an ouchy he can tell us what exactly hurts.
- He seems more interested in others.
- He tells his 2 year old sister, "It's okay."
- He likes to have conversations.
- He asks "why" all the time!
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