One year ago W entered our lives. From the beginning he has taken us places we never thought we’d go, all the while remaining the happiest and most easy-going of the three children.
First Adventure: Just getting to the hospital for the birth was an adventure. We had been snowed in for several days and the day before he was born spend many hours shoveling out the lane, getting the van stuck in the ditch and getting towed out by our neighbor. I went into labor about 11 pm and at 5:oo am we decided that it was time to hike out to the van (parked at the end of the lane). So we gathered up our bags and woke S’s sister L who was staying with us. Then carefully since everything was frozen and quite slippery we walked out to the van only to discover that it was frozen into its ruts. So S pushed and dug and I drove (with contractions every 1.5 to 2 minutes) until after 30 minutes or so we were on the road!
We got to the hospital, the midwife said “this baby is coming soon” and an hour and a half later after several tense moments when his shoulder stuck, there was our 9 pound 11 oz boy! Over a pound bigger than either of the other two and just build broader than either of them.
Second Adventure: At three months W ended up in the hospital for about five weeks due to a cyst on his pancreas that required surgery. That was very frightening as he was still practically a newborn and the pancreas is not an easy organ to work with. God gave grace though and the surgery seems to have been a complete success. W was a delightful baby the whole time, smiling and talking to everyone. Still not what we had planned.
Today he is very lively, happy and smiling. He loves to climb and dance and has figured out that the computer plays music and makes it clear that he wants us to play some. He says a few words, the most important one being “snuggle”.? He is much more physical than the others and loves to be snuggled and rough-housed with.
He still is much bigger than they were and wears a number of things that F wore at 16 to 18 months not a year. We call him the “baby linebacker” and “W the volume” because of his love of making noise.
Here are a few pictures: