In Pictures

Nathan was born on March 22, 2003. He had a head full of dark hair & very long eyelashes. He was perfect in every way. Ten fingers, ten toes, 6 pounds 8 oz and the absolute light of our lives.

Fast forward to age 15 months. Nathan had severe, frequent ear infections and had to have ventilation tubes. The very first time he had an ear infection, he GP suggested he was going to need tubes. Holding my tiny, 6 month old baby, I was a little confused. Wasn’t that jumping the gun a bit?? As it turned out, he has a mild cleft palate problem – a divided uvula. (The little hanging down thing in the back of your throat) The divided uvula makes it harder for his ears to clear themselves of fluid. So, tubes were pretty much a guarantee.

Nathan is walking in this picture, a little slower than some kids, but not too bad. He was clumsy though! He had an almost permanent bruise in the middle of his forehead from all his falls. He hardly ever cried though. Mostly just picked himself up & kept going.

I had to share my favorite picture with you, also 15 months old. Right before he had surgery, Nathan had his first 2 visits with the Speech Therapist. It was an automatic referral, need tubes, see the Speech therapist. Nathan wasn’t talking. Not really even babbling that much, so it was a little strange. He also didn’t imitate. You could make faces at him & he would laugh, but never try it himself. He didn’t play peek-a-boo, but loved to watch us do it. That inability to imitate would make teaching him so much harder.

Did I forget to tell you I was pregnant again when he had surgery?? Here’s brother Eric, arriving on December 4, 2004. 20 months after Nathan changed our world, Eric brought a whole new dimension to our family. He was 8 pounds, 2 ounces, pretty much bald & looked just like his Dad. Eric was a champion at everything he tried. Nursing him was a breeze, he loved people, he loved to imitate, he hit all his milestones on time & he dragged Nathan right along with him.

They were best friends, right from the start. As Eric started to walk & talk, slowly, slowly, Nathan talked too. Eric surpassed him quickly, but Nathan was motivated to keep up. They potty trained together. It took Nathan a full year, Eric, 2 weeks. I knew early that the reason Eric came into our lives so unexpectedly was to bring out the best in his big brother.

Here are the boys, taken in July 2008. “All grown up” they think. Nathan is off to Kindergarten this fall.

 

Here’s Nathan in his t-shirt from his Uncle Stew’s time peacekeeping in Bosnia in 2003.  It took that long for him to fit it, but hey, it is still cute.

Taken September 2008, here are both my beautiful boys.