Z, You Own Me

  Z came into a world full of chaos.  Three older sisters, one very ill, a mommy doing her very best, and a daddy barely holding himself together.  All of us loved him regardless of our personal or family issues.  He was that final piece of the puzzle and he was just right.  He was unhappy if he was set down because he wanted lots and lots of love and he couldn't stand not getting around.  I wore him as much as possible with the assistance of a baby carrier to keep him feeling happy.  It was a good way to keep him close and bond while still making sure the other three were getting all they needed.

My beautiful boy being happy.

  

  I indulged in his eagerness to smile and laugh as much as possible.  He was so excited to have attention and every time he would reach a developmental milestone, I would just soak it how grateful it made me.  He was healthy and after everything we had been through, I had a profound and new understanding and appreciation for things I once took for granted.  He was immediately and understandable the baby of the family both in age and in my mentality.

  His grumpy phase ended as soon as he became mobile.  He wanted to be able to follow me around the house demanding attention and love and getting into anything his sisters were up to.  He loved getting around and getting into anything he could.  His brain worked like a well oiled machine and it was clear very early on that he had his father's mechanical brain.

  

  His dark hair went completely blond and he matched all his blond sisters.  To say he brought joy into our world would be an understatement.  Nowadays he is a busy busy boy.  He is easily bigger than E and they function like twins.  He requires speech therapy because he adapted to E's speech instead of everyone else's in order to talk to her and now we have to help both of them to unlearn bad habits and learn good ones.  People tend to assume E is the youngest rather than her very strong and big baby brother.  They are thick as thieves and it can make me nervous about whatever they come up with, but very happy to know they have a best friend in each other.

E 4 years old, Z 2 years and 10 months.

Halloween at the pumpkin patch.

  Z is a kissy face and I indulge in his sweetness until I have to rein him back to teach boundaries.  If he gets his hands on a screwdriver, he starts taking things apart so fast I don't know what hit me and I have to help him put it back together.  He is very concerned that everyone knows he is a BOY and will wildly proclaim, "I AM A BOY!!" anytime he feels the need to remind us all.  He is hilarious.  He is strong mentally and physically and I look forward to seeing what he takes interest in and excels at.

This boy melts my heart.