My Pumpkin in Pictures

Since I began this blog in December, the photos I have offered of my little men have been limited to our recent activities. But since we are celebrating Connor's second birthday, I thought it would be nice to show my little pumpkin grow.

Connor's birth was unbelievably calm and peaceful. Perhaps this was because my first birthing experience was the exact opposite of my expectations, and I am quite the planner. I don't like unexpected surprises; I prefer to decide every nitty gritty detail in advance. In fact, Eric and I planned so well that Connor's due date was just the day before Cameron's birthday (which by the way, is also my birthday). So, while I was not thrilled to have to have a repeat c-section, I was thrilled that this time it would not be a surprise (more on Cameron's birth in a future post). And my little pumpkin knew it was time, too; when I got to the hospital, I began having powerful contractions, as if on cue. A few hours later, my 9 pound 3 ounce little boy was born. And he looked nothing like his older brother. It's funny -- when you have one child, you think, "Okay, this is what we make." Then you have a second, and you think, "No, wait! See that one over there? That's what we make, not this." But it was so much fun to recognize that we had two little boys who looked so different but carried traits of both of us inside.

I remember asking my mom to stay with us the first few days that we were home because we naively decided to try to begin our new family without any help when Cameron was born. Rookie mistake! So when we brought Connor home, imagine my surprise when the little bugger liked to sleep. I had heard of babies like that before, but having never had one myself, I questioned if a routinely sleeping baby wasn't just old wives' tale. He had a great disposition, was a good nurser, and he slept. A lot. We knew we were so blessed!

So, it was a shock to learn, when he was only eight weeks old, that my thriving and seemingly healthy pumpkin had to have immediate surgery for a condition called pyloric stenosis. He was such a great baby! How could anything be wrong?!? Fortunately, the surgery was a success and he began smiling just days later.

Connor has been a trooper in my eyes in many ways. Like I said, I am a planner. It seems as if Connor is in some ways an old soul who knows what his mommy can handle at any given moment. He spoke early at eight months (his first word was "kitty") but he waited to crawl until ten and only began walking at twenty months. While I was a bit worried, he waited until we had done our "babyproofing" to crawl and then conveniently walked at a family get-together.

And I can't forget to add how he and his brother adore one another. Sure, they swipe each other's toys, but Cameron is a super big brother, and Connor imitates everything Cameron does.

He has been an absolute joy who I can really only describe as my heart personified. These days, while his favorite sentence is "I don't want to" and he is starting to have frequent meltdowns, it is difficult to think of all he has brought to our lives these past two years without accompanying my reminiscing with tears and hope of all the happiness to come.

As I sing to you every night in the lullaby I wrote for you, Pumpkin, "You are my heart, my love, my joy, my baby boy."

Thanks to all of you for reading and celebrating one of the best blessings of our lives with us!