I haven't written a blog for quite a while so I figured I'd start the month of July off with a new blog. This month is one of my favorite months. The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. Plus the warm weather, swimming and BBQ's & The craft festival! To name a few. When I think of July I think of summer! But there is one more very important reason why I love July! Nicholas' birthday, of course! I'm still in disbelief that in just 20 days my little guy with be a whole year old! And boy what a year it has been. Who would have thought that this little 4 pound baby would have become a year old so quickly. Just another reason to love each and every moment. And everything they do! I sometimes sit and day dream wanting to go back to those days when he was so little. I can easily say that those were some the best days of my life. Even with him being in the hospital just knowing that he was here and ours to keep forever, it was just a wonderful feeling. Sometimes he smells like a new born baby and it makes me tear up on the inside because he's growing up so fast! I'm almost positive that Christian's first year did not go this quickly. Although, Christian is growing just a fast. It seemed that Christian grew up faster after he turned a year old. I guess that's what makes Nick so much different than his big brother, Christian. They really are completely different. Aside the fact that they both cut teeth in the exact same pattern! But Christian was a really content baby, he didn't complain much, and when he did it was usually for a good reason. Nicholas on the other hand will actually take his bottle out of his mouth (used to be binky) and whine a second or two and take his bottle again. I often think of something my father told me when I was younger, around teenaged years. He like many parents told me that he prayed I'd have a child just like myself! To give me gray hairs, just like I did with him! Well, I have one better for him! Not only did I get one just like me! I got TWO just like HIM! My boys have a lot of my dad's witty attitude. From being a smart-ellic (Chris) to spazzing for no good reason (Nick).
Speaking of gray hairs. It brings me to my next topic. My crazy, hectic, energized nearly ONE year old, Nicholas! I guess I should have known he'd be a fireball from the minute I felt his first kick. He was always moving and always had me moving to position myself to remove the fist or heal from either my rib cage or bladder. He would also do this *thing* that would nearly send me into orbit! He'd wiggle and squirm into a position and hit my hip bones. I can honestly say that I'd rather go though Christian's long labor again than to be punched in that spot again haha. I can also say that after he did that a couple times it had me in tears laying on my bed holding my sides. Whoa that hurt! As most of you know Nicholas has a genetic disease brittle bone disease. And this is where our gray hairs really sprout. I'm often asking Nicholas "did you forget you have brittle bones?" "Did you forget your fragile, and supposed to be careful!". Brittle bones does not slow him down. It makes him unique in his own way. I was often very paranoid. It took some time for me to learn that I cannot keep him in bubble wrap. And many times I have wanted to staple, tape and glue him down because he's just so wild and crazy. But being wild and crazy means two things for child with this disease. One. He's strong. Two. He is getting stronger! So when I see him jumping up and down I might get that feeling in my stomach, but I remind myself that this IS good. He's defying all the odds. I cannot prevent breaks. He is going to break and there isn't anything I can do about it. Other than educate myself on his disease and keep up with my team of parents in our OI group(s). I can honestly say that without them I'd be completely lost. When first finding out about Nick's OI I felt lost at sea. As if I was handed a raft, taken to the middle of the ocean and told swim to shore, no map, no GPS nothing but myself against the world. Then I found a group of parents on Yahoo's site. They are OI, they know each and everything about the disease. Upon entering the group I was a little iffy. I thought are these people really going to help us? I was answered the very first day! I learned about their children, their lives and made great friends. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for being there every single day all hours of the night. We've laughed, cried and been there for each other. It's great to have a family all over the world. The point of that paragraph is that I have learned to let go. Realized that Nicholas will break I can't stop it. Let him be a kid! He's going to fall, he's going to get bumps and more bruises, he might wear more casts than the average kid does. We're going to get that look. The look of wonderment of why my one year old is sporting a green neon cast on his arm. Eye rolls will only have me looking the other direction. If they only knew! It's okay though because he's ours! We're so grateful for him to be in our lives. He is truly sent from heaven.
I guess it's time to wrap it up until next time. Let me think of a new topic and write again. I've had a lot of people enjoy my blog and I thank you for that. I do enjoy writing because it's a way to "vent". So keep reading! I'm going to leave you with a little video of my wild child Nicholas! Singing and dancing to Justin Biebers "baby". Thank you ~ Melissa :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUw5DkDumYM
