Here's looking at you, kiddo

Five years ago, after many hours of labor, JL and I happily left the hospital with our oldest child. We were young idiots who thought we could handle things and Walter, with his 80 year-old man face quickly put all of our confidence to rest. Walter struggled with nursing, a consequence from the C-Pap machine he was hooked up to immediately after birth. He was sensitive to everything - dairy, soy, corn, meat, certain nuts - and JL and I spent hours reading labels on everything that came into the house to avoid the onset of vomit and hives. He began talking at 5 months and never stopped. By a year, Walter was sharing his rather strong opinions with us in full sentences. Right as we waved goodbye to all of his food issues (four years later), we discovered that he has allergy induced asthma. He is tall and skinny, to the point that finding clothes that fit him often leads to a headache.

And I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Without a doubt, Walter has made me a better person. He is hilarious, stubborn to a fault, inquisitive, bright, caring, and unquestionably old-fashioned. He calls JL and I Father and Mother, respectively, believes that men should hold open doors for women, and insists that his hair be combed flat on his head ("like Poppa's"). Walter is OCD and quick tempered, but he has a wonderful sense of empathy and an ever developing moral code that guides him.

Oh, and his Do-A-Dot painting skills are second to none!

I am infinitely grateful to be his mother. So here's to my Goose, his father's Scrub, our forever Walter Theodore. May 5 be even better than all of the years that came before!