As I look back......

Well as I approach Jacob's first birthday, I am filled with mixed emotions. He has come a long way in a year. Born 6 weeks early and expected to be born with problems, but has done the exact opposite. I am so proud of the little man he has become. I could not have asked God for a better son. He is everything a parent could ask for. He is calm and quiet and mischievous and crazy all wrapped in this tiny little body.

July 23, 2008 I was playing with Kila and sat up quickly and felt a gush. I thought I just peed my pants. At 3am I woke up and noticed a lot of water in the bed and blood. Of course, I freaked out and went to Kaiser. I saw the mid wife who checked me and sent me home. I emailed my regular doctor out of concern and she urged me to come in and get re checked. I did so. By that time they confirmed that my water had broken and I had lost quite a bit of amniotic fluid. I was admitted to the hospital and was ordered to bed rest until delivery. We had the head of the NICU department come in and explain the complications Jacob would have due to his prematurity. Of course all of us were beyond frightened. I was checked hourly and given antibiotics for my fever, and placed on oxygen due to Jacob's heart rate going down. On Saturday, July 26th 2008 I pushed for an hour and five minutes and Jacob Ryan entered the world screaming. So he blew their opinion that he would come out not breathing and blue. Next, they said it would take a week for him to be able to eat 4 ounces. He was able to have his feedings increased every 3 hours because he was doing so well. After 5 days in the NICU Jacob was sent home with a clean bill of health.

At a week old he was able to hold his head up. At three months he was able to walk with someone holding both hands, at six months he was able to sit up and stand up, at 9 months he was crawling and at ten months he was walking. My son amazes me. He was able to say "mama", "dada", "up" and "hi" all by the time he was 9 months. If you ask Jacob where something is, he points to it. He is soooo smart.

I miss the days of us cuddling on the couch or in bed but I still get my cuddles and drooly open mouth kisses. He kisses everyone, even Kila.

Jacob's first birthday is this Sunday and I am approaching it with smiles as I try and hold back the tears when I think of how far my Jacob has come and how he has overcome the odds.

Here's a peak at Jacob's birthday invitation. I think they are super cute.

Jacob's 1st day at Gymboree

A lady that works next to my Mom has a grand daughter that is in classes at Gymboree. She thrives in the class and loves it. After hearing that, my Mom thought it would be a great idea to enroll Jacob in a type of class like that. I went on to Gymboree.com and got information about the types of classes they have, etc. You can preview a class for free and if you sign up on the day you preview you get $20.00 off of the one time membership fee. Today was the day we previewed the class. I have to say I was a little nervous because Jacob was having an exceptionally bad day today. He was crying and whining all day. I think he might be teething so I wasn't quite sure if he was going to be in a social mood. I gave him some Tylenol before we left and as soon as we got in the gym area he was off. He took my finger and led me around everywhere. There were times when we were circling the same area. He couldn't get over the colors, sounds, babies, mommies, and obstacles. Ms. Karla (his teacher) was very sweet and had a great voice. She is very patient with the babies and helpful with the mommies and daddies. There were activities that involved the parents and babies, and Jacob wasn't sure of those so we somewhat participated but mostly sat back and watched. For a majority of the time the gym area was laid out with obstacle courses for the kids to climb, crawl, bounce, push, and run without the fear of getting really hurt or being told "no". Jacob was climbing and looking at me like "Is my Mommy going to say no or should I keep going"? It was the greatest thing as a Mommy to watch your child's eyes light up with joy and to watch him interact with children at or around his age. Out of the 10+ children there, Jacob bonded with a little boy name Rylan. He followed him around everywhere. There were a few obstacle courses where they needed to go through the tunnels so you will see in the pictures that Jacob would go in but not crawl through the other end. It will take some time for him to get comfortable in his surroundings there.

I would have to say I would pay all of the money in the world to watch Jacob's face light up like that again. He is going the be great in this class and make friends. I can't wait to see how this changes him for the better and what he can learn from the classes and from the babies in the class. It was a great afternoon and he literally passed out in the car ride home. He pooped in his car seat and then passed out. This was a great day, thanks Grandma Sherry!

Jacob ate a booger today

These are the moments that would usually make someone gag but as a Mommy you see much worse. Jacob had a giant boogey in his nose that I was trying to get this entire morning. Well Jacob was getting really sleepy and when he's sleepy he nuzzles Mommy and rubs his eyes and nose. He was in mid-nuzzle when he looked up at me and there was that pesky defiant boogey right on the corner of his mouth. Before I could get to it, he licked his lips and in went the boogey. I tried to "fish hook" it out but my little monkey gobbled it all up. He looked up at me with the biggest grin and smiled. My son is a booger eater. I hope this was a one time thing because even though I love him regardless, I would really like this to not become a habit.