Big Man - Little Body

It has been 9 long years since I was blessed with a baby boy.  And let me just say that those last couple of weeks of pregnancy were crazy bad!  I was crazy!  It was bad!  Not to mention I was bigger with that pregnancy than any of my others.  When I delivered a 9 lb 1 oz 24 inch long baby boy it all made sense why my belly was super gigantor.  I still remember the doctor holding my big newborn and touching his little hands with eyes wide as he exclaimed, "Look at the size of those hands!  He's like a puppy!"  The comment made perfect sense to me since my own Mr. Handsome is a dog lover and when scoping out a pup of his own is always looking for large paws.  And my baby definitely had large paws!

Having a little boy after 2 little girls was a lot of fun.  I loved getting into trucks and tractors and sports and everything boyish.  I loved the short hair and lack of having to worry about a "hairdo".  And my sweet easy going little fatling was awesome!  Just awesome!  He never cried.  He ate like a champ.  He slept great.  He was just fat and happy all the time!  What more could a mother ask for?

Right after our Lil Rig was born he continued to fail his hearing tests.  When he was 6 months old we followed the advice of doctors and he underwent surgery to get tubes placed in his ears.  The audiologist was in the OR with the ENT so that while my little boy was still fast asleep they would be able to perform a "post ear tube" hearing test to see if the tubes had solved his hearing problem.  It was interesting sitting in that waiting room by myself wondering what the doctors would come back and tell me.  Could he hear?  Was he deaf?  So many thoughts and concerns.  Yet nothing that really rocked my world.  In fact, what was going through my head was....I can deal with this!  I can do deaf if I need to!  I can totally learn sign language!  This is going to be okay!

My little man came out of surgery just fine and had passed his first hearing test.  He could hear for the first time in his short life.  Everyday sounds like the toilet flushing and doors closing and even people talking scared him and brought tears to his eyes on a daily basis.  When he grew old enough to attend kindergarten we had to make special arrangements with the teacher when the school would do fire drills because the alarm would scare him and hurt his tender ears.

I guess my point is that I am grateful everyday for my little man.  I am grateful everyday that he can hear.  And I am grateful everyday for those moments, whether long or short, that help put things into perspective and help me remember how blessed I am and how grateful I am for my trials.  I don't wish to trade my trials for somebody else's.  I am, however, continually grateful for mine.

It's funny how each year when one of my babies turns a year older I think back to when they were born and the feelings and events associated with those years.  And here I sit today reminiscing about the past 9 years and how that chubby little boy has grown into one of the sweetest, most thoughtful, considerate, helpful children I've ever known in my entire life.  He notices when I get my hair cut.  He offers to help with dinner.  He opens doors for me and tells me I'm pretty.  He is the perfect man wrapped up into the body of a little boy.  And, yes, even though he'll soon outgrow me, I still kiss on those chubby cheeks every chance I get.