Ifferjenn Independent

Because children exist just to echo their parents…

Ethan: Mom!
Jenn: Yes?
Ethan: Remember when Darth Vader cut off Luke’s hand?
Jenn: Yes?
Ethan: Good times…

My boyfriend John served 20 years in the Air Force. This morning, as I got up to make coffee, I turned to him and said, “Thank you for saving the world.”

Thank you, all you veterans out there! Thank you for saving the world!

Oh yeah! The only thing I didn’t create myself here? The little table the penguin is sitting on.

Crochet by Jenn. Picture by Jenn. Muslin-draped wall by Jenn. (Which I’m now going to love for taking pictures.)

I would apologize for the next few days being candle pictures, but seriously…how beautiful are they?!

Dear Ethan,

Happy Birthday! As of 12:15 this morning, you turned six years old. While you are one of the most amazing and wonderful people I know, your arrival into this world was certainly unexpected. Well…it was, but really, you were supposed to arrive in January. But I won’t hold that against you…much. (By now, hopefully you’ve realized I’m joking when I say that.)

I went looking for a picture from your actual birthday, and I couldn’t find one from that day I could stand to put up. As I said, you arrived two months premature. You hadn’t finished growing in so many ways, and I was only able to get one of my two steroid shots before the doctor woke me up at 11 pm to tell me that your heart rate was dropping and you were coming out now. I was kind of in shock, so it didn’t quite sink in until I saw you the next day, IV in your arm and hooked up to a ventilator that I realized what a close call it was. The ventilator didn’t last too long, but then it was the CPAP, and that cursed feeding tube you had for over a month. Oh, how many times did you pull that thing out…

So this picture is from November 7th, 2003: your second day of life. This was the first time I got to hold you, though it wasn’t nearly long enough for me. You can only see your feeding tube in this shot, though there is the hint of the IV setup on your hand. Within a couple of days, you’d be sporting some snazzy shades and under the bili lights, warding off jaundice. You’ll also be hooked up to some kind of breathing monitor until a month after you came home, in January. But for this moment, you were my perfect little baby.

Looking through the pictures from your first days, I find it amazing how much I had forgotten. How excited I was to dress you for the first time. How amazing it was to show up at the NICU and find you in an open crib. How utterly delightful it was to have you scream through your first bath, then fall asleep right after you got over the indignation of it (and had a snack). And, most importantly, the overwhelming joy when I finally got to take you home on Day 60.

Part of me feels bad for forgetting all these things, though by remembering them, I’ve become more intent on celebrating all your firsts to come. Just this year was your first day of kindergarten, your first bus ride, and finally buttoning your first shirt. (How you can beat all those levels in Mario Galaxy and not tie your shoes, I don’t understand…) Coming up next week is your first birthday party with your friends, not just your family. Soon enough you’ll be walking to the bus stop by yourself, going out with your friends, and driving. *shudder*

Time flies, young man. Let’s both remember that, and treasure all that happens in the next year. I love you, Monkey.

<3, Mama

November is Prematurity Awareness Month. Visit the March of Dimes to make a donation on Ethan’s behalf so we can help avoid more premature births!

On the Thursday Threesome, I’ll choose a theme and describe three things that have to do with that theme. The Thursday Threesome, along with many other parts of this blog, has been absent for a while, as there have been a lot of shiny things around. You’d think I was a cat in a room full of laser pointers. But, tomorrow, Ethan turns six. Yes, I shall retell his birth story, again, and guilt you into donating to the March of Dimes, again. But today, some of the unexpected things that came with becoming a mother:

1. Spidey Sense: For those of you who always wondered how your mom always knew when you were doing something wrong, the answer really is as simple as, “Because she’s your mother!” I can now pinpoint the exact amount of time that Ethan’s been in the other room and quiet just a little too long. Even better, I know when he’s reaching for that very breakable object you told him three times already not to touch. Bonus! This power also works on cats! I can tell you at any given moment that someone is on the table when they totally shouldn’t be.
2. Whatever it is, I can do it one-handed: After carrying around another human being for…oh…six years now, I can assure you that you could tie one arm behind my back and I would be able to cook a 7-course meal. And update my blog. And put away groceries. And fold all the laundry. At the same time!!!
   
3. Crying At the Drop of a Hat: While Ethan also has this power, I find it so much more amusing in myself. Because I don’t have the justification of breaking into tears because someone started to give me a shower because I wasn’t cooperating in getting the shampoo rinsed out of my hair. No, you just need to show me something that reminds me my son will grow up, and I’ll go over the edge. Pixar movies kill me every. single. time. It’s only this year that I’ve been able to sing Puff the Magic Dragon again. Oh, the list just goes on and on… Now to go audition for a soap opera and turn this into a marketable skill. 

Have an idea for a Thursday Threesome? Leave a comment, and I’ll see what I can do!

What happens when you give me a camera and fishnets.