Shua

Shua

My son turns three today.  This day causes so much emotion for me.  To start with, I truly didn’t believe the doctor when she said “it is a boy.”  Then two years ago my life changed around Shua’s birthday.  We had just thrown him a birthday party.  It was a fantastic party.  We celebrated our baby turning one.  There was cake, balloons, and smiles all around.  A few days later is when I felt the mass.  I knew something was not right.  I went through the steps of making the appropriate doctor appointments.  We all know what happened from there.  Last year we celebrated Shua’s 2^nd birthday.  It was still very hard for me to chase Shua and keep up with him.  This year though things are different.  We have been building up to Shua’s third birthday for months.  His sisters have taught him that his birthday is June 4^th.  They have taught him that he will be turning three on this day. Shua knows that he will get cake on his birthday.  He has practiced singing Happy Birthday to himself. Of course today, I think “this was around the time all hell broke loose.  This is the time when my world started to crumble.”  However, over the past couple months; I have watched my baby grow up so much. I have watched him learn new things. I have watched his vocabulary soar. I have watched him express his thoughts and feelings.  Birthdays are supposed to be fun and filled with smiles.  I am sure that the butterfly feeling that exists when it is Shua’s birthday will fade with time.  Over time I will no longer associate Shua’s birthday with feeling the mass. It will only be a time for balloons, cake and smiles for everyone.

Here are a few pictures of Shua to make you smile.  Ok there are a lot but I love to take pictures :)

 Notice the Smurfs in his "pocket" (shoved in his pants)

Can you find him?

Laying on a friend

ET phone home

Sledding

flying like superman

vacuuming in ladybug rain boots

sleeping with a baseball hat (sorry it is fuzzy)

making bubble with his friend Mater

At the TB Zoo

planting with Grandma

Loving his purple plant

Building :)

watering Grandma's new tree

Having a tea party

Having a ride with Elisheva

Eating cake with cousins

Getting ready for a swim!

It was very hard to go through what I went through with a young baby to take care of.  Shua was so little when it all started.  He didn't understand what was happening.  I didn't even understand what was happening. There were so many other people taking care of him.  I wasn't the mother I wanted to be for him.  I missed out on so much of his baby experiences.  I felt so guilty that I couldn't take him places and play with him like I really wanted to.  He got away with a lot because I was not about to control him or reprimand him when he did something wrong.  Two years later and I am doing all those things that I wanted to do with him.  We read books together.  We play playdoh together.  We go to the park and take rides on the train at the zoo.  We plant plants together and water them.  Sometimes we get more wet than the plants but that is ok because we are spending time together.  Love my Shua!