Happy Birthday Ethan!

Twelve years ago, after two hours of pushing and 13 total hours of labor, I broke the silence of the hospital room by hollering, “Is he breathing? … HEY! IS HE BREATHING?!”

This hunk-a-chunk-a-nine-pound-three-ounce-baby had been due June 21. His doctor had warned that if he came early he might not be able to breathe, and even if he could breathe he would have mental challenges for the rest of his life. So from my vantage point the room was awfully silent after Ethan was born. Turns out he was more like this:

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Sorry these are so tiny. Digital photos from 2001, what can I say? Anyway, they finally poked Ethan in the foot for PKU testing and he was like this:

And then he let out this single, low-pitched, “Ugh.” Thus I met the most mellow kid I’ve ever known. He’s kept that deep voice and happy-go-quiet personality. Now he loves programming and hates writing, but he’s pretty good at both. I am super glad he’s mine. 🙂