Matthew turns 6!!

Happy Birthday Matthew!! Wow he is 6. Where does the time go? Each year of his life gets easier and easier. He is such a tender heart. He is filled with so much love. He wants to be such a good boy all the time, but he has a temper. Very strong willed. Which will probably be a great trait in the year to come. As I think back through the year I am amazed at all he has come through. Since birth he has had one physical struggle after another. But he is an amazing child.

Born: May 20, 2002
Weight: 6 # 14 oz (Born 16 days early. My water broke.)
Time: 8:02 PM
Length: 19 inches

During delivery his heart slowed/stopped (I can't remember exactly. David knows the story better than me. The whole hospital stay is a blurr for me. I was heavily medicated.) They actually put me to sleep to do an emergency c-section. Best way to deliver a baby. You go to sleep and when you wake up you magically have a baby. However, then you are out of it for days. It has its pros and cons. He was in the NICU for a couple days. We were the giant baby in there. Those babies are so small and such dedicated parents.

Had reflux from the beginning. No medication helped at all. At one year old I think he was almost 15 pounds. He was so skinny. My doctor prescribed a diet of pediasure and ice cream. The reflux is mostly better. I have cleaned up more vomit in my life than a mother should have too. But we love them so we will do anything for them.

At 6 months he had his first surgery. Hypospadia. Urinary track was wired funny.

At 9 months he had tubes. Constant ear infection from birth.

At 18 months he had his adenoids out. Along with his sinus scraped and something else was removed but I can't remember. (Hopefully not his brains.)

At 4 he had VPI surgery. A flap in his throat didn't work so they had to repair that. Luckily this was found because he could not talk. He could talk you just could not understand him. We went from speech therapist to speech therapist and luckily we finally had one of them say it was internal. He is talking great.

At 5 he had his heal cords lengthened. No more tippy toe walking. Yeah.

In between surgeries we've had every chromosome tested, done every genetic test available, (not exactly but it feels like it), been to a dozen specialists because they "think" that he has a genetic disorder because he looks a little different. But what is normal? We finally realized that these doctors do not know what is best. They can't find anything and they want to so badly. To us he is perfect so we said enough is enough.

He was diagnosed with something called Sensory Integration Disorder. (This is not a genetic disorder) Some say it is an actually disorder, some disagree. He just process the world around him a little differently. Nonetheless, we were able to get him some great occupational therapy and he went to a school to help him be able to handle life situation. (He started there at the age of 2- that is one of the hardest things I have had to do. Put my baby on a school bus at that age. It rips your heart out. But it was a lifesaver!! Don't worry the bus had car seats with the 5 point harness. Can you imagine a 2 year old having free reign over a bus.) But now he is doing great. He did great in Kindergarten. One of the top in his class. He scored 100% on his end of school evaluation. Way to go Matthew. He is so smart. But as I look back at all these things I am so grateful for how simple they all were, and they were all treatable. I have an amazing little boy. He has come so far!!! I still get weepy to think of all that he has been through and all that he has accomplished.

Matthew with his cake and presents. He was so excited for the big day.


He wanted the game Crossbows and Catapults. I had never heard of it. But his dad and him were talking about it and he admires his dad so much. So that is what he wanted. It is actually a really fun game. You set up your King, castle, and soldiers, and then launch a coin looking object to try and knock over each others people. (Sorry about the little immodest child in the picture. The story of our lives with this boy. I actually think with all our boys)



Another one of his gifts was a huge Lego castle (from mom, dad, and Grandma and Grandpa Ogden- mostly grandma and grandpa) David and him spent all day building it. It took about 4 hours. Luckily David had the day off work. It is so cool and he loves it. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa. He also got a building set from Aunt Amy and Uncle Alex. Thank you. (Especially from mom because it is easy enough that I can actually put it together. I struggle with all these boy toys. Matthew has to show me how to build things. I just don't get their desire to build, it is a little frustrating to me.)



The finished castle. I love the dragon. That is cool. The draw bridges actually go up and down, it has secret escape doors, and all these other features. It is cool.



That evening Grandma and Grandpa Ashby came over for cake and ice cream. Matthew had to save his cake for them. I think this meant a lot to him to have them come over. They gave him a fun game called Slamwich (kind of like the card game War) and a Kaleidoscope. I haven't played with one of those for years. He thought that was awesome. It is his pirate spyscope and he carries it around in his backpack. He tries to take it to school, but I have to sneak it out of his backpack every morning. However, he did get to take it and some of the Lego guys for show and tell. That was fun. Grandma Lois had him sleep over for his birthday. The next day they wet to McDonald's for lunch. He had a great time. They played games and according to him he won them all.



Of course he had to have a Lego theme for his birthday. He loves them. He can play with them for hours. Just building things and make believing. He is so careful with them and every piece has its specific spot.



Matthews favorite colors are green and red. Loves pepperoni pizza and breadsticks. Loves to play Legos, monopoly, and now crossbows and catapults. Him and Madi also love to play school together. He's such a blessing in our lives. Happy Birthday Matthew, we love you so much.