My baby

Today my baby is five!

Five years ago right this minute, I was asleep, under sedation after an emergency caesarean section. I had an epidural already in place, but when they rushed me in for surgery (Mosey was descending with his head cocked to the side, ear presenting first, which is very unsafe), and made the first incision, I discovered that it hadn't fully numbed my right side. Ouch! So I was given something or other in my IV, and I barely made it conscious through the delivery.
As it was, I got to see him only for a second because he was rushed to the NICU for breathing problems.
As I slowly came out of the anesthesia, I had some sort of panic attack and started hyperventilating. I was terrified, because it really felt like I was not getting enough oxygen. I couldn't catch my breath long enough to call for a nurse. Finally one passed by and I gasped out that I couldn't breathe. She checked my oxygen saturation, and it was fine, and she told me just to slow my breathing. Yeah, right! How do you slow your breathing when you feel like you are smothering?! Finally, they sedated me again and I didn't wake up until the next morning.
Mosey spent the night under an oxygen tent and was doing a lot better by morning.

But he was still breathing really fast and the doctors were not comfortable letting him out of the NICU. I didn't even get to see him until nearly 12 hours after delivery. And I didn't get to hold him until the next night.


But, after a less-than-promising beginning, he improved and was released from the NICU after 5 days and came home with me.

He was an easy, easy baby. (Well, maybe any baby would have seemed easy after twins!)
He didn't cry much, slept very contendedly in the sling or the swing, and seemed to adapt to life this side of the womb very well.


The twins were not happy about him for several weeks, but finally managed to accept his existence, and finally to even love him.

(look at the scratches on his face-- Brigham and Joseph did that to him! So sad... But they were only two and it was a tough adjustment)

Mosey is still my sweetie, maybe because he is the youngest. But he is by far my most cuddly child, and always has been. He will grab my face and kiss my cheek. He still manages to find his way into my bed to snuggle with me more nights than not.

He is a funny kid, too! He has an infectious laugh, and it's not just me that says this. He finds little things uproariously funny, and you can't help but laugh with him.

He loves animals. And he LOVES stuffed animals. Here are the stuffed animals currently on his favorite list:
Little Dog (the first, and best-loved of his Webkinz animals, a chihuahua)
Lumpy (Webkinz elephant)
Good Squirrely (Webkinz squirrel)
Pug (Webkinz pug, oddly enough)
Rudolph (fawn)
Polly (pink and white dog with pink bows on her ears)
Giant Polly (same as above, but bigger! She's little Polly's mom, apparently)
Scooby Doo
Fur-Real dog (no name)
Fur-Real cat (no name)
Golden (dog given to him for Christmas from Brigham)
Attack (cat)
Sunshine Bear (Carebear, actually the "Funshine" bear)
Blue (from Blue's Clues)
White doggy (no name, he actually gave it to Ben for his birthday, but has since sort of adopted it as his own, to no one's surprise)


Mosey also loves to read. He's a really good reader! He's reading the Charlie Bones books along with Joseph. He reads out loud sometimes and it's the most adorable thing to hear. He has great inflection for dialogue, and reads with spirit. He was reading this afternoon and only got caught up on the word "indignantly." That is a hard word! He's a great speller, too, and frequently corrects Brigham on his spelling (admittedly, spelling isn't Brigham's greatest talent).


He's still afraid of the dark, and won't go into the garage by himself, or even into the bathroom if the light is off. He'll ask one of his brothers to turn the light on for him first.

He is TERRIFIED of the automatic flushing toilets at Walmart. Absolutely terrified.
Along those lines, he sometimes prefers the backyard to the toilet, much to my chagrin. But sometimes his brothers don't want to stop what they're doing to turn the bathroom light on for him, and what's a boy to do? :-)

His favorite food is fruit, smarties, and any kind of soda. He tells me all the time, "Mom, I'm hungry for a smartie!"


He loves to play on Webkinz World and Starfall.com, and he is scarily adept at anything to do with the computer. Like, he can open up Blogger, create a new post, and publish it completely on his own. He can find the Republican National Trust and fill out the contribution form to donate 79 trillion dollars. Go to the Starfall.com store and try to buy $220,000+ worth of stuff. And he can dance like nobody's business.

He loves to sit on my lap when shopping at Target or Walmart or HEB (the only places I can shop, as they have the ride-on carts). I love to kiss the top of his head while he's riding on my lap.

He says to me, "I'll hold your hand, Mom, so you don't fall." Sometimes he wants me to go upstairs and I tell him it's too hard for me, and he will say, "Don't worry, mom, I'll hold your hand so you can get up the stairs."

He always prefaces a statement to Ben or me, "Mom (or Dad), I hafta tell you something." And then we have to respond before he will actually say what he has to say. At night as I'm trying to settle him down, he'll say, "Ok, mom, this is the LAST thing I'm going to say." Until the next thing, and then *that* is the last thing.

He adores his big brothers and does everything with them. First thing in the morning, he asks me if Brigham and Joseph are up yet.

I love him so much, my heart just bursts with love for him.

Happy Birthday punkin' pie!