My little man is 5 years old! This is a little late, but I have been pondering what I wanted to write about and to my little man. Today as I sat and thought, over and over again I thought about him and all the doctors appointments and corrective surgeries he's had....and through them all, he kept that contagious grin right between his chubby little cheeks. I couldn't help but be teary eyed...it brought back a lot of memories during the first 3 years of his life....All that he went through and endured.
To my little R-Dubb ( short for RW, which is short for Riley William),
Five years ago on October 17th, you were born 5 hours after we arrived at the hospital. You were definitely our surprise baby. We had only been married for 6 months before we found out you were coming into our newly founded family. We were definitely scared but extremely excited! I remember so vividly the moments that happened right after your birth! The doctor held you up and showed me our new little boy, but my heart just broke after seeing your precious little feet. That was news to our doctor and us, but he assured me that everything was going to be fine, and explained that they would just bend your tiny little ankles where they belonged and hold them in place with a cast. They called it serial casting. They casted you the day after you were born. My heart just ached for you. All of the questions I had....pain, future, walking.....You were such a strong little boy. I'll be honest.....you were quite cranky the first month....the doctors just told me you were colicky....now I think about it...you were probably very uncomfy with those casts on....
You were a little over 1 month old and mommy was having awful pains and breathing episodes....I was told that I needed to have my gall bladder removed....when this happened, Dad was going to be in charge of taking care of you until I healed...I was so nervous about having this surgery because I didn't want daddy to have to care for you himself because of your crankiness. Come to find out, you decided you were going to be such a good little baby and Dad had no problem what so ever.
You were determined to get around while in your casts. We had to take you back to Primary Children's Hospital 5 different times for them to replace the casts because you had wore holes right down to your skin on your knees and heels...from crawling and kicking. I still laugh about what happened on your last surgery. This was the most extensive surgery you had. The serial casting wasn't quite positioning your little feeties where we wanted them. So they decide to do an Achilles tenotomy. That meant they were going to actually cut your tendon in have and connect back together at the tips of the cut. They were also going to pin your toe bones where they needed to be. Shortly before we had to go have the casts taken back off and the pins removed. You were sitting out on the front porch while I was cleaning out the car and I hear you yelling "I GOT IT, I GOT IT!" I came to see what you were so proud about "getting". YOU PULLED OUT THE PIN THAT WAS HOLDING YOUR BONES PUT! I was horrified and thought you'd have to re-do the surgery again, but the doctor told me where you appointment was in a few days, you'd be okay. You little stinker! You were so proud you got that metal "thing" that was in your cast. The reason I talk about your surgeries is because that has been a majority of your life.....However, you don't remember very much of it and focus on all the fun stuff. There have not been any set backs in your development as an "all boy". You run, jump, skip, swim, and now are riding your bike with out training wheels. What a big boy. You are the best big brother any sibling could ask for. Madi LOVES to play with you, and Lily loves to watch you and smile with you. You are very protective of you little sisters and I think right now, they kinda like it....we'll see how that works when the teens finally hit. We love you so much Riley and are so happy you are ours!
Things Riley likes right now:
Riding his four wheeler
Riding his bike
Playing with Roxy
Playing with Madi
Holding Lily
Animals
Hot wheels
Ropes
guns
PBJ sandwiches
WATER (we have to bribe you to drink milk)
Roxy
Preschool
Happy Birthday Riley, WE LOVE YOU!
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