coffee and cocoa tea: The boy is eating!

On Sunday, our little guy turned twelve months old. I would like to state that this is impossible, yet it happened. I would also like to state that I will be referring to his age in months until he's fifty-seven months or until I can't count that high. It just sounds younger.

Only ~~one year ago~~, er, twelve months ago, he was birthed looking like this.

Hm. I guess it wasn't too fun for him. Well, it wasn't a walk in the park for me, either, buddy.

And only a ~~year~~, um, twelve months later, he looks like this.

And while he got some pretty cool presents, the best present was the one he gave to us. See him willingly touching the cupcake? This is a big step, my friends. Woo Hoo!!!!!!!

Want to see something else?

That's right, friends. Ignore all the chatter of grandparents and little person questions, and focus on the important thing. Gater's eating!

Let me say that louder.

GATER STARTED

EEEAAAAATTTTTIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!!!!!!!!

{pause for cheering}

And not just cupcakes, either. He's chowing down on cheerios, crackers, anything crunchy. Please understand, chowing down for us right now is about ten cheerios. Baby steps. He still won't take a spoon, and he doesn't like soft things like banana, but he willingly opens his mouth and even reaches out and grabs crunchy finger foods. There have been many tears, many prayers of thanks, many high fives and applause over each bite.

Are we out of the woods? No. Would he make it without the feeding tube? Not a chance. But we are seeing our first real progress in six months. We're a bit in shock and keep thinking he's going to revert back to his old ways {any time he opened his mouth before, he then wouldn't do so again for three weeks or so}. So far, so good. He's been willing to eat food almost any time we offer it for days now. We are going from incredulous to cautiously optimistic, to downright ecstatic.

Keep those prayers coming, because we are very much still in the trenches, but we see light now for the first time. Our hope has something tangible to grab on to. Praise the Lord.

In honor of Gater's birthday, let's take a little jog down memory lane, shall we? Indulge me.

Nate seemed so grown up to me when he looked like this.

And then this happened. What a big boy!

And then Halloween came and he looked like this.

Then Thanksgiving came and he looked like this.

Then Christmas came and he looked like this.

About that time, we realized something was wrong, and very soon, he looked like this.

We have grown up this last six months. We have entered the ranks of those who have gone through something difficult and life changing. We have depth we did not have before. I am thankful for the growth and I'm thankful for the revelation and I'm thankful for having a trial that brought us closer and not further as a family, and especially as a couple. I'm thankful for gaining some empathy and understanding.

The Lord was gracious, and thanks to the wonderful invention of the feeding tube, Nate has been able to grow.

And be happy! And sit up!

And even, dare I say, be sassy? Look at how much he has filled out! I think he may even be on the growth chart now. That in itself is a praise.

There has been so much to be thankful for over this last year.

We have an awesome little kid who is a great sleeper,

and a total all star.

We're glad he's along for the ride.

Okay. I'm done.

We celebrated his special day with a brunch with both sets of grandparents.

I'll post about the sunroom and all the changes we've been making next week.

Decorations made from string and tissue paper and flowers from the front yard pretty much did it. See the oddly-shaped white pieces of paper between some of the tissue paper bunting? Those are paper dolls Ella made to add to the decor. Oh, and Jack chose matchbox cars to place on each napkin so it looked more "boy." I forgot to get a picture but it was really cute. I love that they are old enough to want to help out.

We let Nate sleep through brunch but got him up for presents.

All of our previous kid toy rules went out the window with Nate. With the other two we wanted quality and no loud noises, please. We would always choose wood over plastic. With Nate, we needed things that would stimulate him and make him want to stand up or crawl toward them, so the more lights and sounds, the better.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. My pride hurts. Almost as much as it did when we got a minivan. But I like my minivan more than I like all the noise of those toys!

It was a great day. A week ago we would never have dreamed that Nate would eat birthday cake. We debated the merits of even having one. I am shaking my head in wonder over his abrupt progress even as I write this.

Please accept our profound thanks for your prayers. I am continually amazed by the number of people praying us through this. The Lord is doing His perfect work in our little one and in our family and we are so glad to be able to rely on the One who loves us more than we could ever love ourselves.

**On a side note, we went to the zoo this week, and I kept having people tell me that I had a really cute little girl. Now, I realize he wasn't in blue, but can't orange be boyish? This is Volunteer country, after all. Everyone wears bright orange! People paint their houses orange!