Has it really been 3 years?

Yesterday was a very special day in the Rotz home.....Luca turned 3 years old! Where has the time gone? I can very vividly remember the days leading up to December 20, 2006 as if it were yesterday. Going to the hospital because I started itching uncontrollably, thinking I'd go home with a prescription, getting the news that I wasn't only not going anywhere but I'd be getting induced (and not understanding the danger our child was in at the time) and crying because it was still 4 weeks away from our due date. A 3 day induction led to a c-section and 2 hours afterwards I was holding my precious baby boy for the very first time.

I remember how he looked and how he smelled, how tiny his fingers were and laughing at the lack of fat on his tiny frame and how it meant he literally had no butt! He was 5lb 13oz and 19in long, my miniature baby. I look at him now and am almost brought to tears remembering how, as a newborn, he could be held in just one of Steve's big hands. We struggled with nursing due to his not having much of a 'suckling' reflex and then my hospitalization for gall bladder removal when he was only a week old. He went home with jaundice, didn't nap for more than 15 minutes without being held and refused a pacifier.....it was a hard first few months. Around 4 months though he found his thumb, started napping and sleeping through the night and was bottle feeding like a little champ, he had certainly caught up the lack of weight from birth.

Luca is an amazing child. Daily he both challenges my patience and melts my heart. He is a very sensitive and loving boy, he worries for others who are sad or hurting and doesn't forget a thing. He loves his family, especially his baby sister who he welcomed into the world with hugs and kisses and the offer of one of his cars, and is a bright and happy child. My world wouldn't be the same if Luca had not come blazing into it! He's a mover and shaker, loves to dance and sing and run and play and if every bit a little boy. To top it off he's just down right adorable. He's got the prettiest eyes, longest lashes and the sweetest dimple in one cheek that keeps me up at night, worrying about all those teenage girls that will be swarming our home in a few years!

3 years have gone by way to fast and before we know it he'll be grown up with a 3 year old of his own. Until then I'm going to snag every big hug, sloppy kiss and bad knock knock joke I can get!!! Happy Birthday little man!!!!!!!!!