We Officially Have a Screenager!

Happy 13th birthday to Teddy! 

Wow, it's hard to believe Teddy is 13. When we got his diagnosis back in 2015, we were given research papers with a life expectancy of 3 years ... and our baby boy was 2.5 years old. So birthdays are always a bit of extra celebration because we keep smashing that outdated research paper and writing new, more realistic and much more hopeful stories for those families who come behind us. 

But through the years birthdays have also been bittersweet, especially in the early years, and I know we'll have hard ones to come as well. So often it was tears when searching for presents, the hard reality that the things Teddy could enjoy were baby toys instead of age-appropriate toys. As the years have passed, the ability to appreciate Teddy for who he is without those milestone comparisons has come easier. Honestly, some of that ease comes from the lack of pressure to have the perfectly decorated cake or to buy a gift equivalent to what we'd do for AJ and just do what comes naturally that Teddy will enjoy.

This was before he ran off to take someone to play ... mid song.

More than any gift or cake, Teddy's favorite part of birthday celebrations is seeing all his favorite people. No matter how many people are already here, he literally jumps for joy with each new arrival and drags them off to play with him. Trust me, there's enough Teddy love to go around for everyone!

Teddy has lots of ideas for for everyone to play!

This year's birthday party was a wonderful day filled with family, best friends and adopted family. The cake was a huge hit - Teddy intensely devoured the peanut butter cake he requested. The water fight with squirt guns was a fun summer treat. We got to enjoy family card games of sheepshead while Teddy played with his victims, I mean chosen people. (I say victims because at one point he had AJ stuffed in a tunnel, tied to a gigantic Teddy bear that's bigger than AJ and covered in blankets ... all at the same time.)

And, there was only one trip to the ER. It was for stitches, not seizures. It was for Dave, not Teddy. So that's a definite win, and now I shall be buying Dave safety scissors for Christmas as the first gift to open all the rest of the presents. 

His future is so bright everyone needs to wear shades.

 

Happy Birthday Buddy!

How is it possible that my little guy is 11?!? 

He's not so little any more ...

Teddy's birthday is often a mix of emotions:

• Gratitude to have another year with Teddy. When we got his diagnosis at 2.5 years old, we read the life expectancy was 3 years old. Given that there are only about 100 known cases of PIGN-CDG in the world, we know far too many families who've buried their children from this diagnosis. Yet Teddy and others continue to thrive and write their own stories.  
• Sadness that comes with comparison. In the words of Teddy's namesake, "Comparison is the thief of joy." Some years it's easy to get lost in the rabbit hole of what Teddy can't do compared to others his age. It's especially easy when shopping for gifts is hard.
• Happiness of the celebration with family and friends. The best thing for Teddy isn't presents, but rather the presence of his favorite people.

This year was extra chaotic because I had a farmer's market the morning of his birthday, so this year didn't come with quite so many emotions. I lived in the land of happiness and gratitude, loving seeing him so happy as he spent his afternoon and evening with his favorite people.

Birthday buddies - Teddy & Collin got to celebrate their birthdays together last week.

We invited family, neighbors and friends, and so many of them made an appearance (whether that was for Teddy or the pulled pork is debatable). I snuck him away for a quick visit for his sitter's graduation party, and he was overwhelmed when we returned home because so many of his favorites were here that he couldn't decide who to play with first! 

We're so blessed to have Teddy as our son and blessed beyond measure to have the community that surrounds and loves on him!