January 19, 1996 was one of the most exciting, emotional days of our married life. Nathan was born in the late evening at Zeeland Hospital. The day was much like today, very snowy and bitterly cold with some peeks of sunshine. Every year that goes by feels more like a week or even a day. This is Nathan's last year of NOT being a teenager; (that is until he turns 20). This may sound a little much but it is how my brain thinks of things much of the time. It seems like maybe 5 years ago he was devouring an 8 oz. bottle of formula on his first day home from the hospital-now he has moved on to triple pbj's, full (giant) bowls of popcorn and 3 pieces of cheesecake at a time. His shoes are big on me now, he can (almost) beat me in a footrace and I can stand looking straight ahead to talk with him. He has used his early childhood skills of banging on my pots and pans with spoons singing "Geezus yuvs me iss I Know", to become a nicely progressing level 3 piano player. He has honed his engineering and construction skills that we saw at the age of 2 and uses them in a variety of venues from Lego Robotics (and any building toy ever made) to his wooded fortress including intricately built bridges, fences, catapults, igloos and luge runs for sleds. His character continues to develop and brings joy to all who know him.
He had a friend over to sled behind the tractor for his birthday. He chose DQ ice cream cake over dirt cake this year! (I think Doug helped him make the decision). Here he is eating just like the sweet boy I remember from 12 years ago...
