That Boy- Evan

Look at that face! Evan is the sweetest boy. He shares in everyone's emotions, if I am crying he will come up and give me a hug and sometimes cry with me. Which makes me cry even more. He will go up to a smaller child or a friend if they are upset and give them a pat on the back or give them a hug. He has started giving some kids kisses. Last week he gave one of our baseball friends a kiss. Now mind you a kiss from Evan is bound to be wet, slobbery and open mouthed.

Evan was my 10.9 lb baby and he was my most painful and eventful labor. The nurse probably never left my room. I was dilating really fast, Evan had mecconium staining so they were watching that as well. Plus, my epidural did not full work it really only took the edge off of the pain. Anyway, he came out and was reddish blue if that even makes sense but did fine and 2 days later we took home this baby not know what life had in store for us with him.

I remember that once Evan hit 4 weeks he seemed to start getting sick. First he had a bad cold and was breathing weird to me and I take him into the Dr. and he ends up having an ear infection. I was giving him breathing treatments and it seemed from November - the end of January we were in the pediatricians office every week. Finally, at the end of January they gave him Prednisone and that just seemed to be the fix that he needed to kick his illnesses. So after than life went on.
Evan was diagnosed with a brain malformation and cerebral palsy at about 10 months old, and we then got into all of the therapies, dr. appts etc. Evan did so well and had a great team.

Evan is now 5 1/2 and he is such an awesome kid. Evan is basically non verbal in that he does not have a functional speech, but he has about 10-12 words that he says off and on. He is smart and very aware of his environment. He loves other kids and other people. He has the greatest smile and laugh. He loves his brother and sister and like every little brother he is into all of their stuff and sometimes hurts his big brother because he is wrestling with him or throwing stuff at him.

Even though Evan has challenges and is often times a challenge himself, I would not change him for th world. He is such a blessing to us and has taught us so much how to not take the simple things for granted. Often times the stresses that come with raising a special needs child are from the red tape and all of the other problems that we encounter getting everything the child needs and not from the child itself. It is that way for Evan. Sometimes when I am having a bad day, I just get a hug and a smile from my sweet boy and I feel better for a while. I can't wait to see what the future holds for Evan. As long as he is happy and healthy that is good enough for me.