Five Years Old

It is so hard to believe that Cade is five. Five sounds so old to me... no longer a baby, no longer a toddler, and growing way too fast. (the pic below was taken while my horns were winning the national championship, just to refresh everyone's memory)

I always get sappy on Cade's birthdays and I like to look back at all his old pictures and marvel at the many obstacles he has overcome. I remember sitting by Cade's bed in the NICU and PICU and wishing we were far away from that place and time. I couldn't wait for all the hospital stays, sicknesses, surgeries, medical devices and doctor visits to be a distant memory. I remember telling my mother that I wish he were five. Then I would know what he would be like and we would be done with all this hospital crap. My mother advised me to not wish his life away and to enjoy every minute with him that I could.

Well now at five years old we still aren't done with the hospital crap and I don't think we will ever be too far from specialists and surgical tweaking. But I do have a pretty good idea of what my little guy is like. He is a fighter, stronger than anyone I know, improving everyday, rowdy like no other, and the sweetest boy on the planet. I wish I could talk to the scared mother of the 5 day old Cade and let her know just how much she was going to love being his mom. When it came time to celebrate Cade's actual birthday, we didn't have to think too long. Cade's absolute favorite food is waffles. He knows the sign for waffles and asks for that about 400 times a day. We had a nice long dinner at IHOP with Cade's grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousin and a few friends.

We all love you so much Cade! We wish you a year full of continued progress and many, many more happy birthdays!