Luca's Second Birthday!

In celebration of Luca's birthday, I decided to post a journal entry/letter to Luca that I wrote just after his birth.  

"I  suppose I will just start from the beginning. We found out we were pregnant with you one day in April and we were so excited. I wrapped up a t-shirt that said "Daddy is My Hero" on it and gave it to Daddy. That is how I told him you were coming. He was so excited, jumping up and down all over the room, if you can imagine that!  I loved being pregnant with you. Feeling you move inside of me gave me such comfort. I loved getting acquainted with you while you were still in my womb. I remember you teasing Daddy...I would say to him "Babe, he's kicking!", and he would put his hand on my belly and you would immediately stop moving. Then, one day, Daddy kissed my belly and you punched him right in the lips! You were are playful then as you are now! Labor was long. I won't go into the details because it is all in the Labor Summary from Dena, our doula. I will say that there were moments that I did not think I was going to make it. You were so high and I was dilating so slowly. I had made up my mind that I did not want any augmentation of pain medication for so many reasons. Daddy was my hero during labor. He stood strong and encouraged me. He was right there with me every step of the way without weakening. I am going to try to explain how I felt when I first held you in my arms. I say "try" because it is difficult to put into words all that I felt in my heart. I was holding my son, finally meeting you and exploring your face. You had beautiful, big, dark eyes, and you looked so much like your Daddy. You still do! You had big hands, like my Grandpa Karam, beautiful olive skin and lots of dark hair. You were 8 pounds and 11 ounces, and 21 inches long. Your head was perfectly round…oh, you were so adorably handsome and worth every minute of labor. It was the most incredible feeling and I was so thankful to the Lord, my God for blessing us and entrusting us with you."

We had a small cake and ice cream party for Luca tonight. It was like a whirlwind with the kids there! Most were not of an age where you could plan any activities, so it was just jumping and running around and loud play!  Below are some photos. He loves to have friends come over to play. After opening each gift, he gave hugs and said his thank you's. He is starting to talk more and more, repeating words...time to start censoring and spelling!

Olivia and Luca

Michael

In this photo: Olivia, Luca and Isabella. Isabella made Luca his own special cookie with his name on it!

Luca actually blew out his own candles! So cute. 

 

He enjoyed every taste of icing!

Hailey and Nora with the birthday boy!

In this photo: Luca, Isabella, Olivia, Michael Gowans and Michael Stipp. There were a few other children there, but we couldn't get them to pose for the camera.