My favorite four-year-old!

Happy birthday, Porter!

We had a little party on Saturday with some of his preschool friends; he got a Lite-Brite (luckyyyy), some Wubbzy DVDs and a couple of squirt guns. We'll have his family party tonight and I'm totally wrapping his gifts even though he already knows what he's getting. Because he was with me when I bought them, and because he's been sneaking into our closet about once a week to visit them.

Porter's birth predates this blog so I don't think I've ever written about his birth story (except for in my scrapbooks, of course). First of all, Porter was by far my kickiest baby, which I swear was a sign of things to come, and I had never been so gassy in my life. He was my earliest baby - he was due on May 14th but came along on April 27th, which would have been fine except that I was totally unprepared. (This seems to be a running theme with me.) I hadn't even gone into the nesting stage, and I hadn't even bought his infant seat - one of my funniest memories is standing in the parking lot of Burlington Coat Factory, in the rain, installing the baby seat while Matt held an umbrella over me, just before we went to the hospital. He was also my longest labor - I arrived for the induction around 3 p.m. on a Tuesday and he was born at 5:27 on Wednesday morning. Some of my other vivid memories include watching both 'Scrubs' and 'NCIS' while I was in labor, and also being starving. Because I was rushing around like a crazy person the day before, I hadn't eaten anything before I was induced, so I ended up going almost 24 hours on nothing but ice chips and a Popsicle. That's hard for anyone, let alone a pregnant woman. So, one of the first things I did when I got up to recovery was order a breakfast tray and eat every scrap of it.

Porter was by far the easiest to deliver - three pushes and he was out - and he was also the smallest of my babies. Being 2 1/2 weeks early, I was worried that he'd be tiny and fragile, but he weighed in at a pretty respectable 7 lbs, 5oz. He didn't cry too much in the delivery room and he was a great nurser - he latched right on and suckled for about an hour first thing after he was born. Porter was a good baby - he slept through the night at 2 months (I'm looking at you, Amy Louise) and he was always happy and fun to be around. And so gorgeous, with the blue eyes, light-blond hair and the fattest.cheeks.ever.

(I did get really depressed after he was born, but that's a whole 'nother story.)

Raising Porter has been a really interesting four years, as he is far from mellow (I think I've mentioned that a time or two before on this blog). However, he does have some traits that I really love like his musical ability (the kid is a great singer), his vivid and silly imagination, and his ability to love. Porter is so sweet and kind to his baby sister (the Earth actually revolves around the sun, but don't tell my son that) and he loves to come in our bed in the morning for an early-morning snuggle.