19 years ago today!

 Nineteen years ago today, this little chubster came into the world with a bang.   Born eight days late, early in the morning on the day he was scheduled to be induced, he made sure none of us overlooked this 4th child.   My pregnancy with him had been one of my easiest, but his birth proved to be the most complicated.

  

At some point during labor his heart rate started dropping, thick meconium was present when my waters broke,  and the doctors realized the cord was wrapped around his neck. Everything after that was a whirlwind and though ultimately he was born without a c-section, his APGAR score when he was born was only a 2.  He was rushed to the NICU as soon as he was born and stayed there for a week.     At nearly 9 pounds, he was by far the giant of the NICU, but definitely still had his fair share of issues.  He was on oxygen and had tubes and wires coming out of his head and arms.  It was a very mentally and physically exhausting time for all of us, which didn't end when he came home.   Ultimately he was readmitted to the hospital a few weeks later for lingering issues and a few weeks after that I developed mastitis, which was pretty much horrible too.  

He was by far our hardest baby and toddler, which we attribute to all the poking and prodding he got during his first and fifth weeks of life.   We really just felt like he needed a little extra reassurance that all was right with the world and as such needed to be snuggled and held pretty much all the time. We remarked many times that we were glad that he was our 4th child and not our 1st, or we may not have ever gotten to Ellie.   

With the rough start though....he had a smile that could light up the world and honestly it was that smile that got us through those exhausting first months of his life.   

 

Somewhere along the way, the crying stopped and he turned into a happy, well-adjusted kid.   We are thrilled to celebrate another trip around the sun with him and in honor of his 19th birthday, here are 19 things you may or may not know about him....

1. he was born 8 days late on the morning I was scheduled to be induced

2. he was almost 9 pounds when he was born

3. he had the most difficult birth of all my kids and spent 2 weeks in the NICU 

4. he was by far my hardest baby and toddler

5.  he cried A LOT and needed to be held pretty much 24/7

6.  his first word was, "uh oh" and it was usually followed by throwing something across the room

7.  we called him our "baby scientist" because he was always trying to figure out how things worked or how big a crash they'd make

8.  he one time broke his foot after getting it run over by a full shopping cart at Costco

9.  that foot is still half-size smaller than the other foot

10.  he is the king of board games and usually beats us

11. he will race ahead on family hikes when he's feeling irritated about something

12.  At almost 6'2", he's the tallest Goold by a few inches

13. he'd rather do 1000 math problems than have to write a paper

14.he's the best traveled of all the Goold kids (and recently passed up Glen too) -- 25 countries and counting

15. he's got a fun sense of humor and has never outgrown his love of a good "what if" question

16. most of the way through high school he did ~ 200 push-ups a day

17.  he's a master cookie baker and even makes me delicious gluten free versions of my favorites

18. he loves nature and is somewhat of a bird identifying expert (though he's not as familiar with western species yet)

19.  he has great friends--young and old -- and we are grateful for the light and joy he brings to our family!