A lot about Kyle

Because we have lived so far away since Kyle was born, a lot of you don't know Kyle like you know Claire. It's unfortunate, so I want to talk about him a little. I'll post on Claire later, so you don't have to read through this thinking, "what about Claire?"

To know Kyle you'd have to spend at least a week observing him. At first glance he seems very random. He goes with the flow. He doesn't seem to care what's going on around him, at least he's never bugged by what's happening; he's just is along for the ride. He spaces out here and there; he can play on his own for a long time; he's happy about 95% of the time. Once you get to know him though, you realize how cool all of these qualities are, and then you realize it's not random: it's Kyle. Taylor just got a taste of this after my last surgery. He had both the kids for a few days, and then just Kyle for a few more. I kept getting these texts from him, "Kyle is so cool." "This kid is awesome." "I'm so glad that I get to be with my boy." When you really spend time with him though, you find that his randomness is remarkably fine-tuned. He's just so broad in his behavior that you can't put it together without an attentive study. Here's what you'd notice if you had the chance:

Kyle thinks everything is funny. He even knows when things are ironic funny and says this funny, "haaaa-haaa." His laugh is awesome. It comes out in a loud burst, like he cannot help but laugh and can't hold it in any longer. I dance; he laughs. A toy car drives on his leg; he laughs. He throws his bottle and it spills; he laughs. I run; he laughs (okay, anyone would if they saw me).

Kyle loves his toy cars. Since he was tiny, like 5 months old, he's been able to do this funny motor sound. I don't know how he does it. He did it everywhere he crawled. Now his toy cars do it everywhere they go. He inspects their parts. He'll sit and spin the wheels, examine the windows, taste them, and vroom them all over the house and all over us. He announces most cars that we pass on the road. "Car. Car. Car. Car. Car." If there are no cars on the side of the road we hear, "Where Car?!?"

Kyle's equally number one love is for balls, specifically basketball ("ball-ball"). If he sees a basketball standard on the side of the road he announces it too. He likes to play any game that involves a ball.

He is SO sweet. Even when he was tiny he was so good and tried so hard to be good. He likes to cuddle. He likes to hold my hand. Last month I told him Claire was sick. He climbed up on the couch and gave her about 15 kisses. He blows kisses to everyone when we say goodbye. Big MMMMMWWWAAA! kisses for everyone.

Kyle is having a language explosion at the moment. I can't even keep up with the new words he uses daily. His latest sentence is, "I need a cracker!" Only it comes out in a yelling voice and all one word. He's a fast talker whenever it's more than one word.

Kyle loves his sister. If Claire does something, Kyle will try to do it too. Every time he comes down the stairs after his nap he yells, "Claire! Claire!" He'll even call to her to come to his room in the mornings---she doesn't get him out, she just gets in with him. He wears her necklaces and her shoes---anything to be more like her. All of his intonations in his speech come from her. You can't tell their "hi" apart if you are on the phone.

He's the best sleeping baby you will ever find. We struggled with him for maybe 3 weeks. After that he just would go to sleep when we laid him down. No fuss whatsoever. We joke that you could just throw him in and toss a pillow in and that's all he'd need. If he's not tired he just plays and talks until he is. We get up with him at night maybe once every six weeks. Other than that he sleeps from 8pm to 9:30 or 10am. It's awesome. He even naps from 1-3. Such a treat!

Kyle is special. He was sent to us at such a strange time. I originally planned to have my eye removed in March of 2007. We did it with the intent of wanting another baby, but not wanting to deal with pregnancy and what it did to my eye. When I showed up for the surgery I found out that I was pregnant. I was shocked. Let me just say we don't know where he came from. I had had a miscarriage a month or so before I found out I was pregnant with Kyle. Two weeks before the planned surgery I had a ultrasound to make sure everything passed from the pregnancy. Britten was there with me, she can attest to the fact that they said everything was great and there was no baby. I had an ultrasound two days after I found out I was pregnant with Kyle. He was 7 weeks old. He should have been there in the first ultrasound. And he was born 10 days early (according to that ultrasound) and was over 8 pounds. He was meant to be. He's our little miracle. My heart thrills every time I hold him. He has been such a joy and such a blessing during this difficult time in my life. I am so grateful for him and can't wait to see what he will accomplish in life. Because of the circumstances surrounding his birth, I know his purpose is great.