Letters To John Paul

Dear John Paul,

Wow!  Where do I start?  At present you are two days away from celebrating your 13 month birthday.   A lot has happened in the month since your big 1 year milestone.  You had a lot of "firsts" actually...you attended your first Mass...celebrated right in our dining room...also, your first Christmas at home...which was absolutely wonderful...your first taste of a candy cane...on December 22nd you also had your first pneumonia diagnosis which was scary for mommy and daddy but luckily, it was quickly downgraded to tracheitis which is a lot easier to treat for kids with SMA.   You did have to spend a couple of days at the hospital after Christmas when you started bleeding a lot from your trach because of your infection, but we got a better medicine and you were able to come home fast.  You also celebrated your first Kilner Christmas at the Heights (daddy's alma mater) and got to meet a whole lot of your family that you hadn't gotten to meet yet...and everyone loved meeting you and couldn't get over how big you've gotten...already wearing 24 month clothes!

I just want to say thank you, John Paul, for the great joy you bring to our family.  My favorite thing in the world is watching your siblings love you in different ways...Ben brushing your hair, Madie kissing on your toes or playing Play-Doh with you, Joe singing Christmas carols to you, Liam reading you stories and just sitting and talking with you...all of them playing games with you on the iPad...

I savor every moment.

I love you so,
Mom