My 2nd Birthday- By Jimmie Gravitt

Hi Everybody,

I had the best birthday party the other day! I'm 2 years old. That's big...

I was so happy when I got to Grandpa and Grandma Gravitt's and saw everybody there to help me celebrate.

I looked around and saw my cousins Cole & Micky!

My Grandpa & Grandma Gravitt.

My Auntie Amber, GG Paula and Pa!

I saw my Ma!!

And of course my momma and daddy were there too.

As soon as I got down I made a beeline for the laundry room. I love the buttons on the washer and dryer. I love to watch them spin. But I'm not supposed to touch those buttons...

So I got scolded... That made me sad.

I got over it quickly though. There were other things to do. Presents to open.

Wow! I'm so big now I got my own computer!

Momma's probably hoping this will stop me from messing with her laptop.

This is pretty cool, but momma's hopes better not be up about that.

I needed help getting some of my new toys out of their packages. I told momma, "open" with my hands.

This new train . . .

. . . is totally cool!!

Sometimes you just need a break from unwrapping. I chose to recharge by riding my horse I got for Christmas.

I rode so fast the camera could hardly catch me for a picture.

Everybody cheered for me!

I wore that horse plumb out. So while the horse had a nap- I opened more presents.

I love books! So does my cousin Cole.

I made sure he knew this ladybug book was mine too.

After the books I opened a barn full of farm animals!!

And then colors and a coloring book.

Grandma helped me color. . .

I decided to taste the pretty yellow crayon.

It wasn't very yummy.

Then I went back to my horse to work on him with a tool Grandpa used to put him together at Christmas. I love tools and working on stuff.

Speaking of tools I got a hammer and something to pound!

I am wild when I hammer. My cousin Cole almost got hammered cause he was too close to the construction zone.

After the hammer fun I opened . . .

A whole tool set!!

I even have my own safety goggles.

These will keep my baby blues safe while I'm sawing and drilling and stuff.

Everybody made a big deal about how cute I looked and I got a little shy.

After that I surveyed my loot. I got so much stuff there is not time for me to tell you about all of it. But lets just say- I heard momma say she was putting up all of my toys at home to make room for my new ones. Don't worry- she rotates my toys so I'll see my old ones again soon. Momma is smart like that.

The presents kept coming! You guys will not believe what I got next!

A John Deere Tractor of my very own!

It has a pedal that makes it go.

And a steering wheel.

And shovels on the front and the back that I can control with levers.

Man I'm big!!!

I even took my cousin Micky for a ride.

She may have been nervous.

I told her not to worry. I'm a good driver.

Micky also liked riding my horse.

I was worried about her being up there by herself so GG Paula helped me up with her.

Yee haw!!!

Riding double was fun!

My daddy and I showed off our matching tractor t-shirts.

My momma put fire in front of me.

Which I thought was a bit foolhardy.

Then I was supposed to blow out the fire after everybody sang.

But I couldn't make a big enough breeze. Ma helped.

I was so grateful about that I fed her cake.

I think she liked it!

I sure did!

All in all that was a pretty awesome birthday party.

Life is good!

Love,

Jimmie Jim Jim

P.S. Make sure you read my 24 month birthday letter!

Dear Jimmie- Happy 24 Month Birthday!

Dear Jimmie,

Happy 24 Month Birthday!!

This you right after you were born.

And this is you today!

Look at how you have grown next to your Rottweiler Puppy!

Look at how you've grown in your father's hands!

Here is your special "Watch Me Grow Montage"!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

You did not gain any weight this month. You are 18 lb 13 oz. Your mommy has figured that you are consistently gaining 1 pound every 2 months. Last month you gained a whole pound in only 1 month, but then this month. Nothing... So you stayed on the 1 lb every two months track.

You are 32 1/2 inches tall!

Your head is 18 & 1/2 inches around!

You have 125 followers on your blog Jimmie!

Your "Faithfulness" Video Montage has been viewed 15,288 times. That's 391 times this month!

Your "Jimmie's Wonderful World" Montage has been viewed 1016 times. And your "High Places" Video Montage has been viewed 752 times!

Your blog has been viewed 2,877 times this month for a total of 123,378 hits! You have a lot of very cool people who love to check on your progress Jimmie.

You were evaluated by a physical therapist this week Jimmie. Your momma wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything major with your legs and feet that need therapy. Your ankles roll inward so your momma is working on getting some special insoles for your shoes. Other than that everything looks great!

You are working on cutting your 2 year old molars this month. You have felt pretty rough at times and this has caused your eating to be very "up and down". We will all be very happy when you are done cutting teeth!

Vast improvements have been made with your sleeping issues this month. Your momma found this book:

She has been doing everything recommended and for the last week or so you have been sleeping in your crib in your own room 11 hours a night. You are still early in your "sleep training" so things are not totally settled , but compared to the excessive puking and crying for hours on end things are AMAZINGLY better! If your day is too full then your nights are unsettled with multiple wakings, but you are able to self soothe and go back to sleep with no trauma.

You are still struggling with speech, although your language development is going well with signing. You have about 33 signs and you are putting them together. You have become a little more verbal this month and you seem more ready to copy sounds. Your speech team has decided to go with speech therapy 2 times a week soon. They will be operating like you have Apraxia. You are coming up on a season of hard work with speech. I know you will overcome!!!

One of your favorite things to do lately is work on cars like your daddy and your Grandpa Gravitt. You are so smart Jimmie!!

You are enjoying using your fingers to work little things. This shows good development of your fine motor skills.

Your mommy and daddy are working on being very consistent with discipline. You understand pretty much everything they ask of you. You do a pretty good job of picking up your toys!

We had a very fun little birthday celebration for you Jimmie.

I'm going to save that for a different blog and let you write a blog about it. (-:

Jimmie I started this blog as a way to keep family and friends informed about the situation with your momma while she was still pregnant with you. It turned into an outlet for me. It was therapeutic to write and a comfort to know people were reading and praying. Then after you were born this blog evolved into your story. And again it was a comfort to know many dear ones were lifting you up in prayer. After you came home from the NICU I considered quitting, but I couldn't stop. So many people love you and enjoy reading about your progress, but more than that I love writing about you.

While you were still in your momma's tummy we made plans and dreamed about after you were born. We planned for you stay at my house with Cole and McKenna as much as once a week while your mom was teaching. I was so excited to bond with you like that. For you to be very close with your cousins. After your birth I knew that was not going to happen... And although giving up all of our plans and dreams of "normalcy" has hurt, the joy of witnessing you live and the miracles surrounding you have filled me with joy!

I don't get to see you very often Jimmie. During "cold and flu" season I see you "maybe" once a month. Writing this blog helps fill that hole in my heart made by your physical absence in our lives.

Most of all though- I am writing this blog for you. You have endured a lot of pain and trauma in your young life. The day you were born was supposed to be the most exciting and glorious days of your momma and daddy's life. This is what I wrote 2 years ago about that day:

"Now as to how Rachael is doing? I believe this will answer how Justin and the rest of us are doing as well. It is really hard for me to communicate but I’ll try and hopefully it’ll be close to the truth/reality. She is absolutely devastated and grateful. Yesterday was one of the worst and best days of her life. We were all hoping and believing for so much more time for baby Jimmie and it all happened so fast I think there is some shock. She is scared and hopeful. Most of all just completely overwhelmed beyond words. Many many tears . . . We don’t understand why this has happened to them. After what happened with their firstborn the pain is really intense about again not having the birth experience for your child that you hoped, prayed and dreamed for. We trust God though. We trust him to be with us in our pain and our joy. We are so grateful that she had the month that she did. We realize this could have happened 4 even 2 weeks ago and he wouldn’t have had the fighting chance that he has. And for that we praise God for helping her get this far. "

Now Jimmie when you have a birthday we are all so joyous we are almost giddy. Your Ma says she feels like a kid on Christmas morning when it's time to celebrate your birthday.

I hope that some day Jimmie you will read this blog and that you will know how much you are loved. That is what I want you to know most of all. Through all of your "ups and downs", through all of your momma and daddy's up's and downs", through all of the things that happened to you that were out of our control. Through every situation where "hindsight was 20/20" you were loved! You are loved. For love is the power that overcomes any tragedy.

I will love you forever,

Auntie Amber