here is the birthday boy. i love otho so much, and i can't believe he has been in our family for SIX years. we had only been married a little over a year when otho joined our family, but we felt very prompted to have children right away. i am so glad we listed to that prompting, because we have otho in our lives. i had no idea how wonderful having kids could be until we had them.
some of my favorite otho memories:
-after otho was born, we was taken immediately up to the icu. after an hour or so i was finally in a condition to go up and see my new baby. there was ken, with otho's hand wrapped around his finger while he washed otho up with a towel.
-when otho was six months my sister amber and i were shopping when she showed otho a yellow bouncy ball. he giggled so hard that everyone in the store laughed along with him. otho still laughs the same today, and his laugh is still as infectious.
-on otho's second halloween he had just turned one and had the curliest hair ever. that year we dressed him up as frodo, and ken was gandalf. otho was so cute, and really did look like a hobbit.
-when otho was young, probably around 18 months, we started venturing out and frequenting all of the wonderful museums phoenix has to offer. every week we would go to the zoo, the dinosaur museum, the science center, the library, and the park. otho always made these outings fun with his enthusiasm to learn about the world around him. even today he is interested in science and art and is always looking at the world with different eyes.
-otho had a speech delay when he was young, and after some testing, we decided to enroll him in getz, tempe school district's fabulous special education preschool. otho started at getz just after his third birthday. when he started there, he would only say two word phrases such as 'thank you.' i loved watching otho's speech grow as he attended getz. my favorite moments were after i picked him up, and he would tell me how his day was. at first, otho wouldn't say much, but by the end, he would ramble on the entire 15 minute drive home. i loved, and still love, hearing him tell me the recap of his day. for me, it's amazing to just hear him talk.
-the day after his third birthday, we decided to potty-train otho. it was our first attempt at trying to potty train - ever. thanks to otho who potty-trained in just one day. he rarely has had an accident since. that move from two diapers to one was such a nice gift (since we have never been diaperless since otho was born).
-at a very young age, we knew otho was adept at computers. he beat his first computer game before he was even two (a kid's dinosaur game). otho has mad computer skills, and loves to spend time with his daddy on the computer. these days, otho plays games with his daddy (such as warcraft and starcraft), and he is a viable teammate. they have gobs of fun spending time together on these games, and it is so fun to watch.
-about a year or so ago, otho really got into board games. my favorite was when we first played sorry with him. he was so good at the game, and laughed hard every time he 'sorried' us back to home. we love playing games with otho because he is such a good sport at them and makes the games so much fun.
-t-ball. hockey. kindergarten. our trip to sea world. otho taking care of the fish every morning. starting to read. taking his scriptures to church every week. teddy bears. legos. friendships. dedication to family. three-tiered peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. swimming. diving. driving around at grandma and grandpa j house. fishing with grandpa c. laughter.
there are so many more wonderful memories that i could sit and list them for hours. we are so happy to have otho in our lives, and thank heavenly father every day for having him in our family. we wouldn't have the same joy in our family without him.
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