Zechariah Turns the Big 1 !

Our Little Zechariah turned 1 years old March 4th. He is our "miracle" baby as someone calls him.

When I was pregnant with him, at 11 wks., my dr. informed me that there was something wrong with my baby. Read here for my thoughts and feelings on this. At 15 weeks, it was determined our baby had Down Syndrome because of having strong markers pointing to it.

AJ and I embraced in the fact that our God had blessed us with a "special" child. We were humbled that our Lord would find us worthy of raising a child with Down's. We looked forward to meeting our blessing, and that we did, on March 4, 2009.

Early in the morning, as I went to the hospital to be prepared for my c-section, I remember the excitement of knowing I was going to hold my wee one. I prayed for his/her safety. I prayed for strength to endure any difficulties or problems that may occur in the delivery. My doctor had informed me that he had scheduled for NICU to be there to assist with the baby.

As I was being worked up by the nurse, she mentioned the Down's, and then apologized for bringing it up. Oh, to the contrary! I explained to her how excited we were and knew God placed this little one in my womb perfectly, to His liking.

As I laid in the operating room, with AJ and Mrs. Pat (who is very special to me and who has been there for the births of my last 3 children), I felt an incredible peace. The atmosphere was a joyous one, besides my almost fainting and vomiting...

At 7:23am, I witnessed, by a mirror, the dr. pulling out the baby - a boy! I saw before he told us. The next words to come out of his mouth, "He looks healthy. I don't believe he has Down's."
After a brief glimpse they whisked him away to a separate room check him out.

Down's or not, it didn't matter. My heart was thrilled to see my newest blessing...Zechariah David.Zechariah, meaning "God has remembered", and David ( "Beloved")...named after the great man in the Bible who loved God with all his heart.

1 day old:

3 days old:





6 weeks:At 7 weeks, our Zechariah had a little fever. After a visit with the dr., he admitted him into the hospital to be monitored over night. After 2 weeks of ups and many downs we were discharged.

It was a rough 6 months dealing with his pertusis, but Zechariah proved to be of strong character.

4 months:

6 months:

Our chubbiest baby!

He continue to grows in personality each day. Calm and easy going. He first sat up at 61/2 months, began crawling at 10 months. He doesn't have a "normal" crawl, he kind of scoots on his bottom while pushing off with his leg.

9 months:

Zechariah prefers small quarters while sleeping. He prefers to sleep in a closet than in a room. When we go to a hotel, we place a blanket on the floor of the closet, shut the door, and he is happy. Just last week he left our closet to sleep in his crib for the first time. He is adjusting ok, but was quite content when he took a nap in the closet this afternoon! :)

He loves his diaper changed. From the time he was a week old, if he was crying, I learned when I acted like I was changing him he would stop crying. Now, he kicks with excitement when we change him. Cute it is, but a challenge!

Favorite food...dog food. Anything else...he could leave it. He never would eat baby food ( don't blame him), likes graham crackers ok, and bananas sometimes, but other than that, he is not that interested(Since I began this post...over a week ago...he has explored with oatmeal, beans, and potatoes, actually taken more than 2 bites!).

He is fought over by his siblings on who gets to take care of him. I encourage them not to quarrel over him and try to remember whose turn it is to help out.

Zechariah used to hate bath time until he could splash and get me all wet. Now, he has a ball!

To celebrate his 1st birthday, AJ prayed for our son and his life to come...

and we gave him his very first banana ( we don't do cake until the age of 2.)......

He likes our animals and I can often find him next to the rat cage "talking" to them. When outside, he loves the dogs. You think we should get him a goat?

Favorite toy is a pencil ( not sharpened) or pen, and paper.

It is hard to vacuum with him around as he loves to chase it!

Nicknames...Zecharoni (thanks Elijah A.!) and Cracker Zech.

Zechariah can be very serious, likes to observe his surroundings, and has a cute giggle and laugh. He truly is a blessing!!!

My sweet Zechariah, from the time I learned of you in my womb I have loved you greatly. I take pleasure in calling you my son. I pray you will have a love for our God we serve and be a servant unto him. I look forward to watching the milestones you will make this next year and enjoying them moment by moment. Mommy loves you, Zecharoni!!!