It seems like only yesterday that we were waiting 9 long months for him to arrive.  It seems like only yesterday that we were preparing the nursery, reading baby books, picking out names, and selecting his first toys.  There was the baby shower, the ultra sound, and all of the walking when the due date had past.  We waited a whole extra week before the scheduled induction.  Then there was the long anxious drive to the hospital that was filled with excitement and nervousness.  We thought he’d arrive soon after the meds were administered, but no there was another 30 hours or so of waiting.  And then in what we thought was a sleep deprived daze there was the emergency c-section.  The hospital gown, the doctors, the added element of risks associated with this major surgery.  And then finally the sounds of a baby coming into the world with vocal chords fully intact.  The wonder of how someone could be so small, so helpless, and the worry that we wouldn’t know how to take care of him.  It seems like only yesterday that after a week in the hospital that we finally got to leave and introduce him to his puppies and kitty and the place he’d call home.  Then there was the real sleep deprived daze that became common place when he wouldn’t seem to sleep more than 45 minutes at a time. The first bedtime stories, the proud feelings we had when he would roll over for the first time, learn to crawl and soon after take his first wobbly steps.  The competition between us as we tried to teach him to say “ma-ma” and “da-da.”  The funny little things that only parents and grand parents can really appreciate.  It seems like only yesterday that he learned his colors and worked on shapes and road his first bike.  A whole series of firsts, and lessons learned by him and by us.  A bond formed and a family created.  It’s the fact that all this and more only seems like it happened yesterday that it’s so hard to believe that our oldest son is now 3.  And has graduated from noisy baby toys to matchbox cars and now to an infatuation with super heros.  And maybe the hardest part to swallow is that we both know that soon this too will seem like it was only…yesterday.  Happy Birthday Koeplin  – Derrick