Today is September 17th, 114 days after that terrifying morning when our two oh-so-tiny little men were born.  Today is the 2nd anniversary of Dexter’s homecoming, the day when we brought Dexter home from the hospital, and gave up any last vestiges of sleep or sanity, became *real* parents of twins, and settled in for the long haul.  He was still struggling to eat, and on oxygen, but he was oh so beautiful.  He loved swinging, and watching people as they went about their day.  He loved listening to music, and having something to chew on.

You have to remember, this little kid started at 1lb 13.7 oz.

In case that doesn’t strike you as small, bear in mind that you probably gained more weight than that during your last Thanksgiving dinner.  And if it was Marilyn’s incredible cooking, you probably gained more than Nicholas’ weighed at birth (3lb).

He spent the first three months of his life on a ventilator, and the next 4 months on Oxygen.  He had heart surgery.  Three godawful infections.  Oh, but he was a fighter, thank God.  When the infections cleared, and the edema faded, he looked beautiful.  And while he was still on oxygen, he could go for stretches without the Oxygen, and we could finally see our boy.

Okay, that kid’s cute.  Don’t even try to argue.  He’s cute.  He’s our Dexter.  And on this very day, two years ago, we BROUGHT HIM HOME!!!

You have NO IDEA how good seeing that sign felt.

All packed up and ready to go.  And his Mommy loved him SO MUCH that she even let him bring his pet Husky, Harold, home with us.  Harold had the unenviable job of holding Dexter’s binkey in place, and if the binkey slipped out, he occasionally had to substitute his nose in its stead.

Over the next year he tried to kill us through psychological torture, sleep deprivation, and inundation with refluxed formula, but we persisted.  By the first anniversary, this is what our little DexSTAR looked like:

And now he’s another year older.  He’s a BIG kid now.  Yesterday he started school.  Today he’s taking his first airplane ride.  Tomorrow he’ll probably take a golf cart for a spin, jump off a deck, play with power tools, and scare his mother to death.  Sounds fitting, right?  We’re trying hard to make sure the boys know how special they are, and just how very thankful we are for them, and how much we respect just how hard and tenaciously they fought for their lives.  They earned our respect early, and God how we wish they hadn’t had to, but they did, and they did it, and thank God.

This year the celebration gets a tiny bit muddled.  We’re flying to Michigan today to visit with my family, and show the boys off to some of their distant fans.  We’ll be there for 8 days, returning home on the 25th.  So we’ve been telling Dexter for months that for his Homecoming, we’re taking him back to Michigan, letting him fly on a jet airplane, and probably giving him lots of junk food!  It’s not *quite* what we had in mind for homecoming celebrations, but we think he’ll love the experience.  Maybe a little too much.  I’m a little worried about his Roars on the airplane, but Dex can surprise you.  Here’s a sample of just how worried we are:

Those are all the new toys and gadgets we bought for the boys to keep them entertained on the airplane.  New matchbox cars, helicopter lights, new Thomas and Clifford books, stickers, Color Magic markers, weird squishy things, flash cards, magic tablets, pencil boxes, glitter sticks, Jacob’s ladders, silly putty, some odd goop, and Zaidee sent them backpacks (which came in handy today for school), whirling light toys, post it notes, more color-magic pads, and Kaleidescopes.  Yes, we’re terrified.  It’s all wrapped up (thank you, Malin) and in their very own carry on bags, so we can open them one at a time during the flight.  We’ve also been practicing with our headphones so they can pursue their favored passive entertainment as well with our portable DVD player:

Dex didn’t quite get the hang of the headphones, but this is why we practice

So I hope Dexter feels like he gets an exciting day.  He’ll sit with Daddy on the airplane for the first bit, and we’ll spend lots of time playing with his new toys, and reading his new books, and when he grinds Daddy into dust, Dad will tag Malin, and then go and hide in the bathroom.  He gets to eat peanut butter pretzels, and marshamallows, and bilar (candy cars from Sweden), and Jelly-bellies, and all sorts of bad-for-him food to keep his ears popping during takeoff and landing.  And he’ll spend the next 8 days getting loved to death.  Sound just about right?

Here’s looking at you, Dexter.

Each day we’re learning more about you.  You have an incredible heart, always helping your brother when he hurts.  Yesterday at school, we were supposed to practice sharing, each child holding the toy for one verse of the song.  When the toy was handed to Dexter, he immediately turned and handed it over to Nic (“no no, Dexter, don’t share just yet!”)  He’s hilarious, and enthusiastic, and irrepressible.  Just look at this kid, how could two parents be any more proud?

Happy homecoming, kiddo.  Go ahead and pick with both fingers, just for today.