Passion vs. Survival . . . our daily life :): My Emmitt

Here is bio number 2.

I wanted to get one done each month.

Can't believe my babies turned 17 months old yesterday!

My Emmitt was kicked into the world on 11/11/09 at 9:26pm. You will have that ten minutes on your brother for your entire life . . . you'll always be the "older" twin, which I find rather funny. You weighed in at 4 pounds 15 ounces, only one ounce more.

You barely were noticed in my belly. Occasionally you would stretch or turn, but you never kicked. You were born without a push. The doctor was barely ready to catch you. I do believe that you would have calmly waited for your due date, but your little brother had different ideas.

I got my hands on you for only an instant. I gave you a quick kiss, but the concerned look on the nurses faces told me that it was time for you to go. We waited impatiently for a few hours, waiting for word on your condition.

We made a few phone calls to the nurses in the NICU, wanting updates . . . waiting. And finally, we were able to see you.

Your three older siblings were all handed to me, and were mine the instant they were born. You were hooked up to so many machines, that you didn't feel like mine at first. The nurses were responsible for you and I felt like an onlooker much of the time. It was hard not to be able to scoop you up and cuddle you, and just take you home.

You were Emmitt James to me the moment you were born. I hadn't convinced your father of it completely, and we didn't have your brother's name finalized, so it was a few days until we announced your name to the family.

I like using family names. I've always found boy names harder to pick, they need to be strong and simple in my opinion. Both of your names come from the middle names of your grandfathers. Emmitt is more unique and uncommon, so it went first.

You are named after two of the greatest men that have been part of my life. They are both kind and strong men, which I see those qualities in you already. My wish for you is live up to your name.

Your grandfather - Ronald Emit (I know, I changed the spelling)

Your grandfather - Richard James

I wasn't as concerned about you. You seemed strong and healthy from the beginning. Just in miniature form. I remember the first time we showed up at the NICU and you were moved to a normal bassinet. I was so relieved and happy. It was the first sign to me that things were going to be normal soon.

You were the better eater from the beginning. You pulled out your own feeding tube and the nurses didn't bother to put it back in, because you were doing fine on your own. By your one year check up, you outweighed your brother by over 3 pounds, which doesn't seem like much, but it's definitely a noticeable difference.

It was a hard balancing act your first 11 days of life. We bounced back and forth between home and the hospital. Wanting to stay with you, but feeling guilty leaving your older siblings at home. It was such a relief to bring you home, so we could all be together as one family. At the time, eleven days seemed like forever, but now, it is a brief memory.

Zoe got her hands on you first. She was so happy to finally get a hold of a baby. She was so disappointed that she wasn't able to visit you in the hospital. She is like a second mother to you. She is amazingly mature and another person you look to for direction.

When you are looking for trouble . . . and fun, you look Cameron's way. You have learned a lot from big brother. Not all good. You two have always had a special kind of bond. You don't mind his rough and careless nature, you give it right back. I have seen Cam tackle you and you get right up and tackle him, both of you giggling. I always remind Cam how much smaller you are, but I think that you really enjoy Cam's attention and all that goes along with it.

Audrey wasn't happy about the addition of twins. When we first told the kids, her response was "I will never get my own bedroom." I was surprised when we brought you home, she wouldn't touch you. She did eventually feed you.

You resemble Cameron a lot as a baby. Sometimes I look at you and see my little Cameron. You have a handsome look to you, as he did, while I consider Castiel to have a cute look. I know, a weird distinction, but I think a fair one.

You have always had a calmness to you. You sit back and watch everything. There isn't much you miss. When it's mealtime, you crawl to your highchair. When daddy leaves for work, you go to the top of the stairs to say goodbye, and then you crawl as fast as you can to the window and wave goodbye. When I run the water for your bath, you try climbing in even if you are still fully clothed. You have a quiet understanding of our home and your life already.

When you are mad, you get really mad. You are my only child to throw yourself into a complete tantrum. Your little legs keep kicking. This is a mild one. It shows how you have a hard time letting things go, maybe a little of Audrey in you. Even with many distractions, you continue. I find it adorable and humorous, you don't appreciate my lack of concern :)

Then you want to be loved and held, you tell me. You wrap you chubby little hands around my neck and lay your head on my shoulder. I love it. You are usually too busy to stop and be held, so when you let me, of course I love you right back. You are my big teddy bear.

You are also my explorer. I set you down and off you go, checking everything out. The first time I put you outside this summer, you made laps around the backyard, had to see everything, touch everything. I just had to stop you from trying to taste everything.

You are less confident with people. If someone picks you up that you don't know well, you get really stiff and stare them down.

In fact, you stare everyone down. We call you "Mr. Serious" because sometimes it's almost impossible to get you to crack a smile. So serious.

I have had people stop me and ask me if you are twins and Castiel always flashes a big smile and they feel compelled to try and get a smile out of you, complete strangers. They always walk away saying "He's serious isn't he".

You can be the biggest goofball, especially with your older siblings :) It usually involves you hitting yourself in the face. Then your make a face, half smile, big eyes, we know you are looking for laughs. You get them, lots of them, so you continue to hit yourself in the face :)

I taught you peek-a-boo, but instead of covering your face, you'd just close your eyes tightly and then pop you eyes open.

Without having much of a vocabulary yet, you still have so much to say. You are always talking, your eyes and facial expression tell most of the story.

You are already a tattle tail and have ruined some of your brother's "fun" by helping me catch him. Or I'll be in the kitchen, and you'll come get me to "show me", I follow you down the halfway and it's usually a picture in a book that you want to "discuss".

Once you have the words, my bet is, you'll be a talker, the kind that talks your ear off :)

You seem to master most things before your brother. Maybe it's that ten minutes you have on him. But he's never far behind. I hope that you let him stick with you most of the time. I hope that you always look out for each other and have each others backs.