Happy Birthday to our Terrific Two Year Old!

Family portrait with the birthday boy and his birthday sign!

Benton's second birthday was a time of joy and blessings for the Bertram family.  Both sides of the family had converged on DC to celebrate this special milestone for a very special little boy.  Having both sets of grandparents in town as well as close friends come together for Benton's birthday meant a lot to us.  We made cupcakes, opened presents and went for a phenomenal trip to the local park.  All in all the perfect day!

Benton's little sister makes her debut at the birthday party!

Singing Happy Birthday!

Birthday Family Portrait

Birthday boy with Auntie Breton and Mama

Opening presents :)

Papa helping Benton open his presents

This year, Benton actually tried the cupcake and the frosting which was a first!  Every day he is trying more and more tastes of food and stepping out of his comfort zone.  What a little rockstar.  We are so blessed that we were able to celebrate another wonderful birthday with this little miracle who is the light of our lives :)

Enjoying his cupcake!

Birthday Dinner / Early Thanksgiving with the Family

Pictures of our fun adventure at Lincoln Park over Benton's birthday weekend :)

Walking in the park with Tutu and Grandpappy

Playing in the leaves!

Beautiful moment with Grandpappy

Family moments at the park

Three generations

Giving Thanks on World Prematurity Day

Today is world prematurity day so I wanted to take a moment to reflect on life’s blessings.  This morning I re-read my blog post from last year and all I can say is “Wow”.  Wow - Benton has come so far to meet many of the milestones I yearned for last year.  Wow - Time truly does begin to heal all wounds, as my memories of the NICU have slowly begun to fade and today’s precious moments take their place.  Wow - Sometimes I can’t believe how truly blessed and lucky we are to have Benton in our lives today.

I write this post crying.  Crying because I am so utterly grateful to have my sweet, sweet boy in my life.  It has been over two years since Benton was born and looking at my son now you could almost forget his traumatic start to life.  Reading some of my previous posts put this in jarring perspective - God, we are so lucky to have him here today healthy and thriving.  Today, Benton is walking, he’s eating purees like a champ, he’s started to drink from a sippy cup, and he is fully oxygen free (even at night!!).  It’s incredible how much difference each year truly makes.  Compare this to many sleepless nights calling the NICU desperate for my son to be doing better than my last call; when doctors were telling us there was no hope for our son; and days upon days, weeks upon weeks, months upon months in the hospital.  God does provide miracles.  Benton is living proof.

Walking in the Park

So today, on World Prematurity Day, remember that miracles do happen.  That love and modern medicine combined can save babies born far too early.  I can’t thank Benton’s doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists enough for everything they did for my son.  So today I give thanks.  Thanks big and small to everyone who has supported us these past two years.  Without your love and support we would not be where we are today.

Family Portrait

Benton is Walking!!!!!!!!

On October 5th, Benton defied all odds and took his first independent steps.  Since then he has been getting better and better - taking up to twenty steps at a time and walking all over the basement. 

Walking to Mama

Walking with Tutu and Abuelita

Seeing Benton take his first steps was magical and awe-inspiring.  Not only had the doctors told us Benton may never walk during his terrifying moments in the NICU, but seeing your son struggle to learn this skill makes you appreciate it so much more.  Benton's first steps at home and at therapy:

Benton has been crawling since January and while most kids crawl for approximately 3-4 months before walking, Benton crawled for 9 solid months.  While Benton had been cruising for ages, his balance was very tenuous and he needed orthotics so his ankles wouldn’t buckle when he stood.  But all of that work, all of the physical therapy and daily exercises, has been worth it - Benton is walking independently!!!!!!!!

Benton’s first steps brought many of us to tears, including his therapists, as this was a tremendous moment in his life.  Now Benton can go wherever he pleases and boy does he love the independence.  God is so good.  He has blessed our beautiful son with mobility and we are forever grateful. 

This blog post is dedicated to Benton’s new skill and we wanted to show off a bunch of photos and videos of him walking. 

This is the a video of Benton using his walker before he started walking independently.  This walker helped give Benton the confidence he needed to start walking all on his own :)