To De Wet...on your 21st Birthday

We were expecting you to arrive on February 14th...Valentines Day. Not because we planned it like that, just because that is the date  the doctor said you were due.

Valentines Day came and went with no sign of you..

Your dad and I were so excited, we could hardly stand it. We spent every night after he came home from work in your newly made-up  baby room, unpacking the tiny little pieces of clothing, marveling at the idea that they would soon be filled by our own little baby.We did not even know if you were a boy or a girl yet.

Then, on Sunday morning the 18th, the contractions began. We went to the hospital and waited...and waited.

That afternoon at 5pm they gave me an emergency cesarean. I awoke with the Dr's voice in my ears."Mrs. Laubscher, wake up, you have a lovely little baby boy!" And then I fell asleep again.

Woke up later again, looking into the proud face your your dad, who could not wait to tell me that you looked just like him...
He handed you to me and you were the cutest, cuddliest baby I have ever seen! I remember telling you that you could wake me a thousand times a night, I would not mind. ( a fact your dad , of course, had to remind me of in the middle of the night sometime later..grrrrr.)

Your dad and I were head over heals in love...with you. Some nights we would put you in bed with us and just stare and stare....
Grandma Ina came and we had tons of fun playing dress up with you. You wore your first pair of jeans and sneakers before you were two weeks old.

Everywhere we went you attracted attention because of your weird hair standing straight up like a porcupine's.We thought you were the prettiest baby ever born ....

Even back then you did not like going to bed early. I fell asleep many nights with my arm hanging down the side of the bed, rocking you in your little rocking chair on the floor next to the bed!
And I remember many nights, when we had to "go for a stroll"  around the block at 11pm pushing you in your stroller, hoping you would fall asleep.

You grew to be an even cuter toddler than you were a baby. You started talking...and we could never get you to shut up again!   :)

There are many funny moments , like the time you went with Grandma Ina to the hospital where she worked as an X Ray Tech. You were quietly playing with your toys in the waiting room, when the lady waiting there suddenly snorted really loudly. One of those snorts where you can hear the phlegm being sucked into the person's mouth or throat (Ick).

You looked up at the lady, and said :"Excuse me? Did you say something?"

The lady, now embarrassed that her bad manners did not go unnoticed, answered that no, she did not say anything, it was just a cough. Upon which you retorted: " Sounded like snot to me...."

You weren't even trying to be rude or sassy. You were just being innocent and honest.



De Wet and Grandpa Inus



Or the time when you were picking your nose, and Grandpa Inus sarcastically asked you if you were looking for diamonds. "No, Oupa, I'm looking for snot!"

Then there was the time when you walked up to this extremely short lady, and asked her, " why are you so low?"




THEN......

 






















NOW...(actually, a few years ago)

Today you are still just as brutally honest and sometime gross. lol

We realize that our move to the USA from South Africa probably affected you the most. You were at an awkward age...middle school.....where kids are cruel and everyone feels the pressure to fit in.
I can only imagine how stressful it had to be to walk into a new classroom , in a new school, in a foreign country on that first day.
 But, you managed to fit in, made friends, and found your little niche .
And then you had to come and do it all over again in Arizona. New high school, new friends, new interests.

You were 17 and it was time for us to get you a car........and the rest, as they say, is history.
                 


THEN......

 


NOW..




















We have asked a lot of you through the years. From expecting you to act like an older brother when you yourself were only three, to starting a new life in a different country, putting your future on hold while we wait for the green card process.
Through it all you have shown yourself to be an upstanding young man, who knows what he wants, who does not succumb to peer pressure, but thinks for himself and makes things happen in your own quiet way.
You have repeatedly taken the lemons that life hands you , and have made lemonade.
We are so proud of the young man you have become.
I can honestly say that I not only love you as my child, but I like you and enjoy you as a person, and I know that Dad does too.
 

THEN....




                                      














NOW...





                                                                                             

                                             HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY, SON!

                                                   We love you very much.