![\"2008-11-01_img_9103\"](\"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/2008-11-01_img_9103.jpg\" "\\"2008-11-01_img_9103\\"")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nYou were the first one the doctor pulled out and the moment I looked at you I knew you were my son. You looked so much like me even from that first moment it was hard to believe. It was like a mini-me.<\/p>\n
Although you cried, you were not nearly as cranky as your brother. I think he was tired of you taking up so much space for the last 9 months. You were the larger of you two so by both timing and size you are the big brother to Maximus. You must always be there to look out for him.<\/p>\n
Because you were straining to breath just a little bit, they quickly took you away to the NICU department to monitor you and make sure you were developing normally. It was a short visit, only a few days, but it was hard to not have you in the room with us and Max.<\/p>\n
It was a hectic first day at the hospital with both Grandmothers there, aunts and uncles and friends of the family all there to see you boys that first day. Most also came down to the NICU to see you too, even though it added extra time to their visit.<\/p>\n
Later that evening I came down to visit you in the NICU, not with more visitors, but by myself. I sat there and rocked you in the rocker, and for the first time since you were born – I cried. Not tears of sadness, but tears of joy for having two sons after so many years of wanting children. It was such an overwhelming feeling of joy that I just couldn’t hold it in.<\/p>\n
And to this day, I still get chocked up when I look into your eyes sometimes. Even after a year, it’s hard to believe we’re so blessed to have you both in our lives.<\/p>\n
Although it was a long wait, the wait was well worth it.<\/p>\n
Happy birthday son.<\/p>\n
Love, Dad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I remember it so clearly.. You were the first one the doctor pulled out and the moment I looked at you I knew you were my son. You looked so much like me even from that first moment it was hard to believe. It was like a mini-me. Although you cried, you were not nearly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photo","category-text"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p47XZT-kl","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":500,"url":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/02\/andrew-has-joined-his-brother\/","url_meta":{"origin":1261,"position":0},"title":"Andrew has joined his brother","author":"Thomas Tomchak","date":"January 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a quick note to say at noon today Andrew decided to join his brother Max in our room. Needless to say, we\u2019ve had our hands full since. More later.","rel":"","context":"In "Text Post"","block_context":{"text":"Text Post","link":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/category\/text\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5880,"url":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/21\/brother-vs-brother-video\/","url_meta":{"origin":1261,"position":1},"title":"Brother vs Brother Video","author":"Thomas Tomchak","date":"December 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"For the first time in my video editing career, I was asked if I could create lasers for an upcoming project. And if so, how long it would take to do a bunch of lasers as 2 people ran through the building. That's something you don\u2019t get asked every day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Text Post"","block_context":{"text":"Text Post","link":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/category\/text\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/brotherVSbrother_PosterFrame.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/brotherVSbrother_PosterFrame.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/brotherVSbrother_PosterFrame.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/brotherVSbrother_PosterFrame.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/brotherVSbrother_PosterFrame.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2987,"url":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/30\/im-a-bigger-nerd-than-before-and-proud-of-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":1261,"position":2},"title":"I’m A Bigger Nerd Than Before, and Proud Of It","author":"Thomas Tomchak","date":"October 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This week was probably some of the hardest learning I've done in many years. 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I felt very odd being back at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "iPhone"","block_context":{"text":"iPhone","link":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/category\/iphone\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/IMG_5269-thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/IMG_5269-thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/IMG_5269-thumb.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1273,"url":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/31\/happy-birthday-maximus\/","url_meta":{"origin":1261,"position":3},"title":"Happy Birthday – Maximus!","author":"Thomas Tomchak","date":"December 31, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"And then God said, \"Let there be two\"... Just one short minute later (see previous post) there you were - Screaming and yelling like you wanted to start a fight with somebody, anybody. Even the nurses said \"We've got a feisty one here\". After several minutes, you were still screaming.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Photo Post"","block_context":{"text":"Photo Post","link":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/category\/photo\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/2008-11-01_img_9086.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/2008-11-01_img_9086.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/2008-11-01_img_9086.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6033,"url":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/20\/glasses-try-on-for-sydney\/","url_meta":{"origin":1261,"position":4},"title":"Glasses Try-On for Sydney","author":"Thomas Tomchak","date":"November 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As it turns out Sydney needs glasses. Not as bad as her brother did, but she's crossed over that line enough that we're going to get her a pair soon. To get the ball rolling we went and tried on a few different frames to get some ideas.","rel":"","context":"In "Photo Post"","block_context":{"text":"Photo Post","link":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/category\/photo\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/2017-1120-Sydney-New-Glasses-8-of-8.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/2017-1120-Sydney-New-Glasses-8-of-8.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/2017-1120-Sydney-New-Glasses-8-of-8.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/2017-1120-Sydney-New-Glasses-8-of-8.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/2017-1120-Sydney-New-Glasses-8-of-8.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tomchak.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/2017-1120-Sydney-New-Glasses-8-of-8.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5191,"url":"https:\/\/tomchak.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/30\/spring-concerts-2014-maximus\/","url_meta":{"origin":1261,"position":5},"title":"Spring Concerts 2014 – Maximus","author":"Thomas Tomchak","date":"May 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Max has come such a long way in so many different ways. 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