Andrew's button

Sweet Andrew had his umbilical hernia repair today. He was so brave and cute. We had to be there at 7:00 and were out of there by 10:30. So it was quick and uneventful. Andrew is a little sore, but not too sore to wander around and follow the kids outside. He took a mammoth nap when we got home, and I hope he can sleep tonight.

His tummy is all covered up so we can't see the result, but I'm not sure I'll be happy. Let me explain. He had the cutest, biggest belly button. I loved it. But a few weeks ago (when we started all this talk of getting it "fixed") he became ashamed of it. He would always put his hand over it when he took his shirt off, he didn't like getting dressed even in front of his brother.

It made me so sad to have a child not like his body. I tried to tell him that the outie wasn't the problem, it was the hole underneath. But that is hard to understand. And all his siblings started wanting to see it.

So you see, I will miss that belly button. I wanted him to keep it and to learn to love it like I did. I want all my children to love themselves, every single part, even the ones that seem "different". So though I am glad he's all "fixed up", I still will miss that old outie. I hope it still pokes out when all is revealed in 7 days! And I hope he likes whatever is under there for the rest of his life, just like I'll love him no matter what he becomes.

P.S. Andrew told me he wants to be a doctor when he grows up and then he can take care of his mom when he's a dad. I was so happy, until he made it clear he meant the mom of his new family (his wife). This is quite a development, as he has always maintained that if he can't marry me (his first choice) that he didn't ever want to leave our house. He can live here as long as he wants! We'll see how long that is. ;)