Double Digits! Happy #10 to Beautiful Andrea the Second!

As of 5:29 PM today, Andrea is celebrating day 3,652 of life. She measures 54 inches or 137 centimeters tall. Out of consideration for her entering the "tween" years, we decided to stop posting her weight. Even though she's fine and a completely normal weight for her age and height, we figured most young ladies would prefer to not have their size posted on the internet.  She is channeling some of her relatives (not her mom) and has become very interested in what she wears.  We've graduated from princess dresses and stretch pants to ripped jeans and Uggs.  This is Dr. Seuss week at school, so we were limited to red and blue today (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish) so this is probably not completely her outfit of choice.

Andrea is now in fourth grade, which is a big deal, at least to the kids themselves. It's the year they can start a musical instrument, and Andrea opted for clarinet, following in a long(-ish) family tradition, going back to her great-uncle Alan (as far back as I can go) and both Uncle Stephen and Aunt Margaret. I pulled for a brass instrument of any kind, but I lost that battle.  She had her first concert in January, playing with the beginner band and also singing with the chorus. I do wonder if she likes to sing because she subconsciously remembers all the songs I sang in the NICU.  She did a great job in the concert and looked so grown up in her (Bergenfield) black and white. And we've got a token red headband to complete the ensemble.

Andrea continues to love writing and drawing. She's always got some kind of art project going, or she's writing a book or keeping a journal. She has a wonderful imagination that she uses to design all manner of blanket forts. Sometimes, I think she'll wind up as the host of an HG TV home show.  She likes to discuss the merits of subway tile for a backsplash or point out which colors should be used on Fixer Upper.  Currently, she wants to be an artist when she grows up. I'm not sure if that's a more or less risky career move than being an author.  But we want her to follow her passions, so we'll see where they lead.


Last March, Charlie joined our family as Ken's birthday present. Andrea LOVES having a dog more than I would have thought possible.  For his part, Charlie is a good sport, tolerating being dressed in a robe at Christmas, having Andrea join him in his bed, and generally being mauled by her on a daily basis.  I think it's helped her to have Charlie since both her brothers are away at college for so much of the time.

She had her first broken bone this year. I wish there was a cool story to go along with it - Ideally, it would have been a skiing injury or something, but in reality, she tripped on the playground and landed badly.  She was a trooper throughout the whole thing, especially when she got to choose the color of her cast (again, Bergenfield red and black!) and all her friends got to sign it.  Fortunately, the cast was off before summer kicked off, so she didn't miss out on any of the fun!

This year was also Andrea's first time on an actual horse (instead of a pony).  At an incredibly awesome birthday party, she got to ride the horses, took a trip in a horse-drawn wagon, and play with a very tolerant donkey. She had a good time, but luckily this didn't lead to a request for riding lessons or a horse of her own!

 In August, we moved Kenny George into college in Maine and took a side trip to Boothbay Harbor on the way home. Even in August, Maine is not usually very hot, but Andrea found the guts to swim in the ice water that filled the hotel pool. Daddy actually went in too - I bravely stayed out to take pictures.  Andrea has never met a pool she doesn't love - the water temperature is irrelevant. On the same trip, we went whale watching. Despite seeing NO whales (they must have missed the memo about the tour coming) Andrea stayed on deck with a pair of binoculars, scanning the ocean for any sign of wildlife.  We saw LOTS of seagulls, but not much else.  No Zimmerman trip to Maine is complete without a stop at Pemaquid Point. My whole life, I loved climbing on the rocks and looking in tide pools, and I made sure to take Kenny when he was young. This was Andrea's first trip to the Atlantic Ocean that didn't involve a sandy beach.  I wasn't sure what she'd think, but after a few minutes, she was running along the rocks and looking in the tidepools.  In the beginning, she wouldn't touch anything, but she even overcame her resistance when she found some tiny snails.  They were mostly periwinkles and mussels, but she approached very tidepool with excitement. She also climbed the lighthouse with Daddy.  Again, I bravely remained on the ground for photo ops.

When I look at this miracle, I can't believe this has been my life. In some ways, the past 10 years seem to have taken a lifetime to elapse. In others, I feel like it was yesterday that I had to tell Kenny that his new sister was the size of a pound of butter. And I remember him thinking that was pretty big.  I also remember our amazing nurse, Kerri, telling me that I wouldn't think about the NICU every day, and I thought she was crazy.  How could we ever NOT think about the NICU? But she was right. On certain days, I play "remember when", and I still love telling her story, but it's not the first thing that comes to my mind when I see her.  People meeting Andrea for the first time have no idea what the beginning was like.

First picture on the original blog - March 8, 2009

The Andrea we have now. How did we get so lucky?

I wanted to say thanks...and share my gratitude for everything I've been blessed with. Family, friends, and continued support from everyone.

~ Travis Barker