Thursday, October 28, 2010

Halloween Birthday - Ara Wilson Cerda Tan

Our son Wilson is turning seven on Halloween.  It seems like just yesterday that he was born. 














Here is a link to our blog post from last year where we shared about Wilson's unassisted home waterbirth.  Happy memories from that day!


















Joey crocheted Wilson a tie.  Mommy crocheted a hat and scarf.  Joey helped Mommy (because Joey is a much better sewer!) cut and sew a cashmere hat out of an old sweater.  Now, Wilson is set for the cold weather at school!  Daddy is carving something special out of wood.  We will also make a felted banner with Wilson's name.


















Speaking of names, Wilson has four names, just like our other children.  We create our kids' names from family members, trying to represent both Jennifer and Rick's sides.

Ara:  "King", Armenian, great-grandfather's middle name
Wilson:  "Protector", English, great-great grandparent's surname
Cerda: "Handsome", Philippino, grandmother's surname
Tan:  "King", Chinese, father's surname





Cousins are coming over to celebrate the birthday and then trick-or-treat in our new neighborhood.  We will end the night by singing our song (see last year's blog post for words) that we wrote for Wilson before he sleeps.  Happy birthday to our sweet, piano-and-guitar-playing, singing-and-dancing-loving son!  We are inspired by his zest for life...pure joy.   

11 comments:

FrontierDreams said...

Oh my happy birthday! What a special one it is!!
You are inspiring me... I am due in Feb with my 3rd child and I am considering but slightly fearing an unassisted birth at home... I really want to (and our finances want me to, too!)

Tan Family said...

Nicole, you will love having an unassisted homebirth. We did it twice and it was wonderful! So pleasurable (especially waterbirth) and relaxing not having people poking an checking and bothering. Being at home is very healthy and there is research to back this. APPPAH has wonderful reserach about homebirth. Laura Shanley's Unassisted Birth book is fantastic. Get subscriptions to The Mother (UK magazine), The Compleat Mother and Mothering to hear inspirational stories about unassisted homebirths. Email us for moral support, any time! :)

dongdong said...

Happy Birthday, little one! What an awesome name. My son is very close in age Wilson. They are indeed like you said pure joy.

I agree with Nicole, you are inspiring me. I'm due in late May with my 3rd and I'm learning more about UC as well. I really want to know the gender of the baby and for that I have to go through the system and it's making me nervous.

What is APPPAH?

Tan Family said...

Hello dongdong! APPPAH is the Association of Pre and Perinatal Psychology. Go to: www.birthpsychology.com. The yearly membership is worth it, as you automatically get their wonderful journal and a discount on attending their annual conference. The conference is absolutely amazing...professionals from all sorts of fields from all over the world, coming together to talk about the importance of preconception through postpartum from a holistic, natural perspective. Good luck with the UC! It is truly the most amazing experience of your life. Have confidence. Our bodies and babies know exactly what to do when we surrender to the beauty and pleasure of birth. If you can, read my article (click on link to our post from last year about his birth) to see more about our home waterbirth. Incorporating aromatherapy, visualization, accupressure and flower essences, it was a powerful experience. Wilson was happy from the start...didn't even cry being in the warm water! He's been a happy child ever since. The way that birth happens is important. Good luck!

Wild Maple Wool said...

So cute your little one (or big one I should say!) is!!! Hope you all had a great day!

~Samantha

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday to Wilson! He is a blessed little guy to be surrounded and held by such a loving family. What fun to be born on Halloween!

dongdong said...

Funny you mention that. It was because of your exact article that I thought "Oh, it sounds amazing. I would love to experience that." Though at the time I wasn't having a baby and really wasn't on planning on having one. I'll def. check the resource you mentioned.

Is there a good place I can find out the about the nitty-gritty, like where do I get the tub, cutting the cord, as well as what to do after baby comes out, etc? I just got a subscription to mothering.

Thank you for your encouragement!!

Tan Family said...

Dongdong, you will find great resources through The Compleat Mother magazine, and possibly on their website. I remember getting my waterbirthing tub through a company there. Local midwives or birthing centers might rent them, too. Also, yourwaterbirth.com is another great resource. Check out waterbirth.org for more information in general. A subscription to The Mother from the UK is worth it to just read the powerful homebirth and unassisted stories! :)

Grandma said...

Have a Happy Halloween Birthday dear Ara Wilson Cerda Tan!

Jeqdesigns said...

Wonderful celebration and encouraging post! Thanks for sharing, the comments esp are uplifting and useful as our second birth we want to have at home. I needed to read this, women! Thankyou for posing the questions and sharing recommendations.

Tan Family said...

For those who have commented on wanting to give birth at home, here is a link to our Meditative Mama bookshop, full of books on homebirth, waterbirth, unassisted birth, natural parenting, breastfeeding, co-sleeping and more! http://astore.amazon.com/meditativemama-20