Mark Orion Taylor

Mark Orion Taylor

 

When we first found out that I was pregnant, we immediately figured out a girls name and really struggled to come up with a boys name. Daniel was working with two men through his church calling named Mark (Orrulian and Wolf) whom we both admired.  I also grew up with a guy named Mark and I really respected him.  Since it fit all of our criteria, we decided on the name Mark.

 

Mark's middle name is Orion.  It is indirectly named after Daniel's best friend growing up, Jonathan Merrell. Daniel and Jonathan were roommates at BYU.  Their first September there, Jonathan went back to Vernal to take a friend to the Homecoming dance.  They went rock climbing during an activity where he fell and hurt his head.  He died the next day due to the injuries.  Daniel found himself alone for the first time in his life (when you grow up in a large family like his, being alone is a rare thing!) He worked on campus during an early morning shift and when he was walking outside he would look up into the sky and see the constellation Orion and he started 'talking' to him as his way of processing the grief of losing Jonathan.  Because of this, Daniel has an attachment to Orion. We thought that using Orion as a middle name would be a great tribute to Jonathan and to Daniel's healing process. 

 

He was a very good baby. He was sleeping through the night by 3 months. Because he was my first child, I was worried about him being used to complete silence when sleeping and I didn't want that, so I would do the vacuuming when he was sleeping and didn't focus on keeping absolutely quiet when he napped. In the apartment we were living in they came to do a smoke detector test and he was asleep right below the detector. The manager was worried about setting it off, but I told her to go ahead and he didn't even flinch when it went off!

 

Even though he was a good sleeper as a baby, he wasn't a good sleeper as a toddler. Naptimes were necessary, but difficult. Bedtime was frustrating. I know now that we should have done things differently, but we got things figured out. Like Daniel, Mark is a night owl and does not require a lot of sleep to function well.

 

Mark has shown from a very young age that he is a smart kid.  He picked up on patterns and shapes very quickly.  He only had to ride his bike down the stairs once before figuring out that he wasn't going to do that again!  A lot of things come rather naturally to Mark.  He just seems to understand things quite readily. He does get rather impatient with things that require practice though.  I noticed this when he was first learning how to walk.  As my first child, I had expectations of sitting on the floor across from Daniel and having Mark toddle back and forth between us as he learned how to walk.  Mark did not provide that event for us ever!  He would scoot along the furniture and then one day he just started to walk.  He was 14 months old when he walked unassisted. The main reason that I remember how old he was is because I was 8 months pregnant with Paul at that point and I was relieved to not have to carry him anymore!

Mark meets Paul for the first time

 

He still doesn't like to practice things, so learning to play the piano has been a struggle for him.  He is learning that just having the knowledge of something isn't enough- you still have to work for a lot of things once you understand them and the only way that muscle memory can develop is through practice. I'm proud of him for sticking with piano lessons even though it is uncomfortable.

 

He does have one thing that he is willing to practice and that it Tae Kwon Do. Mark has been involved in Tae Kwon Do for the past few years.  He doesn't give us problems about going to practices and has had a great attitude with the school.  He is lined up to earn his black belt by the end of this year.  He likes that he is getting stronger.  I like that he is working toward a goal and having  a great time doing it.  He and Daniel are taking classes together and they really like working together. 

 

Even though Mark gets bored easily in school, he enjoys learning things.  He has been part of the Science Olympiad team for the last two years. That club meets after school twice a week and he likes it!  It is great to see him push himself and get involved in things that he enjoys.

 

Mark has a very tender heart.  Sometimes I forget that he does because he doesn't exhibit his tender side to his brothers much and since most of the interactions I see him in are with his brothers, I think that he isn't compassionate.  Mark has always like to give hugs. After Paul was born I went through a very dark episode of postpartum depression. I would sit on the couch and try to keep things together.  Mark would come and sit on my lap and give me a big hug and then ask if I felt better. 

 

 

He hasn't struggled with having friends. He gets along pretty well with everyone, especially adults.  I remember visiting him in kindergarten and the class was walking down the hallway.  He had a girl on either side of him and they were all holding hands!  He has admired most of his teachers. In elementary school several of his teachers mentioned that they like that he understands some of their jokes that the rest of the class didn't get. 

There is a group of boys who hang out at our house quite often.  Mark is the leader of the group.  When they play Dungeons and Dragons (pen and paper version), he is the Dungeon Master and relishes that role!  Mark is very creative, so it is fun to listen to the story lines that he comes up with.  They are great group of kids and I'm glad that he has good friends to hang out with.  Mark is very clever and he has a great sense of humor. He appreciates corny jokes, which is good because those are the only ones I know! 

 

He loves to read- and he reads fast.  In the 3rd grade he tested at a 12th grade reading level.  He had a standing invitation at the library each morning to return the book he checked out the day before and get a new book.  Most kids only went to the library one time a week.  He just devours books.  Getting him an electronic reader (Kindle) was a great gift for him (okay, he earned half of the money by getting good grades, which for some strange reason was a huge struggle for him in middle school).  He has a huge library of free books and I haven't had to take him to the library for a long time (no lost books or late fees is a huge bonus!) 

 As Mark is getting older I have enjoyed getting to know him better.  I appreciate that he is willing to talk to me and Daniel about girls and about life.  I love going on hikes with him because he is very concerned about me and my safety and takes good care of me.  He will hold my hand to help me get onto a rock, or help me over a stream of water, he'll make sure that I'm doing okay, and he will show me the best route or warn me of a loose or slippery rock.  He jokes that he has to take care of me because I am his ride home, but I know that he is taking care of me because he is nice.  I look forward to seeing him interact with girls and date them and take good care of them, too! 

We are both learning together how to be our best selves.  I've never been a parent of a teenager before and he has never been a teenager before so we sometimes have to take things a day at a time to figure out what works for us and what doesn't.  It is difficult to let him take more responsibility for his life, but I know that it is a really important step toward becoming an independent adult, so I'm willing to work with him to teach him what he needs to do. 

He is growing up before my eyes and I still am in shock that he isn't a little kid anymore.  He grew 4 inches and gained 20 pounds in one year and it has taken my brain a while to catch up to looking at this tall boy with a feathery mustache and realize that he is my Mark.  I am so glad that I get the opportunity to be Mark's mom!