Seth Abraham Taylor

 

 

On November 15, 2004, we welcomed another little boy into the family.  When we were thinking of names this time around we realized that we had a bit of a pattern going on, with one syllable and four letters.  We didn't realized until after we picked the name Seth that the boy's names are in alphabetical order according to birth order.  I often joke that if we had named Paul first and Mark second, that we would have PMS instead of MPS! 

We decided on Seth's name because we liked it and since the third son of Adam and Eve (that we know about ) was named Seth, and this was our third son, it fit.  The middle name of Abraham stands for Abraham Lincoln.  I read a lot of books while I was pregnant and I became fascinated with the history of Abraham Lincoln.  I read as many books as the library had available to me about him.  What stood out to me about Abraham Lincoln was his attitude of fairness, his work ethic and his integrity.  I hoped that my son would have these characteristics, so it felt natural to use the name Abraham.  So far Seth isn't taking after the physical attributes of Abraham Lincoln though- we don't typically use the word 'tall' when talking about Seth! (There is hope for him that he will be tall, but it is likely that he has the 'Kresser' genes from me!)
 


The first two months of Seth's life were hard for us.  He was up and crying every 3 hours around the clock.  Around 4 weeks old, he developed a rash on his head and body that concerned me, so I took him into the doctor and we discovered that he was allergic to milk.  I was breastfeeding exclusively, so I tried to eliminate milk from my diet, but it proved to be too difficult for me at the time, so we switched him to formula.  Even on the formula he was up and crying every 3 hours.  He was in pain.  The doctor switched him to another formula that was a hypoallergenic formula (free of the dairy and soy that were giving him problems- expensive stuff, but so worth it!). The first feeding of that formula finally let his body relax and he started to sleep through the night. His body finally outgrew the sensitivity to the proteins and he doesn't have any problems with foods now.


Seth is the kind of person who everyone wants to be friends with. He is loyal, creative, a problem solver and thoughtful.  All of his teachers have adored him- you just have to, though, he is such a cute kid!  I love to look through the pictures of him because they are all so cute!  I really have a hard time picking out my favorites. He was just such a happy little kid.  He had the chubbiest checks, the most adorable smile and the cutest little walk I have ever seen.

When Seth was 10 months old, we moved to Georgia for one year. He melted everyone's heart in the neighborhood. Several of the kids would come over just to touch his hair (they were African-American and their baby's hair wasn't nearly as soft and fluffy as Seth's!)  I was playing the piano at church, and I had several ladies practically fight over who got to hold him while I played! I wasn't alone in thinking that he was adorable!  He was always happy to go to anyone.

Sadly, we don't have many pictures of him from about 10 months to 14 months because our computer crashed and we lost all of the pictures that I hadn't backed up.  We lost the pictures of his first birthday and some fun Christmas pictures. Thankfully I had his pictures taken professionally for his birthday, so I had a physical copy of that milestone!

Seth used a pacifier until he was 18 months old.  He didn't suck on it though- he would suck on his finger and use the smooth part of the plastic to rub on his lips!  I wanted to get rid of the pacifier, but wasn't sure how to do it.  Mark came home from school one day with a little red silicon bracelet that said "Drug Free" on it.  Seth adopted it and used that in place of the pacifier!  He also had a little plastic caterpillar that he carried around for a long time, too.  He used that bracelet until he was about 5 years old.  He stopped using it a while after he stopped sucking his finger. 


Here he is with his red bracelet and his blue caterpillar.  He had them with him all of the time!

He got his first haircut when he was about 18 months old. When we were in Georgia, the back of his head was covered in beautiful little curls.  When we moved back to Utah (we were in Georgia for under a year) his hair didn't curl as much without the humidity, so he looked like he had a mullet.  When we went swimming, his hair went part way down his back in one big piece, so it looked like he had a rats tail- way past time for a hair cut!  He was a champ for his haircut.

He has some gorgeous eyelashes!  I love how dark they are and that they frame his brilliant blue eyes so perfectly.  He is such a good looking kid!

Even though he is only nine years old right now, he exhibits several personality traits that he has had his entire life.  The main one is his determination.  Some people might read it as stubborn, but stubborn connotes a negative vibe and what he displays isn't negative- in fact it may prove to be a very positive thing for him as he gets older.  Once Seth has made up his mind that he isn't going to do something for whatever reason (fear, doesn't feel good about it, just doesn't want to, etc.) there isn't anything we can do to change his mind. 

When we went indoor skydiving a few years ago, Seth was set to participate.  Once he got there, he didn't want to do it- it was too high for him and he wanted out.  We did our best to convince him to just try it- we even bribed him- to no avail.  He was happy to sit it out with me and Jane and just watch.  He has had friends try to convince him to do things (and sometimes they aren't even bad things) and he won't budge. So far this hasn't hurt him, and I realize that it might hold him back from trying new things sometimes, but he is still adventurous enough that I'm not worried about him standing his ground for what he believes in.

He is a trouper when things are hard.  Last year we went on a hike that was a lot harder than we anticipated.  He was very tired and ready to be done, but we still had a long ways to go to get back. We took a little break, found him a walking stick and he stuck with me and my friend while he worked through the exhaustion.  He was a delight to  have with us and even though he was tired, he didn't complain past the first time that he told me he was ready to be done. 

Seth is growing up.  He is at the difficult age where he isn't a little kid anymore, but isn't quite a teenager yet either.  Stuck in that area of wanting the comforts of being treated like a little kid but wanting the freedoms of a teenager.  He doesn't want to be tucked in at night with a song or a story anymore- it's been a long time since we did that. But he still wants some attention, so we rub his legs most nights and I think that he enjoys listening in on us telling stories and singing songs with Jane in the bedroom next to his! 

Seth is a wonderful big brother to Jane.  I have told him many times that he needs to be great friends with her because when Mark and Paul move out of the house, it will just be the two of them left here together.  I want her to have someone to look up to and to love her.  Their relationship is sweet and he is very tender with her.

If I had to use two words to describe Seth, they would be gentle and genuine.  He has a gentle soul and his demeanor is gentle.  He enjoys being rough and silly at times, but that isn't how he is normally.  He does things from the heart and naturally tries to be good and kind, that is why I picked the word genuine.  His behavior is honest and I appreciate that.  I really love being with Seth. I'm excited to see how he grows and changes over the next few years.  Before I know it he will be taller than me!  It is an honor to be Seth's mom- I am one lucky momma!