Devin’s was an average size baby when he was born. 20” long weighing in at 8 pounds. I will never forget the night he was born, he came out literally screaming and smacking his lips. He was a hungry little man and that was obvious from his first night.

He was born in Nipawin Saskatchewan and because I had grown up there, the nurses asked me if it was alright if they kept him at the nurse’s station and gave him a bottle the first night so that I could get my rest. When I got up the next morning, the nurses brought him in and had all sorts of stories about my little man. He had apparently drank two – 4 ounce bottles of the clear liquid they give them when they are first born as well as one – 4 ounce bottle of formula. That was the beginning of me seeing how hungry he would be all the time.

Once home, the health care nurses had to come for a check up as I was a new mother and they wanted to check in on me and Devin to see how we were doing. She started asking me questions and the first one she asked me was how Devin’s bowel movements were and just like that, he decided that was a good time to fill his diaper. After that, the nurse asked about eating and how he was doing with formula. I explained to her that he was going through three cans of formula a day and she thought that was premixed. I started laughing and explained that no, that was concentrated and each can was mixed with a few cans of water. She was shocked and could see clearly he had no issues with eating so thanks to Devin, that was a very short visit. Devin was all about keeping things short and sweet and to the point even as a baby.

Devin was an easy baby, he started sleeping through the night very early and never really cried about anything. That smile that everyone knew him for as he got older, well that was him as a baby as well.

As he got older and started to walk, he was so happy all the time. Most of the time when you looked at Devin, you could clearly see a big old smile on that little face. I remember the one time when he was choosing to walk from the coffee table to the couch and he started to fall, I dived to grab him and had grabbed the inside of his leg. He folded and fell to the floor. That is when we discovered Devin was very ticklish on the inside of his legs. I felt horrible because he had literally crashed to the floor but it was way worse on me than it was on him because he just giggled and got up.

By the time Devin was about a year and a half, I was pregnant with my second child and was having some pregnancy issues. Devin was so amazing even at that age as he would climb onto the couch and get into his highchair himself as I was unable to lift him due to restrictions. He would help mommy out whenever possible and would spend hours with his little hands on my belly reminding me that his little brother was in there. From the day he was born, he had the biggest heart and he just glowed with love. He was so excited he was going to be a big brother, never once did I ever question whether he would be ready to be a big brother.

Then his little brother was born, Devin was so excited and protective. He never took his eyes off Branden and ensured that he knew exactly where Branden was at all times. As time went on, it was normal to see Devin in his little car pushing himself around the house with his little brother shoved in beside him. They both couldn’t fit in the car and close the door, but Devin didn’t care as he was not doing anything without Branden with him. I used to always joke about him being such a mother hen with his little brother and that never changed his whole life. He would always be Branden’s protector.

As he got older and started playschool, everyone always commented about how attentive Devin was and how he had such a big heart. He was so excited to start preschool because that meant he was getting to be a big boy because he got to go to school. Even at such a young age, Devin always was so mature beyond his years. I loved taking him to play school and seeing him with his little backpack on his back.

Before we knew it, he was getting on the bus for his first day of kindergarten. I remember watching him get on the bus, he was filled with excitement and anticipation and I just knew he was ready for that chapter in his life. His first day getting on the bus, I can picture as clear as ever to this day. He went up a couple steps wearing his little back pack on his back and turned around, he had the biggest smile as he waived and got on the bus to head to school as I stood there and cried knowing my baby was growing up.

Devin was a big boy for kindergarten, we used to always comment that he could have passed for a grade five student. When Devin started kindergarten, he was in adult clothing and shoes already. He never got to start kindergarten with flintstone shoes or t-shirts as he had already outgrown those sizes.

Not long after starting kindergarten, Devin came home one night very upset. I asked my boy what was wrong, and he proceeded to tell me about an incident at school. Some kids were making fun of him for his size and also that most of his friends had girl friends and no girls liked him because he was too big. It broke my heart to see that hurt in his eyes and tears flowing down his cheeks as he told me about the incident. I swooped him up in my arms and we had a really long talk. I explained to him that maybe the girls right now liked the skinny, scrawny boys but when he got older, trust me, they preferred the big boys. As he sat there looking at me with total trust in his eyes, I assured him that lots of girls would want to date him. He trusted those words and though he was still upset a bit, he trusted what mom was telling him. Those days of being able to just hold him in my arms and take away all the fears and worries for him are something that I will treasure forever.

Kindergarten for Devin was very eye opening. I remember him coming home one day so confused because a little boy had brought a toy for show and tell that he had stolen from someone else. Devin just couldn’t understand why a child would do that. He was so adamant that we had taught him stealing was bad so why did that little boy steal? It took some gentle conversation to talk him through that one.

Another story I remember from kindergarten was his teacher telling us about the one day they were walking somewhere for a field trip and Devin was at the front of the class by the teacher. Apparently, they had gotten to a cross walk and instead of going, as a car had stopped for them, Devin decided to stop the whole class. When his teacher asked him why he was stopping the whole class as they had the right of way, Devin explained to her that you are supposed to be nice to older people and the lady driving the car should go and they would go after. The teacher explained there was no changing his mind and so he waved the little old lady through that was driving the car then he let the class proceed to go.

These first few years definitely defined the heart and soul everyone who knew Devin would see as that is who he was. He had such a beautiful old soul and a heart of gold!!!