little people big world

This week's guest judge at {iheartfaces} is Jeremy Roloff and I just can't resist a chance to say, "Hi, Jeremy!"  For anyone who doesn't know that I'm a big Little People Big World fan -- well, I am.  I haven't had cable for years, but I remember Gram watching the show when it first came out and telling me about it on the phone while I was away at my freshman year of college.  Around that same time I was reading A Prayer for Owen Meany and I could not put it down -- and so between the two obsessions it was a little joke amongst my friends that I had a thing for little people and I would probably have a little child one day and I probably wanted to.

Well, call it irony or call it chance or God's will or just life, but it turns out that I do have one.  Bobby has been diagnosed with a "growth hormone deficiency."

Ben and I have never been concerned with Bob's small size.  To us, his parents, he just is who he is, and he is awesome.  Yes, he's a head shorter than kids his age, but he runs fast, he climbs well, he eats good food.  Not everyone is tall, right?

The medical community doesn't seem to see it that way.  He's not producing enough growth hormone, so he's not growing enough.  His projected adult height is maybe five feet.  Our society seems to place a large value on height, and so the doctors see this as a problem to be fixed.  And supposedly it can be: with daily artificial growth hormone injections.  Before we go forward with a treatment which to us seems extreme for a four year old, we're seeking a second opinion.  But either way, we're looking at an MRI in our immediate future, with poor little pup under sedation.

It's -- a lot.  It's just been a lot to take in.  So many tests and appointments.  A decision that feels impossibly huge.  Pupper knows a lot about what's going on, but he's never been self-conscious about his size and so any conversation that says, "You're not big enough," just doesn't feel right to us.

Do we just give him the drug and make him taller and give him the advantages that come with height and not worry about it?  Because -- and maybe this is the Owen Meany believers in us -- we just can't shake the feeling that maybe some people are meant to be small.  Just like some are meant to be tall.

But I don't know... I guess any guy, given the choice, would rather be 5'6" than 5' tall, right?  Jeremy, what do you say?  Seriously, I know you're still reading this, right?  Your opinion is a unique one which I'd value greatly.

PS.  Also to Jeremy: My favorite moment of yours on the show was one time when your mom grounded you and you were like, "Okay, Mom," and just reached up and took the car keys from where she'd hidden them on top of the fridge.  Classic.

PPS.  The theme at {iheartfaces} is friendship.  This photo shows Bob and O -- brothers and best pals -- playing on the giant snail at Springside Park.  {I love vintage playground equipment like this, installed circa 1968.}

PPPS.  Jeremy-- if I win, can my prize be a trip to Roloff Farm?  Please!?