Ayden Thomas Decker
Born: June, 2009
Ayden’s story starts a little over a year ago with a positive pregnancy test and two very excited parents. As you may or may not know, Eric and Charlotte decided not to find out what the sex of the baby would be. It drove their family member’s crazy with anticipation, but Charlotte and Eric just smiled knowing that it wouldn’t matter if it was a boy or girl, it would be a baby to complete their family.
It didn’t take Eric long to come up with a suitable name for their new creation. Anyone who knows Eric, knows that he loves hot tamales. It was a few days after they had broke the news to the family that Eric picked up a hot tamales, looked at it and said, “This hot tamale is almost three times bigger then the baby.” Questioning whether or not the baby would be scared of the hot tamale if put next to the baby, we instantly decided the nickname would be “hot tamale”. The name stuck and the baby was known as hot tamale until it grew to be ten times bigger then that little hot tamale.
When the big day finally arrived, Charlotte wasn’t nervous. Eric and Charlotte could hardly wait to see their baby and show it the room they had labored over for many months. When Ayden was born, the nurse had Eric call out the sex. To their surprise it was baby boy. Ayden Thomas Decker was born in Antioch, California on June 16, 2009 at 3:13pm to Eric and Charlotte Decker. He was 7lbs, 1.8 ounces. Ayden was soon greeted with love by his grandparents and multiple aunts and uncles. Everyone had said he, would be a she. He was a beautiful, skinny little boy a lot like his father now with most of his mother’s features. About an hour after his birth, he was taken for his first bath. The nurse couldn’t believe how much hair he had. She spiked it and it stood up like a Mohawk. After that day, there was rarely a day that his hair was not styled. A few times Charlotte tired to lay his hair flat but it would just go back to the Mohawk. Ayden also had reddish-brown hair so Eric thought of a new nickname. He would be called Rooster. True to his nickname, not only was his hair color and style much like a rooster, he also liked to get up at the crack of dawn waking up the entire household with his cries of hunger. He was brought home to his home in Brentwood, where his personalized Winnie-the-Pooh room was awaiting.
For such a young child, they could see that their baby was smart. A little over a month after they brought him home from the hospital, Ayden found his voice. Charlotte and Ayden would sit and talk for hours, mostly with Charlotte repeating herself. “Oh really!” “All of that” and “what else happened?” Around the same time, Ayden learned to giggle. It was the funniest thing ever. Anyone who heard him couldn’t help and join in. On the Saturday before Ayden passed away, his grandfather, Ken, came over for a visit. While tossing Ayden into the air, Ayden would laugh so hard over and over again. Grandpa would stand Ayden up on his legs and Ayden would bend his knees ready to go again, until at last Grandpa tuckered out.
At three months old, Ayden learned to roll over. For weeks he had done what Charlotte called the Winnie-the-pooh move. Ayden would bring up his legs to his chest and roll to one side. To make sure he had enough power to attempt a rollover, he would grunt and make some pretty weird noises. When Charlotte and Eric first heard this they were row-sham-bowing on who would change the dirty diaper. Eventually with enough grunting and force, the Winnie-the-pooh move would turn Ayden flat on his face. It was then that he would become a baby sailboat with his arms and legs extended in an upward motion. One of their fondest memories is on the Sunday before he passed, all he wanted to do was roll over. Then he would get frustrated so they would roll him back over. Finally tired of the game, Charlotte said, “That’s it bud. You roll over again and you’re staying there.” She walked into the kitchen and back and there was Ayden on his stomach, his eyes partially closed, with his toy monkey resting on his shoulders. All the exercise of rolling over had left him exhausted.He also developed an infectious giggle, which would cause everyone to join in.
These are just a few stories of Ayden’s life and there are many more. Although it was a short life, it was a life full of love, joy and great accomplishments. He was a beautiful and sweet baby boy and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Ayden Thomas was abruptly taken from his family on September 28, 2009 from SIDS.
- Eric and Charlotte Decker
