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Ezekiel Jasher Stephan
August 20, 2010 - March 18, 2012 "Forever Loved... Always Missed... Until we meet again little friend, you will always be on our minds and in our hearts" 
Ezekiel Jasher Stephan was born on August 20th, 2012. He weighed a whopping 8lbs 10oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. His beautiful mother Collet and dedicated father David were thrilled to invite Zeke into their family. As for his big brother Ezra, he was ecstatic! He had a new baby brother and that was the best present Dave and Collet could have given him. They would soon become best friends. Zeke was a strong baby. In less than 24hours, little Zekie was holding his head up all by himself.
After 3 days of reading, pondering and praying, David and Collet came to know their strong beautiful baby boy was to be known as Ezekiel Jasher Stephan. Ezekiel's powerful name came from the bible meaning “God will Strengthen” or “God's Strength”.
At a month old you would think you could picture Zeke being swaddled sleeping away most of the day... right? NO! Not Zekie! He held himself up strong and took his very first three steps with balancing assistance.
Between 2 and 3 months old, Zeke started actively teething. Dave and Collet often found him gnawing on his fists, drool streaming from his mouth. This sight became very expected over the course of the next 5 months.
At 2.5 months, the family was joyful to hear Zekie's contagious laugh for the 1st time. His laugh alone would make them all stop and join in. Also around this time, Zeke made his 1st big move by rolling from his side to his little tummy. It was only a short 2 weeks later, he mustered the strength to roll from his back to his front.
At 4 months old Zeke had already cut his first tooth and only 5 days later, another one broke through. I'm sure you can imagine those little fists being chewed on like crazy. It was after these teeth came through that Zeke started sucking his thumbs. Oh poor little Zekie! In this 4th month he became extremely envious of everyone around him. Whenever they would eat, he would lick his lips making everyone feel bad.
Another big milestone that happened this month was that Zeke's strength increased. Being only 5 months old, he sat up on his own. In the month to follow he would go on to say his very 1st words “Ga-Ga” and of course making his daddy proud, “Da-Da”.
By the time his 7th month rolled around Zekie was opening peek-a-boo books on his own, constantly chewing on his toys and making squinty-eyed toothy grins in the mirror. Being so strong willed, Zeke would only sleep in his own bed or a moving car. It was this month that he made his mama proud by finally calling her “Ma” which was soon replaced by a profound continuous statement... “nigh nigh nigh nigh....”
Oh boy! 8th month was fun. With a thirst for entertaining others, Zeke was found making fishy lips constantly. It was this month that Zeke figured out how to military crawl as well. Determined to chase his brother he pulled himself up into a full out crawl in a matter of a week. He was so cute, it's not hard to imagine why Collet called him Buddy-Boo and Monkey, David named him Zekie Bear and Ezra Monkey-Boo-Boo. It's no shock that only 9 months after he was born, Zeke was following his brother climbing the stairs. His transition from baby to toddler became extremely evident in his 10th month. He was found making his own car sounds while playing with cars on a camping trip with Mom and Ezra.
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In his 11th month, he loved loved LOVED climbing up on chairs and tables, especially if food was present. Mom took the boys on a special adventure this month to the air show.
One of the most important milestones, walking, happened in Zeke's 12th month.
Happy Birthday Zekie!
Happy Birthday Zekie!
A week after he turned 1, Zeke's determination to play soccer was so strong, it resulted in him beginning to walk and kicking his ball.
Within his 13th month a small change in his nickname took place, it went from Monkey to Monka. With this month he became more independent wanting to vacuum the house, feeding himself and not needing mama or dada to help him down the slide.
Within his 13th month a small change in his nickname took place, it went from Monkey to Monka. With this month he became more independent wanting to vacuum the house, feeding himself and not needing mama or dada to help him down the slide.
It wasn't uncommon for his mom to find him sitting on the toilet tank digging in the Q-tips or lounging in the bathroom sink playing with the toothbrushes. Within this time he continued to develop his entertaining side. At a family Christmas party, Zeke entertained the room by keeping a straight face while bouncy dancing to a singing Santa toy. Of course to finish with a proud smirk.
Month 15. This month Zeke starting saying “Pee” for please and “Baw” for ball. His passion for soccer was growing. Da-Da and Mum found him controlling the soccer ball like a baby Beckham. They thought for sure that he was going to grow up to be a pro soccer player.
Throughout the 16th and 17th month, he started saying peek-a-boo, only not so subtle, more like PeeeeG and a grunting BOOooo. His passion for soccer was growing stronger too. To his excitement, Dada gave Ezra and Zeke the opportunity to watch their uncle Josh play soccer at the soccer stadium. Oh you should have seen him, this memory will never be forgotten! Zeke was so focused on watching that ball get kicked around, he was completely in his element. After the game was over we all went to the foyer, and it was there that we really got to see him work that ball. Zeke was kicking it all over the place , of course making his nicely dressed dada crawl under filthy bleachers and dig behind garbage cans to retrieve the ball for him. As the players came out of their dressing room they joined in his fun, kicking the ball to him with huge smiles on their faces. If you can imagine how cute it was to see this little guy, not even 2 years old, playing with the BIG Soccer boys. It was difficult not to smile when Zeke was.
Mum and dada really worked hard to get little Zekie better when he first got sick, seeing sudden improvement they continued on with the medicines they were using, then when they thought they were out of the woods, the worst happened. Zeke was rushed to the Calgary Children's Hospital that night. The next morning our entire family gathered in the waiting room, desperately praying to know how to make this better. When Zeke was declared brain dead, that didn't stop David and Collet from losing hope. While we were in the hospital emails were flooding in with Prayers for Ezekiel... from all over the World. It's so hard to comprehend that this little guy brought the world to it's knees.
With the prayers of , dare I say, a million people from all over the world, the wonderfully inspired use of herbs and tinctures and attentive doctors, the warmth and colour of his body returned. Only making our faith stronger. All who entered his room couldn't deny the power and love of God. The spirit was so strong, every day we continued to pray for a miracle.
Within our private prayer circles every night around his bed, Zeke's spirit touched our hearts. He caused people who previously didn't believe in prayer to address the Father in faith and sincerity.
What Zeke did for our family is more than anyone can understand, he truly taught us the power of prayer and love. Here we stand more unified than ever! We'll be forever in his debt. This beautiful, strong boy was and is the miracle we prayed for.
Our family lost a true angel.
Love you Zekie
Within our private prayer circles every night around his bed, Zeke's spirit touched our hearts. He caused people who previously didn't believe in prayer to address the Father in faith and sincerity.
What Zeke did for our family is more than anyone can understand, he truly taught us the power of prayer and love. Here we stand more unified than ever! We'll be forever in his debt. This beautiful, strong boy was and is the miracle we prayed for.
Our family lost a true angel.
Love you Zekie
