Happiness is seeing your child put a smile on someone else's face.
Happiness is being able to smile and nod when a stranger says to "cherish these days". If they only knew.
The week has been filled with parades, bbqs, trips out to eat, grocery shopping, errand running and other seemingly monotonous tasks. For a preemie who was in isolation for much of the first 17 months of life these are all exciting new experiences.
Tonight we went to chipotle (who happens to serve antibiotic free meat) for the first time.
Virginia watched in great interest and eagerness while we went down the line to order our food. She gibbered away as if asking for "a little more shredded cheese" and a "dollup of sour cream too." She charmed the cashier with a big smile. She made a mess, begged for guac, nearly choked on a chip and in true Virginia fashion stuffed her little face. She stared at in awe watched the little girl at the next table and said "buh byeee" to each person we passed on the way out. I watched it all go by in awe of where we are and how far she has come.
The world has been missing out on this little lady but she sure is making up for it.
It truly is amazing how you never "forget" your NICU days, but as life becomes more and more normal, I find that there are almost entire days where I can almost forget how far we have come since those early days at the hospital. Enjoy every minute. Our little preemie just turned 2 and all the NICU nurses' predictions that she was going to be a pistol as a toddler are 100% true!
ReplyDelete