Emerging Personality

Yesterday, I was having great fun with Hope at lunch. We were playing a little game, apparently started by Nonna, where after every bite of yogurt Hope bites down on the plastic/rubber spoon and won't release it. Of course, she has a smile on her face and this is all in good natured fun.

We recently returned from Disney. Mon and I took the two older kids, while my Nonna and PopPop kept Hope here at our house. Leading up to our departure, Mon and I started to feel these pangs of guilt about leaving Hope at home. We started reading these forums on Disney's website about strategies for taking one year olds (and younger). Even our first days on the monorail, we'd see these families with little tiny babies, and we'd start to think we should have brought Hope. But we soon realized that, while we did miss her, we were able to enjoy do so much more of the parks without her. We were able to stay out later, do rides together instead of taking turns. It was nice. The bitter part (of the ubiquitous "bittersweet") was that upon our arrival home, Hope acted almost as if she forgot who we were. She would cling to Nonna, and acted a bit shy toward Monica and me. I kind of expected this as I received a similar treatment on my return home from my two ski trips this year, when Nonna also came to help out with the kids. But I don't think Mon was ready for this.

Stopping Traffic

Literally! yesterday, as we were leaving Shane's piano lesson, a car begins to slow next to ours as I am getting the kids into the car. The driver is an older woman, likely late fities/early sixties. I'm thinking she's going to ask for directions. With the window down, she says, "What a beautiful baby!" And drives off. I try to yell, "Thank you!" but am so stunned, something more like, "Eh errr uhh ank you." comes out.

In more mundance news, Hope is fascinated with light switches. Whenever we walk past one, she says, "Ssseh. Ssseh. Ssseh." And wants to flip it. If it's up she pushes it down, if it's down she pushes it up.

Ninja Girl

Hope found Mon's nunchuks (foam covered) from way back when, which were previously found by Shane and left strewn about. See the album for all her fun

Growing

Hope has four teeth now. Two up and two beneath. (Can you name the band?) She is also saying some "words"; Mama, Dada, down (deh-deh-deh), bottle (ba-bul), ball (ba ba ba). She sometimes calls Shane (Say) and Olivia (dih-dee-uh or lil-lee-uh).

Sorry To Keep You Hanging

Hope's sedated echo looked good. Heart function and size were totally normal. We also just got back the results from the development psychologist who tested her as part of the feeding study -- again, totally normal.

Thanks for caring!

Back at CHOP

Today we are back at CHOP -- don't worry -- for a sedated echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart). Part of normal care for TGA kids at one year old. Hope's cardiologist has been performing non-sedated echos in a satellite office about every two months, but as she becomes more active it becomes harder and harder to get good pictures of her little heart. As we sit here in the waiting room, it just feels natural to write. It totally brings me back to our experience just over a year ago. I even ran into another family who was here at the same time that we were. Small world.

Yesterday, we had a speech therapist out to the house to evaluate Hope's speech and cognitive development. Hope was awesome. That's not just me talking either. I know I'm more than a little biased, but both the speech therapist and the developmental psychologist -- who saw her on Wednesday as part of the feeding study -- were really impressed with her and her abilities. It's easy, especially in these really busy weeks to get into a funk and to forget how truly blessed we are -- knock on wood, for as I type this I'm afraid I'll jinx her echo results. But every day with her and our other children is such a blessing.

Now, if I can just enlighten the boy to this same way of thinking. Blessings!

Its Official, She's Toddlin'

Hope is now walking the length of entire rooms. She's been taking steps on her own for a few weeks now. Many times it's been at the request of Mom and Dad, who are dying to see her pass certain milestones, especially given her unique and auspicious start. But about a week ago, we were all trying to get out the door, and about halfway through admonishing Shane for not having his shoes on, he shouts out, "Look, Look! She's gonna walk!" And sure enough, she ended up taking about 7 steps. It's been touch and go since then, she was just diagnosed with bilateral (both sides) ear infection which I think messed with her balance. It's actually funny since Liv had a very similar deal at around the same time. But now she's back to it. Liv had a palydate today, and when the other little girl's mom came to pick her up, Hope was in total show-off mode. She was walking through entire rooms. She's a toddler.

Fun in the Basement!

Yesterday was a rainy day, so we had some fun down in the basement. Hope loved this. And no, they're not going as fast as it appears!

Hope is One!

I can hardly believe that Hope is one! In many ways, it seems like just yesterday that she was born, and in many ways, that nerve-wracking, blessing-filled experience down at CHOP and HUP seems like a distant memory. It is amazing to me how much this little child has taught me about gratitude. I am grateful that we are so blessed to live in a time where skilled surgeons can successfully repair there life threatening conditions on such tiny children. I am grateful to have such a caring and nurturing network of friends and family who's prayers, thoughts, and concerns buoyed us through this experience. Thank you all!

Hope continues to be a joy. She is outgoing, and is constantly trying to engage people wherever we encounter them; the grocery store, schoolyard, playground, doctor's office, etc. When people somehow fail to notice her -- which she seems to not be able to fathom either -- she leans in and tries to engage them with her smile and often a friendly "hiya." She is incredibly enamored with dogs and other children, especially babies. Her whole body stiffens and shakes with joy whenever she sees a dog. I am amazed how she has no fear of any dog, regardless of size. Hope also has this remarkable relationship going on with Olivia's pre-school teacher -- who is, herself, a remarkable person. Whenever Hope sees her she practically dives out of my arms to have this woman hold her. Many times, I am asked by others, "Is she always this happy/friendly/easy/etc?" The answer is always a resounding "Yes!" I used to tell people that I thought she knew what's she's been through and that she's just happy to be alive, and while I still believe that to be true on some level, I am also sure that a large part of her ease, contentment, and joie de vivre comes from all the love, caring, and prayers that she has received in this first year of life. Thank you to all!

6 Months!

Hope is officially six months old today. And such a joy. She remains incredibly happy and sociable. She is sitting on her own and doing a little bit of "scuuching". Crawling can't be far off. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I've got my hands pretty full, so I'm not sure if I'm ready to be chasing her around, but, by the same token, it might allow me to put her down a bit more. At present, I can only put her down for short periods, especially when I'm really trying to get something done. Like cook dinner. Almost every night, I'm preparing dinner like I'm preparing for a tandem ski dive. It's a little dicey removing things from the oven with a small child hanging off your chest and belly.

Thanks for checking in! Pics soon!