1-Year Old!

Yesterday, Hana turned one! It’s amazing and wonderful and unbelievable. We feel so lucky and grateful to have Hana with us, happy and relatively healthy. On her birthday we gave her a white cupcake, which she smashed up with her hands and maybe a tiny bit of frosting ended up in her mouth. She thought it was great fun! But to really celebrate, we are having a big party on Saturday for local friends, family, neighbors and people who have showed their tremendous support in the last year. I haven’t been able to contact, locate or even figure out who some of the people are that helped us, but we are deeply appreciative. To all of you who don’t live in the area, we wish you could join us!

Hana has been doing great. She is babbling more, including some new sounds. She is nibbling on foods much more, still not enough to be significant for nutrition, but she is definitely more interested. She went an entire week without vomiting! This is a new record. She is getting really busy crawling around and climbing on things. She usually has a good day if it involves going to the playground where she likes to crawl to the top of the play apparatus (what do you call those things?).

She hasn’t been drinking quite as much by mouth. I was really stressed about it for a couple of weeks and then I finally decided that I really, really have to stop stressing about weaning her from the NG tube – or at least I have to tone down my fixation on it. The feeding specialist doesn’t feel like she is quite ready to wean from the tube but does feel like she is on the right track and making nice progress. So, I offer the Milk Bear to see what she will drink and when an hour goes by if she hasn’t finished it I pour it into the feeding pump and get that going. It does suck to have to tether her to the feeding pump.

Whenever I feel like something sucks I remind myself to have a good attitude. I have learned many valuable lessons through all of this, but the one I’m focused on now is how much better things are when you have a good attitude. People are nicer and more helpful. I don’t waste my energy and time being upset about something. I’m sure its better for Hana too. Besides all that, the experience of life is so much richer when we choose a better attitude.

I am reminded by how much love and support we have gotten through all of this and it is so much easier to have a positive attitude! We are so grateful. We are so thankful. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Look at this baby girl!