The Fords' Life

Today we went to the NICU reunion at Rockford Memorial.  It was packed with NICU graduates and their families…lots of babies but some older kids as well.  I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  There were lots of giveaways and prize baskets (I came home with three more cans of preemie formula which I just realized I’m stockpiling.  I now have 10 cans, and the girl doesn’t even drink formula!  Occasionally we’ll add a couple ounces to her bottles, but at most we’ll open one can a month, then have to throw away a mostly full can.  I also just realized it’s only a few more months before she’s drinking whole milk…oh my…I’ll have to find a preemie somewhere who will benefit from my new self-diagnosis of formula hoarding).  Anyway…There were games for Ella to play, and cookies and punch, and we saw four of Harper’s nurses including her main day nurse, and even some of the other babies who were in Harper’s little section of the NICU.

The whole experience reminded me of how far Harper has come.  She was born this tiny, fragile little 4 lb. girl, and now she’s so happy and healthy.  She’s got pudgy little cheeks and pudgy little legs and bright blue eyes.  She’s sitting up and wanting to crawl and laughing and “talking” and eating carrots and sweet potato puffs, and I’m just so grateful for how everything turned out.  She’s amazing.

In other news, daycare might be getting slightly better for Ella.  She did great when Ed dropped her off Friday, so maybe that’s the secret!!  Swim lessons started back up at the Y, and Ella’s teacher got her out a floaty belt to wear which Ella adores.  She exclaimed gleefully, “Watch me!  I’m ‘wimming’ all by myself!”