Maddie turned 6 on July 29. She had a great day – she got to swim during Olivia’s swim class. We went to a local Italian festival and she got to ride some rides and eat some fried dough.
And her favorite birthday gift was her tooth coming out! She was THRILLED to say the least.
Here are some pictures we took yesterday for Olivia’s birthday. I’m putting them behind the “cut” so those who have dialup and wish to skip don’t need to click.
Click below to view more …
I will update tonight with pictures of the little princess
Olivia is 2 years old. 730 days old. Just crazy isn’t it???
Little Miss decided it was a good idea to wake up at 1:15AM. We’ve decided she wanted to make sure we were aware it was her birthday. After a couple backrubs from Daddy she went right back to sleep. She woke up at 6:45AM this morning. Maddie & I went in to sing Happy Birthday to her and give her lots of hugs and kisses. This afternoon she’s having cupcakes at Diana’s with her school friends. Nana and Poppy are going to be there with Maddie for the party. Then this evening we’ll go to Auntie’s house for pizza and cake.
I sent this email to Olivia’s doctors – all of them. The PICU doctors, Dr. Heller, Dr. Friedman, Dr. Mello, we even copied the president of CCMC.
She lives life like we’ve never seen anyone live. Her heart, while “defective”, is so full of love and joy and wonder. She is so loving and caring and sweet and amazing.
She is smarter than smart. She speaks both English and Spanish. If you ask her a question in Spanish, she’ll respond in Spanish. Ask the same question in English and she’ll respond in English. She speaks in full sentences. Some of our favorites: “I play nice.”; “I want to hug you.”; “I love you too”; and “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”
Olivia loves arts and crafts. She loves to play with stickers and markers. She’ll sit down and color for hours. “Color me!”
Her fine motor skills are amazing. She is a master with a fork and spoon.
Food has never been an issue with Miss Olivia. She can put away some serious food! She isn’t picky. Be it American, Italian or Mexican cuisine – Olivia loves it all. She’s been known to put away a half pint of blueberries in one sitting. At 26 lbs, Olivia apparently missed the memo that states “heart children have feeding and growing issues”.
Of Olivia’s 730 days on earth, only 19 days were spent in the hospital. Not too shabby for a child with complex CHDs who has undergone three surgeries thus far!
She has thumbed her nose at the naysayer’s who said she wouldn’t live or that her quality of life would be poor. Her quality of life is better than anyone else I know.
To everyone who helped us get to this day: Dr. Sari Friedman and her wonderful staff, Dr. Felice Heller and the rest of the cardiology department, Dr. Mello and Katie, Dr. Leslie Wolkoff, everyone else at CCMC (especially the PICU staff, Child Life, Clinical Trials and the 7th and 8th floors) – we honor you all today. Thank you all for helping make it possible for us to celebrate another year in Olivia’s life. We could not have done it without you.
We received responses that made my eyes tear up. They are all such wonderful, wonderful people.
Miss Olivia is doing great!
She is SO chatty! Talking in full sentences. Loves playing with Maddie – they actually will go into Maddie’s room and play together.
I was brushing her teeth last night and counted her teeth – she has 16 so her 2 year molars have not popped in yet. I scheduled her appointment with a pediatric dentist, Dr. Cipes for August 8. Dr. Cipes is very familiar with heart children. I am pleased that we can go there and Olivia won’t be the “token” heart patient. Our heart buddy, Lily went to visit Dr. Cipes this week and they gave us a glowing review.
Hard to believe our girlie is going to be 2 in just 5 days. Where has the time gone? Hard to believe two years ago yesterday I had my last Non stress test and was running around my house nesting and packing for Maddie staying with my parents. Hard to believe it’s been almost two years since Olivia showed everyone who’s going to be running this show by showing up 24 hours early.
