Six Months With Hope

On April 13 of this year, The Civee and I had a baby (The Civee was the one who did all the work, but I’ve been told I helped a lot).

Now today, a half-year later, that baby is still alive and growing.  It hasn’t been entirely easy, but it’s been a lot of fun.  After being warned before her birth that being born with a cleft lip and palate might mean she would face struggles, especially with development, we’ve been amazed at how healthy and happy she is.  Rather than the stories we heard of a cleft baby who struggled with eating eat, we can’t stop her from eating (since a few weeks ago, she gets nearly all of her food into her mouth and her repertoire now includes avocado). Her first surgery is out of the way, her splints, stitches and stents are off and it’s hard to tell that this little baby has been through so much already.

But for a six-month-old, she’s thriving.  She doubled her birth weight.  A month ago.  She can crawl.  Across a room.  And she laughs.  At my jokes.

We have a feeling she’s going to be standing soon and after that, there will be no stopping her.

The Civee and I (and Hope) couldn’t have made it this far without the support of family and friends who have helped out, both in person, and through their long-distance assistance.  We appreciate everyone listening to us talking about her (yeah, I know it’s kind of annoying, but with Lost and 24 off the air, I need something to write about).

And to wrap things up, we have (surprise) another video.  It’s just Hope playing around (with me providing some encouragement).  Nothing too exciting, but it’ll give you an idea what she’s up to.