Love

Of all the wonderful feelings out there, I am convinced that holding a sleeping child is among the very best. Right now Cora is snuggled up next to me in a deep dreamy sleep. When I look at her snoozing little body everything else kind of turns into a hazy fog, and we could be anywhere.

Unfortunately we do happen to be an ICU, as we have been for what feels like a very long time. Hopefully it won't be much longer though. They are actively talking about kicking us out of here very soon.

The last couple of days Cora has continued to hold her course on the upward trajectory, and although she still struggles with her breathing and heart rhythm, anyone can see she looks phenomenally better than she has in a very long time. There weren't any real changes to note today in terms of medicines or support. Just status quo through the weekend.

She had several visitors today and she gifted them all with smiles and happy wiggles. For everyone, and for us, it's like seeing a different girl. She is all the played-out baby words -- soft, pink, snuggly, precious, edible -- and yet still all her own words like, strong, wise, deep and surviving. She seems so genuinely delighted with herself and her newfound energy. All she wants to do is catch your eye and smile at you, and she no longer has any interest in sleeping. This, of course, qualifies her to be a child of mine.

Speaking of, Dom and Cosie are still down here and they had a blast today, as usual. Dom insisted on an entirely green outfit for St. Patrick's Day and he tried to sucker me into buying him green shoes to wear, but even I have my limits.

We played for a long time in the playroom at Old McDonald's this afternoon. At one point there was a little boy we could hear crying in the corner of the room. I asked Dom if he wanted to see if we could make the boy feel better and he shook his head, yes. We went over to the boy and I asked if he wanted to play with us. Dom said, "yeah, because we're really good at loving people and being their friends." Cosie stood by nodding in agreement, solemnly. It was a pretty good parenting moment. For all the blunders we've made, these two are wonderful and kind hearted, and they make me very proud.

Cora is the same, I know. She can make people a thousand miles away love her, and love their own lives and families in a new way. She brings people to love. It is her special gift.