Day 9 : Time Flies

S.R. -

Your mom and Grandma E. and I all came to see you today. You have been recovering so well that now you are staying in a different nursery for healthier kids, so that your old bed can be used for someone who has gotten as sick as you used to be.

Mom and I showed up just in time to get to feed you a bottle. The nurse sat you up, I cradled your head, and your mom tilted the bottle back for you. You ate quite a bit, but still seem a little confused by how the whole eating process works. Don't worry; that is to be expected. Because of all the tubes and monitors that have been in and around your mouth for the last week, it is only to be expected that you wouldn't want to put anything else in there for awhile. There are plenty of great nurses who will spend the next several days helping you to get past this.

Not only did I get to help feed you this afternoon, I also got to really hold you. Yesterday, I cuddled you while you were asleep and let you rest on a pillow. But today marked the first time you've been fully awake in front of me. I put your head in my right hand and held your body out before me with my left. I spent alot of time just enjoying you, eye to eye.

I thought I'd been at your bedside for 40 minutes or so when I looked at the clock and realized I'd been there almost twice that long! People that have been parents for a long time say that is pretty much what the whole experience of having kids is like. One minute the child is an infant, sick in the hospital; next, they are healthy and walking down the aisle.

But don't you plan on doing that any time in the next 30 or 40 years, all right?

I love you so!

- Dad