My Baby

I don't know why it hit me today, but I am amazed by the work the doctor's did to repair Grace's cleft palate. She will never remember the first year of her life when she had a "disability." While I remember the special requirements of feeding time, it never slowed her down. I am so blessed to have a perfectly normal healthy toddler. One day I'll have to convince her to let me try to get a picture of the repaired palate. Except for the fact that the back (closest to her throat) isn't quite symetrical, it looks like she has always had skin covering the roof of her mouth.

While we still may have some speech therapy in the future, Grace's vocabulary has exploded. Strangers may not catch all the words, but here are the ones I know she tries to say:
Mommy
Daddy
Zeus
Eat
Banana
Milk
More
Bubbles
Thank you
Please
Hi
Hello
Bye
See ya
Grandma
Grandpa
Hot Dog
Fishies (goldfish)
Table
Outside
Shoes
No
Yes
Uh-ooh
Out
Up
Baby
Yellow
Blue
Green

Animal Sounds:
Woof Woof
Meow
Baa
Neigh
Oink
Ooh, Ohh (monkey)
Elephant (sounds a lot like a horse, but she does her arm like a trunk)
Quack
Tweet-Tweet

There's probably more, but that's all I can think of right now. She's such a big girl and she amazes me daily. She's becoming a mimic and is trying to do so much more every day. She loves to try on people's shoes. She loves to color. I still think she's left handed. She helps pick up and will put her trash in the trashcan without prompting. She also gives the best hugs and kisses. I love that little girl more than I ever could have imagined.

This brings me to another thought. I try not to think about it too much, but it seems like the people that were pregnant during some of the same time that I was pregnant are starting to get pregnant again. Actually I only have two examples, one of which is my best friend. It makes me a little sad, because my maternal urges are stirring. I would love to be pregnant again, but I know that for my health it's best to continue to wait (which isn't that hard considering I have an IUD and would have to have a doctor remove it to get started). It's so bittersweet. I'm happy for those that are moving on with their families, but at the same time, I wish it could be me. I just have to continue to have faith that eventually my time will come and the way time flies, it will be sooner than I think. I shouldn't complain, because at least I have Grace and she's more than I could have asked for.

Ok, I need to do some work tonight, so I'm going to go for now.