"I Love Baby Cold"

*HOMECOMING*
As Laura, Cole, and I turned onto our street, we could see "Paw" our in our yard with the video camera. None of us could wait until Ava had a chance to meet Cole face to face...she was so excited. So much so that after we told her she could meet him after her nap, she proceeded to only sleep for a little over 1 hour (she normally sleeps for 3 hours). She wasn't this excited on Christmas morning.


As we walked into the door, Ava met us in the hallway and said "I want to see Baby Cold." When she finally saw him, she was speechless. She stood in the hallway and wanted to touch him but she was so excited that she could not bring herself to do it. Finally, she touched his head and pointed out his "eyes," "nose," and "mouf" (mouth). We thanked her for reminding us where those were.

Then, all of a sudden, she dropped her baby (doll, not Cole) in the floor and said "I want to hold Baby Cold." Those of you who know Ava also know that her baby (aka..."other baby") is the most prized thing she has and she dropped it in the floor within 5 minutes of seeing her little brother. For the next hour, we all sat on the couch together and she did nothing except kiss him, touch his hands, and hug him.

After she had a chance to get used to looking at him, I said to her "Ava, who do you love?" When asked this question, she normally launches into a list of names including "PaPa and GG," "Paw and NaNa," "Michael and 'Teba (Treva)," "Uncle Joel and Aunt Krista," "Uncle Jon and Aunt Zibi," etc...she names our entire family for the most part. However, this time she said "I LOVE BABY COLD!" It was loud and emphatic. If she said this once, she said it 5 times. It was so cool. So, as of today, it looks like we have all been replaced on Ava's totem pole of love.

She is still in the honeymoon phase with him. As I type this, she is looking at him sleep in his travel crib. What a big sister she will be.


*COLE'S CONDITION*
Earlier this morning, I spoke to one of Cole's doctors regarding his condition. He said to me "Everything looks great and I just have to tell you that we do not see babies recover this quickly from open heart surgery. Knock on wood. Even the surgeons shake their head in disbelief when she come by to check on him. We are all amazed and you just do not see recoveries go this smoothly." I told him that he has been covered in prayer since the beginning and he agreed that it must have helped. Of course it did!

One more tidbit that I thought was comical. When updating me on Cole's circumcision, the doctor said "His circumcision went very well, but there is some bruising on the shaft. The reason for the bruising is that he has an UNUSUALLY LARGE PHALLIC with large veins and bruising is normal with a large phallic." Of course, Cole's daddy had to include this story against mommy's wishes.

We will keep you all updated and in return, please continue to pray for Cole and all of the NICU Warriors.

God Bless You!

MG