MorrowLove: Elora - 18 Months

A year and a half old?! What?

I can hardly believe it. Elora is 18 months and counting. It is a fun age, and yet one of the most challenging yet. She is so active, curious, and engaging. Which is great. And tiring.

She is so fun to watch and she babbles/chatters all the time. You can't understand what she is saying, but she looks at you with such intent as she talks. I would love to know what is going on in her head! She is becoming more independant and wants to do things by herself, such as eat. She insists on feeding herself and controlling how much and in which way she eats. I love her drive and yet am learning how to let go.

Elora recently had her first visit at a the NICU Follow-Up Clinic. It is a research program run by a well-known neonatologist at Children's Hospital Minneapolis. This clinic follows micro-preemies like Elora until they are five years old. During her visit they observed her play with toys, books, games, etc to test her gross motor, fine motor, social, and cognitive abilities. In almost every area she was either at or exceeding where she should be for her gestational age. In some categories she was even where she should be or above for her birth age- wahoo! The only area she is behind is on gross motor skills because she is not walking yet.

When the doctor arrived in our room, he told us he was completely astonished to see how she looked, what she could do, and how she is without complications. Prior to coming in our room he read through her medical history and was reminded of her grade 3 and grade 4 brain bleeds (4 being the most severe a baby can have) that occured when she was 2 weeks old. Children who experience these type of severe bleeds can have significant physical and developmental problems, brain damage, and live very challenging lives. Seeing his reaction and excitement about her and where she is at filled my heart with joy. Peter and I left that appointment on a high!

I partially share this appointment at Children's because like most parents, I am proud of my daughter and want to share with the world how great she is. But, I most importantly share this story with you because it is a constant testimony of how a very sick little girl entered the world way too early and is now healed. With Thanksgiving approaching I am reminded of how many things I am truely thankful for. Elora's story of healing is something we would be remiss not to mention during this time of thankfulness. In fact the word "thankful" feels to me almost like an insult to God because it doesn't even capture the gratitude in our hearts for what we have witnessed over the last 18 months. We are beyond thankful. We are b-ankful? Yes, I'll go with b-ankful :)

Here are some pictures of Elora over the last month: