Sitting pretty

I can't believe how time flies. Sadie is sitting on her own. It just started yesterday. She won't get into sitting position on her own yet (of course), but still, this is big excitement in our household. Katie is thrilled at the potential of having someone to play with in the near future, and I'm beginning to panic to even think about all the babyproofing that has to be done. There are Polly Pocket shoes embedded in the carpet that must come up immediately. Sadie's also started solids, and hasn't found a food she doesn't like that.

Katie is all of a sudden almost a teenager. What is up with that? One day she's drooling, the next she's telling me that although she was holding one boys hand after the circus (he tried to kiss her throughout, but she held out on him), she really likes his brother because he's cute and quiet. Then she did a flip-flop on me later that night and said that since the older brother didn't try to kiss her, she "loved" the younger one.

Medical issues for the week (because I know you care): Katie has a bladder infection. Sadie has an ear infection. Sadie's reflux has also gotten crazy the last few days, but it may be because she's on antibiotics (I hope). Good times. But honestly, I can't complain.

On a very different front, our friends Jeff and Kathy are still in the PICU with their daughter, Madison. Maddie was born a day before Sadie, and we met them on the PICU floor. Like Sadie, Maddie had a heart condition that was not detected before birth. However, unlike Sadie, there is no fix for Maddie's heart, only measures to assist her over time. She has Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which means one side of her heart is not developed completely. She underwent two open heart surgeries thus far, and now her family is waiting to see if she can get on the heart transplant list. She's also got to have another surgery to fix a problem with her diaphram that occurred when a nerve was damaged last week in surgery. I went to see her and her family yesterday, and she's one of the most beautiful babies I've ever seen. Jeff and Kathy are such strong people - I admire how well they are handling such a tough situation. Please keep Maddie in your prayers/mediatations/thoughts. It all has been a big reminder for me of how fragile life is, not just for this beautiful little girl, but for each of us.