Swing of Things

I can’t believe it has been a week since my ladybug has come home from her most recent stay at the hospital. For some reason I was thinking that the transition for both ladybug and I would be a little rough. But, to my surprise, on Monday when I returned to work I jumped right in and felt like I hadn’t even left. My little princess has settled in nicely as well. I’m even finding the bedtime routine a little easier.  Mind you last night at around 03:15 I woke up to loud joy filled giggles. It even took a couple of minutes because I started dreaming that ladybug was in a cute little swing and giggling. Eventually I realized it wasn’t a dream – stumbled out of bed, only to find my princess WIDE AWAKE kicking up a storm, giggling, and making the most wonderful cooing sounds. Even with a diaper change and snuggles there was no calming her down.

Knowing that I had to be up for work in a few hours I opted to put her back in the crib turn on her musical fish tank, ladybug star projector, and tried to get a bit of sleep. Eventually around 05:30 miss ladybug settled down and finally fell back to sleep.

Aside from being a little more sluggish than usual, the lack of sleep didn’t really bother me today. After all it could have been much worse – she could have been up for those hours screaming like she was 2 weeks ago.

When I returned home from work today, I walked over to the bouncy chair, picked up my sweet ladybug and she looked up at me and started talking (more like cooing – but to us it’s talking). Then she started putting more umph into the end of her sounds. Ladybug Chatter 101 – this usually means she wants her soother. I looked down at her and said “hi buggy – do you want your soosie?” She then went quiet, looked up toward me and opened her mouth.

I asked my princess a question and she understood me.

To those who aren’t familiar with our sweet ladybug’s journey thus far it may seem a bit odd that I’m beyond thrilled for this milestone. You see, up until recently we weren’t sure what her hearing ability was (it’s all good), and her vision as of now is quite limited. We know she can see light, and has just started tracking a silver pom-pom that reflects the light, as well as a small globe that lights up and spins really fast. Neurologically at this point everything is a mystery.

So for her to hear me, understand what I’m saying, and open her mouth was a very big deal.

There are no words to describe the way I felt at that very moment. My heart warmed, my eyes filled with tears, and that hope that I hold so dearly for her has come through. It truly was a magical moment, and I know they are only going to get bigger and better now that we’re back into the swing of things.