One Year Ago Today…

Oh the difference a year makes!  A year ago today I made a hat for our newborn granddaughter, Blythe.  She was one week old, weighed a bit more than four pounds and was in the NICU trying to learn to eat. I couldn’t do much, but I could knit and crochet, so I made her a hat.  It made me feel useful instead of helpless.  This is Blythe wearing the hat I made that day:

Those days were hard.  While everyone was going to the beach and pool, enjoying the sun and relaxing, we were doing shifts in the NICU.  We didn’t know the extent of Blythe’s heart trouble or know very much about this thing called Down syndrome.  We knew we loved her and we were cheering her on, but we also scared, stressed, and a little tired.

Today Blythe wore a different hat.

She splashed in the pool and smiled her big, big smile.  Then she got out and hung out with me in the shade.

She babbled on and on to me.  She played with my fingers, clapped her feet together and wiggled her brightly polished toes.  Last week we celebrated her birthday.

She’s doing well and she’s enjoying this, her second summer. So are we.  God is good now, just like He was then.  Life is good, too; the sun is warm; the water is lovely, and we are very, very thankful.