A portrait of my child, once a week, every week in 2013

I’m feeling especially grateful again this week. For so many things. The wonderful people in our life, the gorgeous fall weather that is hanging around, my husband who learned how to make brownies this weekend, and of course, this girl.

This week she had her 1 year follow up with the brain clinic. In our health care system it’s standard for all kids with heart issues like hers to be followed developmentally until they’re six. So off to the clinic we go, where people far smarter then I watch her play and decide if she’s developing normally, and on track with her peers. And although I had no worries that she wasn’t on track, hearing a professional tell me she is perfectly normal is a great feeling. Reading about other kids like her, understanding that periods of low oxygen saturation can impact brain development, it’s hard not to wonder sometimes. But she did fantastic. She scored particularly high in language, something those of us who know her well were not surprised by. This kid likes to talk. And she learns words so rapidly, she seems to understand everything we say. Of all the ways she’s not like other kids, I was so relieved to find this was one way she was.

This week my favorite photo can be found here.