A Bite?

Is a bite a sign of love? I hope so because Sloane was ready to chomp away on anything or anyone all day today. My 10 month old niece almost lost a finger. Prior to Sloane's vampire stage, her teeth were something we were loved to see her use. While Sloane's laryngeal cleft has had an effect on her food intake, the early arrival of ALL of her teeth and her enormous appetite helped to make life move towards "normal" more quickly. Today, Sloane thought her cuzzy's finger was a carrot stick.

My niece and Sloane are 9 months and 2 days apart...dreamy fun!! As I watched Sofia Grace and Rosie on Ellen (who I have a huge woman-crush on), I thought about how amazing it is to have such a blessing of 2 little girlies so close in age. I hope someday S2 (my niece's name begins with an S too) become a dynamic duo like Sofia Grace and Rosie. If you haven't seen these sweet cousins from Exxex, England.... youtube them. They are hilarious!

Having a niece as close in age as my daughter is the good news! For the mom of a child with a special need, it could have been difficult although it wasn't. You see when you have a child with a medical need; you spend too much of your time waiting for the next shoe to drop. Will something else be wrong with your child? There were a variety of doctor's appointments that left us full with worry. I can say after the first year mark, I started to relax some. Sloane was hitting all of her milestones and growing like a weed so I started to have ahhhhh moments. 

I wont lie. There were times during the first year that my hubby and I would examine our child like a medical specimen. We would read, research and question our friends over and over again about her progress. As first time parents, I think its safe to say that we had no clue about what was normal or not. Normal wasn't something we had done yet. As our niece grew in front of our eyes, we began to think back to when Sloane was that age and think of whether she developed as our niece was. Our niece was born without any medical needs to which we are beyond thankful. You do tell yourself that all children are different, but when your child is truly different... there is not always a clear distinction in your private thoughts. Because Sloane's birth defect is an imperfection is in her airway near her voice box and can be part of a syndrome, the voices in our heads can be chattering at any given time. We do know how blessed we are because Sloane's cleft is not life threatening, but we have been scarred because of its presence in our lives. The cleft seems to creep into all areas of our parenting. 

There could be a day when we think...fuck it!!! let her take a bite because this child has been through too much already...we hope not!! But the cleft's presence and all that our child has to endure because of it is everywhere!!!!!!!