Category Archives: Lily
Happy 4th Birthday Princess Lily!
Happy birthday to my sweetest little princess Lily! Lily weighs 29lbs (6%), and is 39.5 inches long (63%). Lily had a finger prick blood test to test her iron levels and her levels are normal! This is an improvement from last year since she was low last year. All that fish is paying off! Lily also got 3 shots on my arm and that was really tough and painful for her and she cried her little eyes out, poor baby girl. Other than that, she is doing really well and is a healthy little girl! She is definitely on the smaller side but at least she’s healthy! Lily has a very cute eccentric sense of style, it’s a mixture of comfort, colorful, and cute style. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t match, if she likes it and makes her feel good, then go for it baby girl! You be you and I strongly encourage her to explore her of style to promote her sense of self and confidence. 
Lily loves to snack, to name a few, she likes potato chips, cheesy popcorn (Pirate’s Booty), strawberry Special K Crisp Bars, cookies, butter popcorn, all things candy, strawberries fresh and freeze dried, carrots, apples, cuties, brussel sprouts, and lots of cheese! Lily likes going out and doing things like playing at the park, running around and spinning in circles, making silly noises and being silly, and her imagination is really growing and she likes to play imaginary situations all the time with her toys. Her vocabulary and speech and is so big and eloquent, she doesn’t seem like a 4 year old at all, maybe a 5-6 year old! You can see how she phrases her sentences that she puts a lot of thought into her communication, it’s just so impressive to see. I’m so constantly proud of her!!
For her birthday celebration, I had the joint party with Leo for Lily. She also had a celebration at her school where the class sang a nice around the world song for her as she walked around and showed her classmates pictures from each year of her life. We brought yogurt, animal crackers, and mini blueberry muffins for her classmates to enjoy for a special birthday snacks and her teachers provided strawberries for everyone too. Lily really enjoyed passing out all the snacks to her friends and I was so impressed with how good the kids are there and how much Lily wanted to help and pass out the snacks. Lily’s been excited for her birthday for months now and I’m so glad that this day finally came so I can celebrate and spoil her (more than usual) and make her so super happy! It’s a fun age for birthdays since she’s so aware of what it is now, and all her friends have birthday celebrations, so it’s just such a happy time. I’m glad she looks forward to her birthday, I will make sure I always do whatever I can to make this day special for her, and to show her how this day changed my life forever in the best, most wonderful way possible. For more pictures from Lily and Leo’s birthday celebrations, click HERE! Special thanks to Mieng for taking the beautiful photos of Lily and Leo for their birthdays!!
I feel super blessed and lucky to have Lily as my baby girl! She is super sweet, smart, silly, funny, sassy, kind, compassionate, and everything I wanted in a daughter and more!! She is constantly impress and amazes me with everything she does and I can’t wait to see what else she’s going to teach me in life and what other adventures we will have together! My heart is so full when I look into her bright eyes and sweet smile. She is such a sweet, caring, and compassionate big sister to baby Leo as well. Seeing her interact with him, all on her own too, is so touching to me. Even when she see other babies, she just says “awww that baby is so cute!” and she will be so warm and caring to them. Lily is so good at sharing too and is always looking out for me and making sure I am careful walking down the stairs and tells me to hold her hand so I don’t fall! She is just the sweetest and I’m so proud and humbled to call her mine! I love you more than you’ll ever know my precious Lily pad!! Happy 4th birthday my sweetest angel!!
Check out some of Lily’s adventures this past year!
Mother’s Day 2016
Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing mommies out there! Being a mom is definitely one of the hardest jobs I have, but it’s also the most rewarding and humbling experience that I have the chance and honor of experiencing. Life has been very challenging and difficult lately, and a lot of times, it’s very easy to feel defeated, diminish my self esteem, have self doubt, and lose hope. Sometimes the dark clouds roll in and the storm hits, and you just don’t know when the sun will come back again, and it’s hard amd very scary to brave the thunder and lightning due to the risk of getting hit or blown away. Sometimes, I just want to throw my hands up in the air (like you just don’t care..jk..) and give up and just accept that personal happiness is something that wasn’t meant for me. When you become a parent, you sacrifice a lot of yourself for your children, and we often think that as long as they are happy, you are happy. That’s only true up to a certain point. In the end, we are still our own person, and if we ourselves are not happy, deep down in our soul, then how can we possibly be the best we can be for them? There’s a difference between sacrificing for the better of our children and completely losing yourself in your children. I think it’s very important to still be your own self, and have your own life, outside your kids. There needs to be a healthy balance, so that your kids not only see you as their loving parent, but also as a loving person, that would hopefully inspire them to be one day. One day, my kids will grow up and leave the nest, and create their own families, and I don’t want to be lost when that happens.
We face many difficult challenges in our lives, and are dealt with many difficult decisions to make as well. What I do to try to get past those obstacles that life throws at me, is to just think about what kind of person I want Lily to be, what kind of man I want Leo to be, and make my decisions based on that. Lead by example. If I want Lily to be kind, generous, forgiving, patient, and compassionate, then I will be all those things for her so she can witness it and experience it, as her norm. Parenting is a constant battle of patience and testing of the emotions. You have to pick and choose your battles, and ask yourself what do you value more, what’s the lesson you’re trying to teach, what do you want to achieve? I’m no expert, nor am I a perfect parents, but I feel it’s a series of trial and error really haha. So I just have to trust my gut instincts, and hope for the best… Anyways, with everything going on in my life, it’s hard to stay confident in myself. You never know if you’re doing a good job, or the right thing, or doing what’s best for your kids and yourself. However, I’ll look at Lily, and notice the little things she does, her occasion head lean on my shoulder, and hugs and kisses for no reason, and just look at what a kind, compassionate, caring, polite person she is, and that gives me validation that I’m doing something right. When things were getting really hard for me a month or so ago, I got this random message from a stranger who stumbled upon my blog. Below was her first message to me, and then a snippet of an ongoing conversation I had with her via email.
“I just want to thank you for your blog that you post about your son leo. My son also has tetrasomy 18 and i read your blog for motivation to get me through my pregnancy. It gave me hope that my son would make it and that he would be okay. He is now 3 months old and he is doing great and you inspired me to continue on with my pregnancy when the doctors told me he would never make it. 🙂 thank you”
“I think your a hero for choosing to keep Leo and writing about it . . . I am so glad i didn’t listen to the doctor and abort him because he is perfect to me . . . If it wasnt for god & his fathers faith that everything would be okay and with out your blog i might not have had Angel.”
I immediately bursted into tears when I read her message. It was like my soul was revitalized, reenergized, and I had validation from a complete stranger, to keep on being me. I felt incredibly humbled by her words, and it just felt really…good, and amazing, to know that I was able to help someone, and even save a baby’s life. Who knows if I’ve helped anyone else that hasn’t even reached out to me, but wow…I was floored and so happy, that I was able to actually make a difference. I really genuinely want to help people, and I’m so glad that I’m able to with my blog, and documenting my life journey, as well as Leo’s. This gave me a lot of my confidence back, and encouraged me that I’m doing the best I can right now, and to keep on at it. I also received a care package in the mail from a friend, thanking me for all my advice that I gave her last year, when she just had her newborn and things were really hard for her. I was again hunbled by her kind words, and didn’t realize how much I’ve affected her and helped her. I feel very happy that I was able to help and make such an impact in her life. I believe in good karma, and so I will continue to spread the love and care into the world, and hope that this world will be a better place for my kids and myself, because I can make a difference, and you can too! Sounds like a promo ad, but it’s true!
So whatever happens in life, you just have to be true to yourself, and just try to be the best version of yourself possible. I live my life for my kids, but also for myself. I’m the one who has to walk in my shoes, and so I’m the one who has to live with myself. If I’m not happy with who I am, then I try to make myself better so that I am happy, and my happiness, will be reflected on my kids. If your life is dark and miserable, that shadow will cast upon your kids as well, so let the light shine bright and guide you. Kids will bring you so much joy, pain, happiness, anger, frustration, but most of all, love. As for my babies whom I never got to hold, I live the best life I can for them. I can’t teach them anything, or inspire them, or take care of them, because they are already in heaven and don’t need any of that from me. They are the ones who’s actually watching over me, taking care of me, and inspiring me. So as their mother, I plan to be happy, and be a good person, for them, to make them proud. Thank you everyone for all the well wishes, flowers, sweet treats, jewelry, and gifts. I’m definitely the lucky one to have such amazing kids. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommies out there. <3
Leo’s not suffering I swear
Leo’s getting use to Lily’s love…haha
Mommy and Lily selfie!
Mommy with my pride and joys
Happy 11 Months Leo!
Leo 11 Months
Leo 47 Wks
Leo 46 Wks
Happy 11 Months old Leo! I can’t believe this is your last month before you turn 1 years old! Leo weighs in at 19.2lbs and stretches about 29 inches long! He is still such a happy mellow calm baby, and is always a joy to be around. Earlier Leo had a really bad stuffy and runny nose that lasted a little over a week, so that was really rough on him (and me), but he managed to stay in good spirits most of the time though. The only time he was really showing any misery was when he would try to drink his bottle and his nose would be so stuff he couldn’t breathe, and then throw up all his milk a couple times too, so he would cry pretty hard, poor baby =(. I’m glad he’s all better now and and breathe a-ok! Leo really likes to look at himself in the mirror and always has a big smile on his face when he sees the handsome little guy smiling back at him. Leo is still a very good sleeper and takes to take a couple long naps a day and then do a good 12-14 hour stretch of sleep at night! Good job Leo!!
Leo 45 Wks
Leo 48 Wks
He likes to roll all over the place and kick his feet like crazy. He really wants to move around, and I feel like he really wants to crawl, it’s just a matter of getting his core muscles and arm muscle tones strong enough so he can do it. Practice practice practice. Leo still hasn’t made much progress in terms of eating solids, but he’s getting more use to the zvibe tool. Hopefully his mouth muscles will loosen up and as his core muscle strengthens, hopefully everything else will fall into place. For now, I’ve been trying to feed him homemade pureed pees and black beans, but so far he still pushes the food out and doesn’t eat. We just have to keep on working at it. Also, his physical therapist suggests we get Leo to do a brain scan, so see if there’s anything going on neurologically that’s preventing him from achieving certain gross motor skills. He tends to hyper extend his arms and extend them backwards rather than pulling his arms forward for balance. She thinks it could be neurological, so I’m going to set up an appointment to get him scanned just to make sure. This worries me of course, but it’s better safe than sorry, and better to know more so we can prepare and work with what we know. Overall though, Leo is improving on his sitting, he’s able to sit tripod style for about 5 minutes on his own now. His side sitting is getting better too and I can let go for maybe 15-30 seconds or so before he starts to tip over. He is babbling a lot more and says “mmm” a lot, I’m pretty sure he’s trying to say “mama” =). The physical therapist also tried some musical therapy to help him concentrate during therapy. Sometimes he’ll try to resist and fight her, and so she played some therapeutic rhythmic drumming music, and it instantly calmed him down, and he was able to do the task at hand, and even sit up on a box all by himself for about a minute!! Plus, doesn’t he look so cute with those headphones? So now I will add 30 minutes of rhythmic music to his daily therapy, it’s suppose to help the brain develop too. Overall, he is making baby step progresses, which is also good. The therapist said, once he learns a skill, he can’t regress, so it’s just a constant forward moving action, so that’s very encourage. Keep it up my little prince, mommy is so proud of you!! I love you to pieces!!
Lily doing Private Penguin Pose
Lily chopping apples for salad
Lily is so wonderful, spunky, sassy, smart, funny, and amazing. She continues to shower her baby brother with love and attention and likes to keep an eye on him for me when I need to shower or do things around the house. She is also my little sous chef, and loves to help me chop whisk and prep for dinner. She really likes to go shopping now and would always pick something out for me and then look for something for herself. She is a addicted to candy, she has a major sweets tooth, got that in her blood from her mommy…haha. She really likes to eat fish, shrimp, cheese, bread, eggs, tofu, noodles, broccoli, peas, string beans, carrots, and steak! She loves to snack on potato chips, cheesy popcorn (Pirate’s Booty), and peanuts. Lily also went to the dentist this past weekend and actually let the dentist count and check her teeth for the first time, and she did so well! When he asked her to open her mouth bigger, she listened and did it, so good Lily! No tears or anything! She has 10 teeth on top and 10 teeth on the bottom, and he said they all look straight and good! Woohoo, good job Lily! Amazing too since she eats sooo much candy! Lily loves to help me water the plants and plant succulents in my balcony garden, and she also likes to help Leo read books. She even grabbed his hand to help him feel the textures on the pages and help him turn the page all on her own too, because she sees me doing it, so she does it now too. It’s so sweet and heart warming to see her do those things! I’m so proud of you Lily, I love you soooo much! You light up my life, I cannot be more lucky to have you at my baby girl!!
Trying on hats at the mall
Lily makes all sorts of chocolates!
Lily helping Leo feel the textures on the book.
Lily with her best friend Zoey putting soil into reusable k-cups at school!
Check out some videos of Leo!
Happy 10 Months Leo!
Leo 10 Months
Happy 10 Months my petit prince Leo! Leo now weighs about 18bs, and stretches about 29 inches long! Leo had his follow up check with his urologist a few weeks ago and overall everything looks good. He said to massage the two incision spots on his belly 30 second rotations each way every time he gets a diaper change and the scar should go away! He has to come back in a year for another follow up, so hopefully everything stay good and healthy. Leo is starting to play with his toes more now and he loves to roll all over the place. He is holding onto his toys a little longer and really likes to play with crinkly texture toys. His top two teeth are very visible now so his teeth count is at a whopping 4! He’s starting to drool more now because of all his teething. When Leo starts to suck his thumb, that’s a sign that he’s getting tired and sleepy, it’s really cute! He’ll rub his eyes and them use his arm to cover his eyes and fall asleep that way. He is being more vocal now too and making lots of different noises. He likes to blow raspberries now and is beginning to lick things and slowly put things in his mouth, mostly his bibs. Leo also really enjoys books and on a few occasions he was even able to turn the page all by himself! He is very curious and loves to observe his surrounds. Leo has a sweet gaze and will entrance with his beautiful eyes and sweet little smile. Big sister Lily is still the best at making him laugh, but he is always so happy and smiling, he is literally a bundle of joy!
Leo 34 Weeks
Leo Easter 2016
Leo 41 Weeks
Leo’s 1st St Patrick’s Day
Leo had his 6 month assessment from the infant education program a few weeks ago. I was actually a little surprised by how delayed he was in a lot of areas, I thought he was just a little bit behind in some gross motor skills but I didn’t realize he was delayed in other areas as well. The assessment stated that Leo’s delays are attributed to a couple neuromotor factors such as low tone and decreased strength. It was reccommended that his schedule gets changed to 3 hours of therapy a week instead of 1 hour a week, where it’s 1 hour for PT, 1 hour for OT, and 1 hour with his infant educator. The Regional Center decided to go with 2 hours of therapy, 1 hour PT and 1 hour OT and forego the infant educator for now. When I first saw the results to Leo’s assessment, I was surprised by the numbers and felt bummed, scared and worried for my Leo. I think it’s a normal reaction, since I don’t want Leo be too delayed, if at all, but after some time to process all the information, and understand the questions and tests that were involved in order to do the assessment in the first place, I wasn’t as worried anymore. I can’t get caught up in the statistics and numbers, I have to look at what’s right in front of me, and look at this from a different perspective. Leo isn’t struggling, yes he is delayed, but he isn’t struggling, he is healthy, and most of all, he is happy. Leo has his own journey that he is living and he is living it wonderfully. He will crawl, stand, and walk, when the time is right for him; he will talk and eat when he is ready to do so, and he will continue to grow and develop the best he can, and that’s all I can ask and be grateful for. Leo is my little miracle, and every day with him, every moment, every milestone, is more than a dream come true. I want the very best for him, but he is already the very best son for me!
Leo with PT Kerry
Leo started his first Physical Therapy session with his new therapist Kerry on Monday. I really like Kerry, she has a lot more activities and exercises that we can do with Leo at target and strengthen his core muscles. She really put Leo to work and he didn’t really like it, poor baby, and even started to cry! Leo hardly ever cries so it was really sad but funny and cute to see at the same time. His bottom lip in his pout is just way too cute, I couldn’t resist and have to show you all haha. It’s all good for him though, so he will thank her later!! It was a very helpful first session and I feel like as long as Leo keeps at it, he will probably make a lot of progress real faster! Kerry was very motivated as well to get Leo to reach his milestone goals, so that was very encouraging to see. Behind those tears and pouty face, I think Leo really liked Kerry though because right off the bat he impressed us all by sitting unassisted for what probably felt like 2 minutes!!
Leo chilling side sitting style
Normally he’s done maybe 30 seconds or less because he would get so excited and want to move around and he’ll lose his balance, but in front of Kerry, he just sat so stable and straight, it was amazing!! You are still doing really great Leo. Don’t let numbers and statistics dictate what you are capable of. You will push boundaries and achieve great goals for yourself, and you can do anything you put your mind to. I have faith in you my little Leo, you already make me so proud, and I know you will always be my beacon of hope and my bright light! I love you so much Leo!!
“I’d rather lay like this than practice sitting.” – Leo
Leo had his first occupational therapy session today with his new therapist Christine. She was really nice and really good with Leo. We didn’t deal too much with feeding today, more of just physical therapy so that Leo can build a relationship and trust with her. While playing through therapy, she’ll occasionally touch his mouth and face to get him to get use to her touching his mouth, so later when she works with loosening his mouth and cheek muscles, he won’t be too closed off to it. She said later one when he does start to eat, to let him be messy and explore his food, let him feel the texture with his hands, smell the aroma, point out all the different colors in his food, and then let him taste it and really exaggerate how good it taste. It’s all part of the experience of eating and she said to make the process fun for him. She seems very knowledgeable and I feel like Leo is in great hands!!
Also, Lily is so wonderfully amazing. Lily had her Children’s Night at LePort recently and once again I’m also so blown away by all that she can do. I’m very impressed with her beginning writing skills, her starting to sound out letters and trace in cursive, her dexterity with level of focus and concentration with her work too. It’s really great to see her so confident in the classroom and excited and happy to do her work and show off her skills. I’m so proud of her in every way, I can’t believe that beautiful smart silly funny little baby girl is all mine. Lily also had a field trip to the Discovery Science Center and I think one of her favorite part about field trips is being able to ride the school bus. Every time she sees one she gets super excited! I got to go with her on her field trip and it’s very nice how empty it was and it felt private and so Lily didn’t really have to wait to do anything she wanted, she got to roam free and do whatever her mind was curious about. Her favorite was this recycle game that they had on the second floor, she must have spent half an hour there! You can view pictures from her field trip to the Discovery Science Center HERE. I love you so much my Lily pad!! Check out this video of Lily at her Children’s Night at LePort back in March.
Lily continues to be such an amazing big sister to Leo as well. She’s still constantly so loving and caring towards Leo, always wanting to give him kisses and play with him and making him laugh, she’s still the best one at making him laugh. He loves her so much too and every time he sees her he loves to just watch her and gives her the biggest smile. Lily is always so happy and silly, she lights up my life. She still likes to be very helpful and likes to do a lot of things herself. She even helps me out with cooking now too, from cracking and stirring eggs, chopping fruits and veggies, to watering plants. She’s my little sous chef, my little personal assistant, my partner in crime. She really likes music and loves to sing and even makes requests to hear certain songs. Whenever a song comes on the radio that she likes, she would ask me what song it is if she doesn’t know it, or tell me that she likes this one. She also enjoys watching a lot of movies and shows on netflix, I recently took her to watch Zootopia and she loved it and watched it many times after that (handicam version at home haha). She said she loves the song in it and would watch the music video over and over. Lily also enjoys coloring and drawing, she’s very good at writing her name, and she likes to cut and glue paper, the Kiwi Crates are still a big hit with her! I like them too since it’s a great way to have bonding activity time with her that’s also educational and fun. Lily loves to play pretend food prep for me as well and play with little random knick knacks, stick them in her purse, take it out, and put it back in, and repeat haha. She has a very big imagination, is very observant, smart, and intuitive. I love you so much Lily, you are always making me proud and happy, I’m a very lucky mommy!!
Leo watches Lily go down the slide!
Lily & Leo Easter 2016
Lily Easter 2016
Lily 1st Day of Spring 2016
LIly St. Patrick’s Day 2016
Lily & Leo St. Patrick’s Day 2016
Time for some video fun of the kiddos, enjoy!
Happy 9 Months Leo!
Leo 9 Months
Happy 9 months to my Little Prince Leo! Leo weighs in at 17.65 lbs (18% he’s growing!), stretches 29 inches (74% what a tall boy!), and head measures 18 inches (17%). Leo was such a champ too and had 2 shots, and a finger prick. He didn’t cry for the finger prick but of course he cried his eyes out for the shots, but quickly calmed down after a minute. He didn’t get fussy afterwards and just slept and was so sweet and happy for the rest of the day, like no big deal. Leo recently started to repeat actions with intention, and he is working really hard from switching objects from one hand to the other too! I never really noticed those motor skills with Lily, but since Leo is doing all this therapy, I didn’t realize all the tiny little developments at a baby goes through! I knew there was a lot but I never really thought about it until now. Leo is getting stronger with his sitting, he still doesn’t sit by himself for too long, but he’s getting sturdier and trying to look around more and branching out to other movements while sitting as well. He rolls all over the place and loves to kick and is putting more pressure on his legs now too. Leo babbles a lot now and is making more different sounds, and he is laughing much more now too. Lily is the best at making him laugh, and she enjoys doing it as well! Leo got 2 medication prescribed for his eczema on his legs, one is a normal cream and the other is for infections and boy do they work! Where was this months ago? It worked so much better than aquaphor, cheaper too, and his skin is almost back to it’s baby soft skin that he had back at the hospital!
Leo still isn’t taking solids, so we are waiting to hear back from the regional center about his new therapy schedule. His PT said he has a 43% delay on gross motor skills and wants recommends 1-2 hours of therapy a week, his OT recommended 1 hr of therapy a week, and his teacher recommended 1 hr of therapy as well. Obviously 4 hours of therapy a week is a lot for a baby so they are trying to figure out what would be the best schedule for him. No matter what, Leo is still making lots of progress. His tummy time is looking so much stronger each week and he is developing, at his own pace. Dr Wang said that his motor skills and muscle tone is like of a 5 month old, so maybe in a month, he will automatically take solids and make development wise it’s too early for him. That’s what I’m hoping for… Overall though, Leo is a a super happy and healthy baby. He is so mellow, calm, and playful, he is the other sunshine of my life, the first being Lily of course =). Leo already has 2 teeth on the bottom of his jaw, now he has another tooth that’s trying to make it’s debut on the top jaw! Exciting! Hopefully he will start to put those chompers to good use soon, because who wouldn’t love to eat food?? Happy 9 months my little prince Leo, keep up all your hard work, and keep being your happy sweet self!
Leo Mastering Tummy Time
Leo’s first Valentine’s Day
Leo 37 Weeks
Leo 38 Weeks
Lily is so amazing. Her vocabulary is constantly growing, she uses words like “actually”, “probably”, “recognize”, and “disgusting” haha, etc. Her language is so strong, she speaks in full on complete sentences and lately she likes to start off all her thoughts with “you know…” haha. She is so observant and intuitive, she is super smart and thoughtful too. She’s very polite and loves to be helpful, not just at home, but at school and when we are out too. She likes to dress up and pick out her outfits for the day. She likes to wear jewelry and accessorize. She likes to carry a purse and bring her toys with her everywhere she goes, and share with everyone. Lily is expanding her food palette now too, she really likes broccoli, avocado, and Brussels sprouts! She is eating more meat too and sometimes will be hesitant at first but will eventually try new foods too. I’m glad she’s being more open and adventurous with not just her foods, but with daily activities too. She likes to jump of curbs and over ground cracks, she likes to point out the colors in the sky and point at school buses and motorcycles that zoom by. She constantly talks about how when it’s her birthday, she will be 4 and then 5 haha. She also is no longer drinking pediasure and graduated (finally) to whole milk, but with some chocolate syrup added…it’s still a huge milestone for her. She continues to love her baby Leo and loves watching him, making him laugh, and giving him kisses! I’m so proud of my princess Lily pad, keep on smiling and being your unique amazing self!!
Lily Valentine’s Day 2016
Lily’s Rainbow Coloring
Jumping though hoops
Where else would a princess eat her goldfishes?
Silly Lily
Here are some video fun of the kiddoes!
Saying Goodbye to Bà Cố
Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when it’s to someone you love. I never had the privilege of great grandparents, and I only had one grandmother up until the 3rd grade, so I feel like Lily and Leo and super lucky to have 4 grandparents and 3 great grandparents. Sadly though, we had to say goodbye to one special great grandparent this past weekend, and that was to their Bà Cố (great grandmother on the paternal side), Khoa’s Bà Nội (grandmother on dad’s side). I’m lucky to be a part of the last 10 years of her life, she lived a very full and happy life up to the age of 95! I don’t have many memories to share, but I do remember Lily visiting her a lot at Co Mười’s house a lot and Bà Nội would love to hold Lily and play with her. She would always be so excited and happy when Lily would come to visit. I was also very happy she got a chance to meet Leo and even hold him as well. She loved all her kids and grand kids and great grand kids very much, and she’s the glue that held the great big family together. Looking back we always wished we had more time, put in more effort to visit and make more memories, but I guess it just makes you reexamine your life now and remind you to put in the time and effort to those who mean most to you, because there’s no guarantee of tomorrow. We were lucky enough to say our last goodbyes in person before she passed last friday evening, right before she peacefully passed the next morning. So many people came to the viewing and the funeral, to pay their last respects, and you can just tell that she touched so many people’s lives. Everyone had nothing but wonderful stories to share, and so even though the day was sad, it was a nice celebration of her amazing life. Lily and Leo, if you ever want to know more about your Bà Cố, your dad, and aunts and uncle have many wonderful stories to share with you. Although you are probably too young to remember her in the futur, she won’t be forgotten, and I hope this post will be special to you two, so that you’ll always have these photos and memories with your great grandmother. Rest in peace Bà Nội, we all love you very much.
This is the beautiful poem that was the funeral program, and was beautifully recited by Aidan and Brooke as well:
We though of you with love today
But that is nothing new.
We thought about you yesterday
and days before that too
We think of you in silence
we often speak your name.
All we have now are memories
and your picture in a frame.
Your memory is our keepsake
with which we’ll never part.
God has you in his keeping
we have you in our hearts.
In life we loved you dearly
in death we love you still.
In our hearts you hold a place
no one can ever fill.
It broke our hearts to lose you
but you didn’t go alone.
For a part of us went with you
the day God took you home.
Also, here is a wonderful slideshow that Thai Anh, (Khoa’s cousin) made that played during the funeral services as well, HERE.
RIP Bà Cố/Bà Nội
07.24.1920 – 02.20.2016
Happy 8 Months Leo!
Leo 8 Months Old
Happy 8 Months Leo! Leo is about 16.8lbs and stretches about 27 inches long! He still drink a little over 5 ounces (165cc) at each feeding, 4 times a day, and is still sleeping very well through the night (about 12-14 hours straight!) Leo likes to babble a lot, most ba ba and on three very distinct occasions, he said mama! He will also say “ma” a lot too along with other sounds. He is finally reaching for his toes and is getting better at sitting by himself but he still needs assistance or else he’ll topple over after a few minutes. He is recovering very nicely since his surgery has well, he still has some stitches but it will go away soon. He likes to suck his thumb a lot now, probably due to teething. He has two very prominent teeth on the bottom but more will probably start peeping out soon since he is starting to drool more now too!
Leo w/Occupational Therapist Jan
Leo still hasn’t been taking solids very well, so he had a consultation with an occupational therapist, Jan, to help work with his feeding. I’ve been trying to give him puréed squash, but she suggested maybe trying peach or maybe something a little bit citrusy or cold even to wake up his taste buds so he knows that food is in his mouth, rather than something more subtle and luke warm. She also said his cheeks are very tight so we will have to go back to massaging his cheeks and mouth as well. Overall though, Leo is growing each day and is constantly making progress, slowly but surely! He is also starting to kick a lot more and rolls around all over the place now too! Some times it looks like he wants to crawl as well but doesn’t know how to quite get to his planned destination yet. He is better at holding onto a toy and shaking it up and down to play with it as well! He is getting sturdier and his neck is getting much stronger too.
Leo 32 Weeks Old
Leo 33 Weeks 2 Days Old
Leo 33 Weeks 4 Days Old
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! Happy year of the Monkey! Lily loves wearing her áo dài and Leo looks so handsome in his blue outfit as well! Lily is getting much more cooperative when it comes to me taking pictures now! Also, check out Lily getting pampered for her photoshoot (which she ended up not taking a picture for but still got paid! haha) for MGA Little Tikes HERE! She’s very into girly stuff these days, so this was a nice day for her! However this will be the last time she’ll be working for now, we will give her a break until she’s not as camera shy around strangers. Back to the Lunar New year though, Leo got to celebrate his first tết and he sure can back with lots of lucky li xi! Lily thinks all the money is suppose to go straight to her piggy bank and when my dad asked her what he will do with all her money, she says “nothing! You put it in your piggy bank!!” I trained her well hehe. Lily and Leo are always so happy and wonderful. Lily talks so much and is so brilliant and smart, she never cease to amaze me. Leo is so mellow and happy, he is truly a gift that keeps on giving. With this new year, I hope it brings new fun adventures, I hope it allows me to embrace change and hardships with confidence, and mostly, I hope it brings lots of love and happiness. I am still very sad that Luna is no longer with us, but it just further strengthens my life philosophy; Life is too short and precious, live your life how you want like how you want it to be, be the person you want to be, and always love and treat the people that mean most to you like there’s no tomorrow. You can see more pictures from our Tết festivities HERE.
Here’s some video fun of the kiddoes:
Happy 7 Months Leo!
Happy 7 months old my precious Leo! Leo weighs in at 16.15 pounds (11 percentile) and stretches about 26.5 inches long (20 percentile)! Leo is still wearing size 2 diapers but will soon move on up to size 3 probably in a couple weeks, and he has also been upgraded to the size 3 nipple flow! Leo is babbling a lot more these days too, he likes to say “aba baba aaaaaa ummm” haha. He’s very social and likes interacting with us and if you walk away and he’s not done playing with you yet, he’ll say “AHHHH!!” and pout and tell you don’t go and to come back!” How can you leave that cute little face? He also has 2 cute little baby teeth growing on the bottom and he’s starting to drool more due to teething. He’s also sucking on his thumb a lot too because of it, and he makes it look so tasty! Leo still love the floor gym and he recently started playing in the jumper as well. He seems to like it and doesn’t mind staying in it for a long period of time, which is great for his neck strength and seeing the world in an upright position. We plan to start Leo on solids now so stay tune for that update!
Leo’s old teacher from Sunny Days got a new job opportunity somewhere else, so we are sad to see her go, but we got a new teacher Megan! Leo is doing really well with his therapy but will also be getting some extra help with a physical therapist to help with some gross motor skills soon. Leo is really good at rolling over without getting stuck, and he can roll back onto his side too. It looks like he wants to start crawling soon too cause he’ll kick his feet and reach for toys in front of him, it’s really cute! Leo is getting pretty solid at sitting up and can last for a few mins now before tipping over! He is also holding onto his toys a little longer too and shakes his toys a little bit! It’s very amazing to watch him grow and progress. I’m always amazed by him and by my Lily pad, they never stop surprising me!
Two years ago on January 4th, another baby of ours went to heaven. I try my best to live a happy and love filled life for my angels. Leo does not replace what we’ve lost, but he is proof that there is hope and that miracles do happen for he is my rainbow baby. So even though I mourn for my other babies, my heart is full. (30 wks 1 day old) 😍💙🌈✨
Merry Christmas! Leo got to celebrate his first Christmas and he was spoiled with lots of love and gifts! It wasn’t Lily’s first Christmas but I do feel like she enjoyed this Christmas the most, which makes sense since she knows a lot more now and what to expect. One of Lily’s favorite presents this year was the power wheel that I got her, you can see her driving it in the video below like a pro! She’s such a fast learner, I’m so proud of her skills! Leo didn’t know how to open presents yet but he love watching all the festivities and was adored by everyone! I can’t help but get emotional that we got to celebrate the holidays with Leo this year because just a year ago, we were told that this would be impossible. I’m so grateful for my amazing Leo and I feel so blessed and lucky to be able to celebrate all these big and small occasions with my prince Leo (and my princess Lily). You can see more pictures from our Christmas festivities HERE!
Happy New Year 2016!
Video Fun!!
Happy 4 Months Leo!
Happy 4 Months to me sweet little prince Leo! Leo weighs in at 11.25 pounds, stretches 23.5 inches, and head measures at 15.25 inches. He is still under 0 percentile but he is growing on his own curve and that’s the important thing. He is 5% in height so I’d say compare to his weight, he’s a tall boy! hehe. Leo has been having some dry skin and it’s too even all around to be excema so his pediatrician feels it’s probably related to his tet18p, so he recommended putting Aquafor on it. It really helped a lot and I think in a couple days his skin will go back to it’s super soft baby skin that everyone is so jealous over! Leo also had his hearing diagnostics again last week and I am happy to report that his hearing is now normal! He can now hear the low tones just fine and there’s just some remaining fluids in his ears. They suggested him see an Ear Nose Throat doctor but his pediatrician says he’s still pretty small so lets just wait it out a little longer and see if it’ll drain naturally.
Leo 16 Weeks
Leo 17 Weeks
Leo has been doing well in his therapy sessions, he’s had 3 so far. He is working on his motor skills and working on his reaching and grabbing skills. He is also working on tummy time to strengthen his neck as well. His therapist, Amy, said that development wise he is almost at the 4 month mark. We just need to continue working with him with, but overall he is doing great! He is cooing a lot more now compared to just a couple weeks ago! His voice is super cute!! Leo is very happy and calm and loves to play. Amy said he is a very social baby and loves people, especially his mommy! She said that I am his motivator and that he will always try to find me and see where I am, so I will be his toy and try to get him to look up at me during tummy time, and encourage him to push himself up to find me. He has been doing really well in terms of movement though, he almost rolled over from back to tummy all by himself! He is very good at rolling onto his side though. He likes to sleep on his side since we put him on his side to help him digest and in case he throws up, so I think he prefers that now. His feeding is improving a lot now too, he takes the bottle a lot quicker now and can finish it in about 20-30 mins now! Once in awhile it’ll still take him almost an hour, but he’s doing so much better. He occasionally throws up but now it’s down to maybe once a day instead of twice a day with some small spit ups in between. I’m so happy that he’s overcoming so many obstacles that are put in front of him. Leo is so amazing and strong, he is my inspiration! I’m so proud of him!!
Leo 4 Months Old
Lily has been such an amazing and wonderful loving sister as well. She always gives Leo kisses and has been doing really well with him being her new roomie too!! Lily is so silly and has such a big beautiful personality, I just love her to pieces!! Her current favorite shows on netflix and youtube are Octonauts, Masha and the Bear, Dragon Tales, and Peppa Pig. She also recently discovered Handy Manny and My Little Pony too. She loves strawberry and watermelon ice cream (aka frozen yogurt haha). She has a ginormous sweet tooth, I think that’s mommy’s fault…hehe…, and she is so sweet, helpful, and loving. She pretty much talks like a normal little person, it’s so amazing how big her vocabulary is. Sometimes she articulates certain spots in words that makes her sound like she has an accent, it’s super cute! Lily loves to cut and glue paper, paint, do lots of drawing and arts and crafts. She loves playing with bubbles, balls, and tools. She also likes books and reading stories out loud too. She loves to wearing dresses (particularly the “beautiful one with all the colors” that I made for her, and head bands as well. She is so bright and cheerful, her happiness just explodes from her little body. I love you so much Lily, you’re my amazing little Lily pad!
Enjoy some videos of the kiddos below!!
Happy 100 Days Leo!
Leo 100 Days
Happy 100 Days Leo! Leo turned 100 days old last week on the 15th and now he is 15 weeks and a day old. He weighs about 10.6 pounds. He’s only gained 0.6 lbs in the past two weeks, very slow progress but I suppose that’s better than nothing. He has also been having trouble keeping in his food and would throw up a couple times a day, but he’s really sweet and would just give you a smile to let you know he’s ok afterwards. As long as he doesn’t go under 10 pounds, then he is fine. Also, he’s been really constipated lately too due to the high calorie formula, so his doctor said 30ml of pedialyte a day should help! We upped his food a couple days ago so now he should be taking in 105cc at each feeds, that’s about 3.5 ounces. He smiles so much now, especially when I’m talking to him and playing with him. He loves any kind of mobiles and would be entertained forever by a spinning or stationary mobile! He’s very curious and alert and loves to observe everything and just take it all in. He also started sleeping through the night last week, about 10-13 hours straight, and is doing great as Lily’s new roomie! She was very excited when I asked her if it’s ok for Leo so sleep in her room and she said Yes and always gives him a kiss goodnight before she goes to bed! She’s the sweetest big sister ever! I’m so proud of her.
Leo 14 Weeks
Leo 15 Weeks
Leo had his first Early Start therapy session today and he did really great! His therapist, Amy, start to do some tummy time with him and he did the best tummy time so far! His head was all the way up and help it for a few seconds several times! She showed me a couple strategies to help support him and encourage him with tummy time so I’m excited to work with him more on that. Also, she did some play time with some songs and tested his tracking as well. She said he tends to tense up his toes and fingers, so she suggest we play with him and do some stretching and certain play activities that she showed me, to help him relax and loosen him up. I feel like Leo will be in great hands with Amy and I can’t wait to work with her and Leo and watch him grow and develop into an amazing man. He’s already doing so great, I’m so proud of him!
Leo with this therapist Amy.
Overall, it was a great first session. It seems like he is pretty well on track for the most part. He’s not cooeing as much as but his tummy time is getting there! It was a little emotional personally for me to have the therapist work with Leo, not because Leo was delayed or anything like that, I just got emotional inside because life is just so crazy. Even thought I’ve been through the first 3 years of motherhood with Lily, it’s like starting from scratch again with Leo. I do feel more prepared in certain things but the session today just made me realize how much more I can do, there will always be more that I can do for both of them. Sometimes I just feel helpless and lost and not knowing what else I can do to help Leo or not knowing that there are all these other things that I can do for him in general. So having her expose me to all these little activities and exercises definitely gives me hope and so much more of an appreciation for her and the resources available to us. Parenting will always be hard work, and I’m more than willing to put all my love and effort into giving them the best chance at a wonderful life. I’m very excited to do whatever I can. I think that’s the important thing, not just to have the desire but to have the motivation and drive to be a great parent. The smile on my kids’ faces tells me I’m doing a wonderful job, and keeps me going.
Also, can’t forget about my sweet beautiful baby girl! We took her to Billy Beez at the Anaheim Garden Walk this past weekend and she loved it!! She was so excited before we even got there. We played for about an hour and a half and there were still tons of things she didn’t get to play with yet. She even passed by an area that had steering wheels and she goes “oh, I didn’t see that yet” haha, so cute! She’s the joy of my life. I love her to pieces!
Happy 3 Months Leo!
Happy 3 Months my little prince Leo! Leo weighs 10.05 pounds now (still under 0 percentile but he’s growing so that’s all that matters) and stretches 22.5 inches long (3 percentile)! He is growing bigger and stronger each day and he developing into such a bright and happy boy! Leo is starting to smile more now and is very alert and likes to look at his surroundings and just take it all in. We are letting him sleep for a 5 hour stretch at night but we will start to let him sleep longer now that he’s gaining a decent amount of weight! He feeds about every 4 hours, and takes about 95cc per feeding. He still throws up now and then, especially when we increase his intake, and he takes about an hour to finish his bottle, but lately he’s starting to take maybe 45 mins! Leo had his hearing diagnostics a couple weeks ago and for both ears, his high and mid tones are normal but he has trouble picking up the low tones. He has more trouble in his left ear than in the right. 
The doctor thinks it could be due to fluids in his ears that prevents the ear drums from moving properly but they need to check to make sure it’s not nerve damage, and they couldn’t test him at the time since it needs to be super quiet for the test to take place and by the time it came to that portion of the test, he was already awake and feeding (to keep him from shaking the equipment off his head and ears) and the sucking of the bottle was too loud for the test. So we will come back end of September to see if it’s due to nerve damage or if it’s just fluids. If it is just fluids then eventually he will be able to hear low tone sounds but the fluids can come back. If it’s nerve damage then it will be permanent and the low tone sounds will be very soft and hard for him to hear, but it’s not serious enough for him to need a hearing aid. I think that’s pretty good outcomes!
Leo 10 Weeks Old
Leo 11 Weeks Old
Leo 12 Weeks Old (PC: Phong Truong)
3 Months Old
Check out these video clips of Leo during his tummy time, making silly faces, and some bonding time with his Ông Ngoại (grandpa)!
Overall, Leo is doing so great and it makes me super happy! Sometimes he does a vigorous head shake that’ll be on and off for 10-15 minutes, and after doing some research on the trusty internet (haha), I concluded that it could be due to blockage inside his ears and so it’s probably bothering him and he’s trying to get rid of the annoyance. I would massage his ears when this happens and he actually calms down so I feel like that could be it. He is so calm and mellow and happy, it just warms me heart to be with him. I’ve also met with a case worker from the Regional Center of Orange County and she is setting Leo up with an in-home infant program for babies with special chromosomal needs. A therapist will be coming once a week for an hour to work with Leo and make sure he’s developing on track. If he is showing any signs of delays or needs help reaching his development goals, the therapist will work with him to get him to where he needs to be. Also, if the therapist feels that Leo needs extra help from an occupational or physical therapist, then she will make that recommendation and get that set up for him as well. This will be great for Leo regardless of delays or not because this will only help Leo become a healthy strong and smart individual! Leo also went on his first family vacation to San Diego and got to go to the beach and watch his first sunset and he loved it!
Also, Lily is such an amazing big sister to him. So far, she hasn’t shown any signs of jealousy! I try to be very conscious about how I treat her when Leo is around and even when other people are interacting with Leo, I try to make sure to give Lily attention too so that she doesn’t feel like everyone is so focused on Leo that we forgot about her. Whenever she comes home from school, she always asks where her baby Leo is or if she sees him she goes up to him and gives him a kiss! She’s so super sweet! She likes to hold him and always asks to feed him and say he’s hungry and needs his milk haha. She likes to watch us change his diaper and would sit and watch him get a bath too! She amazes me so much and I cannot be more proud of my precious Lily pad.
Lily also started the new school year at LePort a couple weeks ago. She is really cute and wants to bring her baby Leo to school with her too, so I thought it would be cute to take this picture with Leo inside her backpack haha. Lily also made a new friend at school, a new student named Zoey and her teacher Ms. April says they’re inseparable! That’s really cute that she can make friends so easily. She’s still such a happy and spunky little toddler. She talks so much now and speaks in complete sentences, it’s like she’s a tiny person! You can read some of the super cute and clever things she says HERE. She understands everything I say and hears everything too. She’s always paying attention so its harder to get things past her, she’s definitely a smart cookie! She loves to draw, paint, color, and do all sorts of arts and crafts. I feel like she’s definitely my mini me! Haha! She also likes to paint her nails, wear hair accessories, dresses (no pants!), and is very into sandals now since she sees us wearing them all the time. She also still loves minions, she likes to play in her kitchen and make me a “special lunch”, play with play doh and now legos! She also likes to play with her toy cars and guns as well! So well rounded! Her favorite shows are the moment are Masha and the Bear, Octonauts, Dragon Tales, How to Train a Dragon, Cinderella, Wreck it Ralph, and the Minions Movie! She has moments where she’ll be very good at eating but then other moments where she hardly eats. She’s so easily distracted at home but when we do go out, she tends to be better at eating, probably because there’s no toys to play with haha. I love you my Lily pad, you are so wonderful and amazing, you light up my life! Happy 3 months Leo, you are such an amazing little fighter, I love you so much!
Here’s a couple videos of Lily being a wonderful big sister burping her baby brother and then another video of her at Target, and then one of our fun at the pool together!
Leo’s Homecoming!
Home is wherever I am with you.
Since the last update, a lot has happened. After a few days of making such progress, on Friday June 26th, Leo started to slow down on his feeds and started to finish only half of his bottles and sometimes less. Friday night he even had to gavage one of his entire feedings because the nurse thought it would be best to give him a break and let him rest. I felt saddened by this because I feared he would be regressing again and the prospect of him coming home was within reach and now I felt like it’s so far away again. I also felt like because of his move to the new room, maybe the new nurses aren’t as familiar with his situation and decided to go easy on him rather than trying harder to see what he’s capable of. Overall it was just very frustrating. The next day he continued to do about half or less than half his feeds and he would just be unmotivated to continue eating. The GI doctors told us the next day that they will reconsider the gtube again and that on Monday they will have a meeting to schedule the surgery and plan a course of action for Leo.
Leo 3 Weeks Old
Hearing that made me devastated because of my hope for my little Leo to be home keeps getting bounced around and I can’t seem to get a firm hold on it. I didn’t understand why he suddenly didn’t feed as well, there could have been many variables and many reasons, but I had no answers. The unknown is frustrating and the unknown of the future is even more frustrating and stressful. All I knew was what was happening at the current moment and I wish I could do something to help him, but I felt so powerless. How could he go from almost removing his feeding tube to the possibility of a gtube? It’s so hard and stressful. I wish I can take away his struggles and give him the best life possible. I know he’s doing the best he can though, so I am proud of him regardless.
Here is a video of Leo (3 wks old) smiling in his sleep! His arm broke free from the swaddle too and he just looks so cozy and comfy. I can watch him sleep all day. I bet he’s dreaming about coming home to his mommy! He looks so happy and peaceful; it warms my heart! I love you Leo so much!
Leo having sweet dreams.
Sunday he continues to take less than half his feeds, but then come monday morning, he finally finished an entire bottle again!! My dear Leo, you are so unpredictable and sure like to play with your mommy’s emotions! He then continued to finish more than half his feeds and finished a couple more bottles on his own! One of the GI doctors came by and asked me how Leo was doing and told me that Leo’s feeding tube is probably very uncomfortable and told me I should just pull it out. I thought he was joking, but he said he was serious and that he doesn’t need the feeding tube anymore! I was in shock and asked “Are you sure…right now?” So he went to confirm with his Neonatologist (Dr. Bixby, also from Hoag!) and a couple hours later, I got to witness them take Leo’s feeding tube out! It was really quick, only a few seconds once they got the tape removed from his cheek, but those few seconds made such a big difference in Leo’s accomplishment as well as his comfort. I was so happy for him and in disbelief at the same time! They’ve been telling us that he had to finish all his bottles for at least 48 hours before he can have the tube removed but he only did it for maybe half a day and the tube is now gone…I’m so confused but I will celebrate anyways!
No more feeding tube!
Leo & Mommy
The next few days, the plan is to have him on a quota where he needs to finish a minimum amount of milk by the end of each shift (12 hours). If he keeps this up for a few days, then he can come home, and if he’s unable to reach his quota and start to slip again, then they will schedule the surgery for the gtube. I like the quota system a lot better because if he doesn’t finish a bottle in one feeding, he’s given the chance to make up for it in the next feedings. This seems much more natural and a lot less stressful and pressure for him to finish. Leo did really great and surpassed his quota each night and we started hearing talks about Leo being discharged! It’s a good sign when they start giving you papers to sign! Dr. Bixby (one of his Neonatologist) said that Leo’s weight gain isn’t where it should be on the curve, but that could be due to his underlying chromosome disorder, but as long as he’s making his own progress then it’s ok, and it won’t keep him in NICU longer than necessary. His pediatrician and genetecists with be monitoring his weight gain once he’s out of NICU. As of Thursday July 2nd, he weighs 6 pounds 3 ounces!
Stay with me mommy.
On Thursday, the nurse told me that the GI specialists feels like there’s no need for Leo to be in NICU anymore but the Neonatologist on call, Dr. Sun, wanted to give Leo another day to make sure he’s feeding consistently. The nurse started to check things off the list to get ready for discharge and had me sign a couple documents too. I had to make sure I didn’t get too excited due in case something changes. The emotional rollercoaster I’ve been on have been crazy and so I wanted to try to keep my emotions in check and not get too carried away. However, all I can think about is the possibility of my Leo coming home the very next day. Well, it is now Friday and we came in and the nurse said Leo will be discharged today! The word “discharged” has never sounded so good to me ever!! Haha! I still tried really hard to keep my cool, I’ll jump for joy once I leave the hospital with him by my side. The nurse went over some documents and things we need to follow up on once we leave the hospital, and we finished signing all the discharge papers. After he leaves the hospital, we just have to do his hearing test (since he failed it in his left ear) and bilateral hydronephrosis ultrasound follow up (due to fluids in his kidney) follow up along with his usual pediatrician and geneticist appointments. We had to wait for his medication to be filled at the Choc Pharmacy and then a volunteer will take us and Leo down to pick up his medication (Prevacid for his reflux) and then we can go home from there! We got to take off all his leads and wires, he was finally free! I put his Little Ass Kicker onesie on him that I purposely bought for this occasion, and then we waited. It was an anxious wait but after a half hour, the volunteer finally came. We had to put Leo in his carseat and then we put that in the wagon that the volunteer will use to transport Leo. We got down to the basement level where the pharmacy is, and while waiting at the counter to pick up Leo’s medication, I got teary eyed because I can’t believe this is happening, and that my Leo is finally coming home! Once we got to the parking lot, we got to put him into the car and we were ready to go home!!
He was so alert during the whole transport to the pharmacy and then to the car. It was so cute because he was so calm and just sort of looked around at all the new surroundings. I realized that he hasn’t really seen much of the world besides the NICU and the hallways of the hospitals and inside an ambulance. I can’t wait to show him all the wonders of the world and go on many wonderful adventures with him. I sat in the back seat next to my precious Leo and held his tiny hand and watched him slowly fall asleep. We started our drive home and I just got so overwhelmed with happiness that tears started to flood my eyes and stream out of my eyes, I started to cry tears of joy. All my feelings of anxiety, stress, and worry just came pouring out of me and I felt a renewed sense of relief, serenity, and happiness. My heart feels so much fuller and so much lighter. I still can’t believe that this day is finally here. I waited 27 long hard days for this day. It’s been such a rough, crazy, and emotional journey. I’m just so happy that I can finally start living my life with my Leo. I’m so proud of my little prince, he is such a brave little fighter. He’s definitely beating all the odds and will continue to leap over hurdles and show the world how amazing he is for the rest of his wonderful life. I love you so much Leo, you make me and everyone around us so happy! Welcome home my sweet precious Leo!
My heart’s at home when my hand is holding yours.
