7 months old- can you believe it???

I've found myself holding this baby a lot this week. Not just holding her like always, but with a special gratitude. So many things had to go right for me to be holding this special blessing in my arms. We are so blessed. I don't worry much anymore but I find myself still a little overprotective. 

The other day, a neighbor I had just barely met asked if she could hold Maisy. I hesitated and then realized that I didn't need to be so careful. The neighbor handed her back anyway the second that the conversation turned to surgery and what Maisy has been through.

 Maisy is becoming a sturdy little thing. Gracie held her for the first time standing up the other day and they were both tickled. Maisy is starting to feel like "one of the kids" rather than just "the baby". She can sit up and play and is crawling. About the crawling, she is definitely on her hands and knees and moving across the room, but the only problem is that it is backwards :(. The poor girl is getting so frustrated. I think she'll be so much happier once she can cruise across the room. I think she is going to be a real mover. Maisy has been SOOO squirmy in my arms lately. I have to make sure that I'm really paying attention so I don't drop her because her movements are usually very sudden.

A few weeks ago, I went to the doctor for Maisy's well child check-up. The surgeons and cardiologists had told us about a possible side effect of surgery that might manifest itself at 6-8 weeks post surgery. The symptoms were going to be unexplained fussiness and a low-grade fever. A few days preceding the appointment we had seen just a little bit of that and so I was ready to ask the doctor all about that. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Maisy's first tooth right at the appointment before the doctor came in. This is the earliest any of my kids have gotten a tooth. It's cute.

Maisy has also mastered this tricky position.

"I can't handle it!!! I just want to go forward"