Happy 6th Birthday, Audrey

It's all birthdays this time of year. Audrey is turning six this week and we are all set for her "Princess Party," but not at all ready to admit she is really growing up. Last week the public relations people at the Little Company of Mary Hospital, where Audrey was born, called us and invited us to the grand opening of their new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and asked if we would mind taking questions from the press about our experience in the "old" NICU six years ago.

All the doctors and many of the nurses there remember us and Audrey. We were happy to say good things about the hospital, but it tough to relive those first few weeks of Audrey's life. We were happy to have a baby, but so afraid for her life and health that we couldn't exactly celebrate. It's all over now and we are blessed with a healthy, lively daughter, and rarely have a minute to remember the difficult times.




But there are some good memories, like Audrey being nicknamed "Scrappy" and "The Ringleader" by all the nurses. It took us so long to name her they had to improvise and called her by the names that suited her most. "Scrappy" because she was so strong it took two nurses to put an IV in her tiny ankle. "The Ringleader" because they said once she started to cry every baby in the NICU started to cry - if she was quiet, they were quiet. When we finally decided on the name Audrey it was because it means "noble strength." Audrey is still a very strong, dynamic personality. The intensity and energy she showed during those first weeks is still evident.







We are trying to channel all the energy to positive pursuits. Audrey has tried a little bit of every sport and several kinds of dance. She just loves to move. Some of the things I say the most these days is "Walk!" or "Don't climb on that, we are not at the playground." She's getting taller and, I think, not used to her height and that makes the mishaps more and more frequent. One day when her coordination equals her energy we are going to have a real contender - for anything and everything.







Audrey has taken to kindergarten pretty well. We are all adjusting to this new life of responsibility. She has made some sweet little friends and loves her teacher, Ms. Schrank. Our first season of soccer went pretty well, too, and I have to admit it was dream come true to be the mom on the sidelines at her games. She was not always thrilled with the outcomes of her games, but she liked her coach and teammates and kicking the ball and what more can you expect?



Audrey is a typical kid in many ways: rejects vegetables, loves pizza and macaroni and cheese, postpones bedtime as long as possible, wants to watch TV all day, can't blow her nose, isn't sure how to stand up to her little sister, and has a lot of questions about how the world works.






On the other hand she is extra special to us and we notice the things that seem so unique: the way she sings all the time, her boundless energy and pursuit of fun, her expressiveness and affectionate nature, the way she seems to have inherited Mark's artistic skills and my descriptive abilities.

And we think she is just beautiful inside and out. We can't believe she's been in our lives for 6 years now - we're so lucky and so grateful she's ours. Happy Birthday, Audrey.


December 2003




December 2004




December 2005




December 2006




December 2007




December 2008