My Dottie Turns 1

It's so crazy to think of Dottie turning one in a little over a week. 

In the last two weeks alone, she has gone from being 100% dependant on a g-tube for all of her nutrition, to eating table food like a champ. She has interest and wishes to taste and scarf down everything possible that's offered to her. Her speech therapist told me yesterday to introduce fresh and whole sweet potato, avocado and banana. It literally brought tears to my eyes. 

She has also gone from barely army crawling, to crawling on all fours (at the speed of lightening), as well as pulling herself up on furniture. 

Dottie was 10 days shy of 3 months old when she came home from the NICU, getting g-tube feeds 20 hours a day and vomiting every hour due to her Panhypopituitarism. At the time she had another undiagnosed issue that no one knew anything about, called Craniosynostosis. 

Since her surgery mid-August for her Craniosynostosis, she has developmentally made leaps and bounds. 

I could not be more proud to call her my daughter. She's a fighter of the fiercest kind, and never gives up in the face of adversity. 

We call her our little firecracker, and I know that it's that tenacity deep in her soul that will carry her through any obstacles she will have in her life. 

There's nothing like knowing already at a year old, that I am raising a strong girl who can make anything happen in her life that she wants. It's pretty awesome to think that she's been through more than many people will in a lifetime, and continues to pull through with flying colors time after time. 

Mommy loves you, Dottie girl. 

Happy Birthday Love!