Happiness is...

Happiness is waking up in the morning to birds singing and a beautiful blue sky. Happiness is hearing the pitter patter of little feet and the 'goo goo ga ga coo coo ka ka' of a singing toddler. Happiness is walking into a hospital room and being greeted by smiling nurses who tell you that your babies are doing better every day. Happiness is giving your almost 7-week-old baby her first real bath. Happiness is seeing your baby's whole face and head for the first time without any tubes or wires or hats. Happiness is having your toddler run toward you with open arms and a huge smile when you pick him up from daycare. Happiness is seeing friends and colleagues who make you smile and remind you of how many people in the world really care about you.

So that was my day today. A very nice day. Is life actually better when the sun is shining or does it just seem like it? :) The best news today is that Sofia and Olivia are doing well. Really well. Both of them have an oxygen mask on for those moments when they are stressed or feeling tired, but they are breathing on their own...all the time. So many things happened today too to make them seem like 'real' babies. When Olivia was crying in her incubator, I put my arms through the holes and picked her up to rock her a bit. She stopped crying almost immediately. Then I got to give Sofia a real bath in a real little tub. She had some oxygen part of the time, but mostly she was totally free from all wires. She was just a naked little baby in a tub. I was of course totally nervous holding her there because she was really slippery and squirmy, but she seemed to enjoy it. I am actually shocked when I look at the pictures now, because she looks like a normal-sized baby. She's not, but wow....she looks really really big. And I look really really happy. :)))



Sofia after her bath with her cute clothes from Grandma:




I also got to hold Olivia in my lap today in the way that you normally hold babies (i.e. not in my shirt). I held her in front of me, facing me, and had a nice long talk with her as she stared at my face. She amazingly stayed awake for half an hour just looking at me and sticking out her tongue. It was wonderful.

Hoping that the sun will be shining tomorrow too. :)