This week was a successful- and fun!- one. I love how quickly these teeny, tiny hats work up. I made a few different sizes (since all baby heads are a little different!) and worked with yellow yarn to keep it "gender neutral". That little sweater was already partially done- I just decided to finish it off this week and donate that as well. It is a tiny sweater, much more suited to a rather skinny preemie than a full-term infant. Lord-willing, none of my friends or family members will need it...
I had no reason to drive to Indianapolis this week, so I chose to just call the NICU and let them know I'd be paying them a visit later this month. My daughter has a follow-up appointment with her eye doctor, so I'll already be at the children's hospital. We'll be out of "RSV season" by then, so it'll be a great time to pay our beloved nurses a visit! On that same trip, I plan to stop off at the Ronald McDonald House to drop off another box of food/toiletries that I've gathered over the past few months for them. Even though she's still quite young, it will be good for my daughter to be with me on these trips- to witness giving in action and to learn to view it as just a part of who we are. This is one of my wishes for my children... that giving and hospitality will become so second-nature that it does not feel like a "project", per se, but just a normal, everyday part of life.
As I worked on those little hats this past week, I was reminded of how caliming and cathartic crocheting can be for me. I truly adore handwork and I simply must thank my Grandma Jane for teaching me how to do it when I was only six years old. I also enjoyed how the process took me back in time to when my daughter was so teeny tiny and still in the NICU. When she was a couple weeks old, this was the hat that would have fit her little head:
It pays to remember that.
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To read more about this Lenten journey and why I'm doing it, please go here.
Be sure to stop by later today to find out what my sixth and final project will be!
One of our favorite ways to remember just how small Addy was is to look at the tiny hat that someone had made and donated to the NICU. She wore that hat often and we were able to bring it home with us as a reminder. People are shocked when they see how tiny it is and how little that very first preemie diaper was too.
ReplyDeleteI shadow boxed Reese's mini diaper, hat and wrist band here:
ReplyDeletehttp://benzabulletin.blogspot.com/2008/01/diapers.html
The effect is much more dramatic in person when you can hold your full sized child up next to it and see the awesome difference.
That is one tiny hat!
ReplyDeleteCome visit me and teach me how to crochet, okay?!