I think it is natural for a person to believe that their child is the best at everything they do. I guess it is what you would hope a parent feels toward their little one; pride, joy, ebullience. But seriously, Vivienne is absolutely winning at being preemie. She is willful yet content, tolerant yet vocal. She grips our fingertips with vigor and force then buries her head into our chests and gently coos. Her facial expressions, even early on, are hysterical. Like an intimate theatrical performance, she takes her stage and winks and frowns, then smiles and chuckles. One moment she is bashful another she is twisting around to take in her outside world, perhaps to play off her surroundings. Then as if a spotlight is shining down on her, she erects herself and her eyes become saucers, starring straight into my heart. Deer in headlights. She is Bambi.

She makes her father forget there is anything else going on in that moment. She takes me to a place that I never knew existed. She has deeply, and with purpose, placed us on a path to loving someone besides ourselves. Vivienne has ultimately made us selfless. We do things for her now. She has more than anything created a family, one that loves one another with an intensity never imagined. Now, I would say that makes her pretty special, one could say gifted. But, maybe it's just me.