Standing Tall

One of the two dogs in baby’s family has been sick with cancer since roughly the time of baby’s birth, eight and a half months ago. In fact, it appeared, briefly, that we would need to put Charlie down the same week that baby was born. Instead, chemotherapy we elected to pursue has put him in remission for all of baby’s young life.

There have been bumps in the road, however; the one we hit this week was serious enough that mom, dad, and baby all went to the vet together today for Charlie’s chemo – in case end-of-life decisions had needed to be made. I am happy to report that all four of us returned home from the vet; baby and Charlie each received no shortage of love from the staff, and baby’s first Good Friday didn’t involve her mother and father’s hearts being torn from their chests.

During one of her dozens of standing sessions today, baby stood for nearly an hour at one point. Though she needs a chair, couch, or table to pull herself to standing and to steady herself once up, she looks amazingly grown-up for someone who a few short months ago was learning to roll over.