Sunday was a big day for you Maeve! It was the UNC NICU/NCC Graduate Reunion 2016. It was hosted by the hospital at the Friday Center and it was such a fun event! We had been anticipating this party for months and it was bigger and more fun than we imagined!
When we arrived the first things we saw were the fire truck, ambulance and helicopter parked out front for you all to see/play inside. It's really something to think that many of the kids at the reunion arrived at the NICU for the first time via helicopter. It reminds me of how important the UNC NICU is not just to our family but to so many around the state.
While waiting in line to sit in the helicopter, we ran into Ford, a little one who was in the NICU with you. He was happy and healthy and adorable, and it was nice to chat with his parents.
Once inside you got to watch as an artist made you a flower out of a balloon, got your photo taken in a photobooth, saw Rameses and Wool E. Bull, saw a horse, ate a cupcake, and got a cool new t-shirt. And there were just so many babies there, Maeve! Some tiny, just out of the NICU and some a bit older. There were wagons carrying twins and triplets. It was adorable. There is a reunion every two years, and we already can't wait for the next one!
They asked each graduate to make and bring a scrapbook page for a big book that stays in the NICU (I think it is called the Album of Hope or something like that) to encourage parents and families of children currently in the NICU. For your page we cut out photos of you in the NICU along with more current ones. It was cute, and of course, a reminder of how far you've come and how lucky we are!
And there you are in your new shirt. You couldn't wait to show it off to naenae!!! xo
