Spider

I get as squeamish as the next person when it comes to spiders.  I'm no Ron Weasley, but I prefer my spiders outside and away from me.  I hate walking through spiderwebs, I hate losing that spider you were just about to kill, I hate the crunch the big ones make when you squash them in your wad of toilet paper.  Yuck.

However unnerving and creepy spiders are, they are pretty remarkable.  Those resilient little suckers always manage to jump out of the toilet paper wad when I haven't squeezed it tight enough.  Or they expertly find the one tiny crack in the wall and wedge all eight legs inside so you can't get them.  Or there's their little web flying trick they do.  Or they climb up that water spout again and again an again.  

Whether it's escaping the wrath of Sarah, or getting where they need to go, they never give up.

So, it's very fitting that Olivia's number one jam is Itsy Bitsy Spider.  It was the first song she showed interest in and remains her favorite.  It is sung in our home what feels like hundreds of times each day and is so loved that Olivia got a special Itsy Bitsy Spider finger puppet book from Santa just a month ago.  

Olivia is my very own itsy bitsy spider.  Of course, I only want to squish her cheeks with kisses and only use tissue to squash her snotty nose but she is my ever resilient little thing.  She amazes me with her energy and excitement for life.  When it comes to playing, she's more of a lover and will often let others take toys from her but when it comes to life she is a fighter.  Though she can't tell me what's wrong directly she uses her own methods of letting me know something's up.  She never slows down, even when her heart and body are exhausted.  She plays through the blue tinged fingers and toes and dances through the panting.  Even on the rare occasions when it is all too much, Olivia takes her rest, waits for the sun to dry the rain, and climbs up the spout again.  

Olivia had her cath a couple of days ago.  We were relieved to receive good news.  Olivia's numbers are good.  With a couple of collaterals coiled she is set to go and we are already seeing an improvement in her sats.  I'm sitting here watching her play with her stacking rings, trying as hard as she can to fit them onto her feet and wearing them as bracelets.  I can see the leftover sticky residue from her bandages on her leg and neck.  The evidence of her continual fight is right there.  The evidence of her strength resides in that mischievous glimmer in her beautiful brown eyes, in her sweet smiles that she hands out to all who just look, and her determination in getting that Elmo beanie on her head just right.  Olivia picked a pretty good favorite song.