heartstuff

my sister's best friend has an 18 month old daughter named annika. my sister and annika's mom have been best friends for 20 years. my sister is annika's godmother.

by and large she's a healthy, happy little girl, has exhibited normal growth, development, language acquisition, etc. she doesn't let her mother talk on the phone because annika will pick up her pretend phone and jabber into it, climbing into mama's lap. she has some funny word sequences that are quite common, but funny nonetheless, like saying "thankyouwelcome" when someone gives her something. to fall asleep, she recites her vocabulary until she's no longer awake. the baby monitor lets her parents hear her saying, "head, nose, eyes, cheeks, mouth, smile, fingers, hands, feet, baby, milk, crackers, dudley, dog, cat, mama, papa, annika, funny, eat, please, thankyouwelcome, snack, treat, sad, bark, moo, flower, dunner, laugh, work, please..." until the words get more slurred until they stop completely.

next wednesday the 29th, annika is having open heart surgery to fix a congenital heart defect wherein she had holes all over the inside of her heart, making the chambers leak into one another. needless to say her parents are very worried. so if you don't mind, please say a prayer, light a candle, offer happy thoughts, warm fuzzies, etc. for annika, her parents, my sister, and the surgeons next wednesday. thanks!