31st Annual NICU Graduation Picnic
Greetings to everyone.
Today, Xavier attended the 31st Annual NICU Graduation picnic. Though we attended two years ago, we missed last year. Xavier was not eating well this time last year, and we had a conflict in our schedule. Two years ago, Xavier was still on oxygen, and out of the NICU only two weeks. Wow, have we come a long way!
This year two of us were able to attend; Rebecca was in Wyoming as this was her Guard Weekend.
Today, Xavier was overwhelmed by the crowds and the activity. He clung to Daddy tightly as we signed in. The theme this year was "Under the Big Top". There were clowns and carnival-style games. There was a rock climbing wall, the mini train which is there every year. Music, food and a nice crowd.
Xavier clung to Dad until he saw the Tower of Bubbles. The Tower was four twenty-foot ladders connected to create a "quadpod". At the top, a mechanized bubble blower supplied by a five gallon bucket of bubble solution. It created hundreds of bubbles a minute. Xavier was the first to see it begin its operation. He wanted down out of Dad's arms and away he ran!
After the Tower of Bubbles, we played a beanbag toss game. Xavier won a little Frisbee-like throwing disc. Next door was a little duck pond with the ducks floating along a current. Pick up a duck and you get the prize listed on the bottom; Xavier scored a piece of gold treasure.
Xavier was fascinated by the mini train; we even ate lunch along its path so he could watch. When I tried to put him in a car, however, he began to cry and want back up in Daddy's arms. He did not ride the mini train today. (by the way, Daddy is too tall to fit into the mini train).
After attempting the mini train, we went to the Wheel of Prizes. At registration, Xavier got a ticket to use at the wheel. There were hundreds of toys, beach towels, coloring books, sidewalk chalk, etc. Xavier spun and it landed on a wildcard. He got his choice of prizes.
How he saw them among the piles of toys, I still don't know. He squirmed to get out of my arms and headed straight for them: an eight-pack of bubble solution. (Have I mentioned Xavier loves to blow bubbles?).
Xavier's favorite game was the "grab a cup and fill it up with lemonade, then dump the cup and start again" game. He was not happy when I would not let him continue playing with the big coolers of water and lemonade.
We ran into only one of Xavier's NICU nurses: Windy. She found us, actually. Windy was Xavier's primary care nurse; she followed Xavier and was the single point of contact for any questions about his stay, condition, etc. It was nice to catch up with her.
After the group picture of attending NICU graduates, we left for home. It was past Xavier's nap time. He ended up getting a twenty minute nap on the way home. He would not go down again. Perhaps the excitement of all the activity kept him awake. It did make the rest of the day a little interesting as he was Mr. Cranky; not even the free clown nose he got at registration could lighten his mood.