We had a special event to attend today and a reason to get out of the house for something “social”. The hospital has a program called CHIEF which stands for Complex Congenital Heart Infant Evaluation and Follow-Up Program and it is all about a network of support and resources for medically fragile kids leaving the hospital after treatment. Every year they hold a graduation ceremony for all of the children that have successfully gone home. So Brendan got to go have a little recognition!
It is a big PR event for the hospital and several of the local news stations were there. (I have yet to hear or see anything about whether or not Brendan made it on TV). I did do a brief interview with one reporter, but I don’t think she liked my answers enough to use anything in their news feature. She wanted warm fuzzy stories about the hospital and I am just not a fuzzy person. I was pretty uncomfortable with all of the cameras, we left so fast this morning, I didn’t even get to really comb my hair.

Brendan got to ride in the new van again, this time in his big boy car seat (first time!).

Trevor goes a lot of places in the car, it is just another day for him.

Brendan obviously was comfortable!

The event was in the third floor garden, and it was set up nice. Brendan’s old neighbor-friend Violet’s mom gave a nice speech about their journey.

Brendan got a spiffy sparkly hat with a white graduation tassel on it, it says “Chief 2012 Grad”

Trevor was funny, he chewed on his feet most of the time. We stood for a group photo with all the other families and Trevor just had one foot in each hand, legs spread wide. One sock on, one sock in his mouth. Classy Trevor!!

He didn’t have a bad morning though, he got to eat raspberry crepes and bagel sandwiches and just be along for the ride.

Loading up the car to go home, Trevor is in love with his mirror. (the kind that mounts on the headrest so I can see him in his rear facing seat)

After giving himself a few kisses, he buckled in. He talked enthusiastically to his reflection the whole way home.

Brendan got a shiny heart balloon too.

We had a nice time overall and got to catch up with a lot of good people that have made a large impact on Brendan’s life. Now I will just always wonder when more pictures of Brendan and my family will crop up!

Tonight to get Trevor out of the house while Brendan tried to get to sleep, Bill took the stroller and walked Trevor to the mailbox. After we had just talked about baby swings in parks, Bill decided to stop by the park and see what Trevor thought of them. I think he liked it!