Wordful Wednesday - Beautiful Bond

I love to feel included so here I am participating in Angie's Wordful Wednesday.

Here's my photo:


Here's the story:
In case you haven't heard, this is my niece, she'll be 2 on Christmas Day. She's mine and Sparky's pretend daughter. We absolutely adore her.
When we first found out that my young, unwed little sister was pregnant, we we're like "Oh no, this is going to be a nightmare, she can't hardly take care of herself, much less a baby. We're going to have to help her ALL the time, she's gonna drop the baby off ALL the time. This is not going to be good."
Sparky use to say "I hate a baby! I eata baby with some bar-b-q sauce!" Now don't freak out on me, he didn't really mean those things not one little bit. Sparky is really a very sweet and kind man. He was just expressing frustration at the idea of being burdened by a baby that wasn't even ours.
Then the baby came. I was there and I cut the cord. But there was something wrong, something that was never detected in the sonograms. Her little bladder was on the outside of her belly. Momma got to hold her for about 60 seconds then they wisked the baby away. At 4 days old she had a 4 and a half hour surgery. They cut her hip bones and pulled her pelvis together. They put her bladder where it's supposed to be, then reconstructed her belly button and her little girl parts. Then she spent the next 4 weeks in the hospital, with her tiny little legs wrapped together and suspended straight up in the air at a 45 degree angle. She had to stay that way, day and night and we couldn't hold her. Momma couldn't nurse her or rock her or cuddle her when she cried. Finally, the time came when her legs could be let down and we could hold her. I think that's when Sparky fell in love with her.
After she was released from the hospital, it was only a matter of days before Momma and the baby came to stay with us for a while. My how quickly a bond can develope. And can continue to develope stronger and stronger everyday.

Today, Emily and Sparky have the most amazing relationship. She loves her Uncle Jon to pieces, she cries when he leaves, she reaches up her little arms for him to pick her up, she lays her head on his shoulder and pats him on the back. She gives him kisses, and hugs his leg. I can't wait til the day when she puts her little hands on each side of his face, looks him right in the eyes and says "I wub you soooo much Untle Jon".

About 7 or 8 months ago, my sister and the baby moved about 2 hours away. We went from seeing her almost everyday to now only about once a month. There isn't a day that goes but that Sparky doesn't say "Where's that baby?" or "I need that baby!" or "I'm gonna go get that baby right now!" It's funny how it went from "I eata baby with b-b-q sauce" to "I neeeeeeed my baaaaaaaby!".

My bond with her? That's a whole nuther post!

In the photo, she comes running around from behind the couch, Uncle Jon is quietly waiting to growl and jump out and get her! We LOVE this game because she jumps with her whole body cuz she's just had the crap scared out of her but then the very next nano second, she's laughing and bouncing and very happy. She then gets grabbed and tickled and kissed and then put back down. Then, after all that, guess what happens? She runs back around behind the couch again and the game starts all over.

Priceless.