a christmas miracle?

one of the things you quickly learn when you have kids is that those kids love elmo; i am pretty sure it is an irrefutable law of child rearing. isaac will watch the same elmo video everyday for at least a month, and the current flavor is elmo's christmas countdown, a special that initially aired last christmas eve on one of the major networks and stars jamie foxx, angela hudson and anne hathaway among others.

the plotline is simple enough: (ben) stiller the elf is sent to initiate the christmas countdown (without which christmas could not come), oscar the grouch tries to sabotage it, and hilarity ensues. isaac laughs at the same parts everytime, especially those involving stan the snowball, who regularly flies in from the side of the screen to knock stiller off his feet. main themes involve friends, carols, and believing in christmas miracles.

we may be in the midst of realizing a small christmas miracle ourselves, if there is such a thing as a small miracle. this morning we got a call from ryder's pediatrician letting us know that he has, in fact, "turned the corner" officially and otherwise. when we visited they removed both the oxygen canula and feeding tube from his nose, leaving him with only an iv in his arm and looking much more like a baby. while we were there he was a freaking champ, keeping his vitals well within the prescribed limits while downing milk and cuddling mom. if everything continues on this trajectory he will be coming home christmas day.

often during this process i have been reminded of a quote i heard about six months ago that says "prayer is not black magic". just b/c we ask God for something, it does not mean we will get it. we can hope, dream, ask and plead, but at the end of the day we are not casting spells, we are laying ourselves down. i have struggled to remember my role as steward, to maintain open hands, and to keep my grubby little mitts of the controls. even now, i hesitate to get my hopes up too high, but it is hard not to get excited.