Two Years? Really?

(This was supposed to post last night) Have two years really passed? I remember Madeleine's Birthday vividly including:- Picking Madeleine up for the first time. She was so tiny and I wasn't sure I should pick her up. The NICU doctors had to assure me repeatedly that she was stable before I'd pick her up.- Bringing her over to Kirsten and seeing their eyes meet for the first time. My wife is a natural mother and that first glance made it immediately apparent to me.- Wheeling her down the hallway with the NICU doctors- they let me push the bassinet as they were under staffed- and then signing her into the NICU. I had to ask the admitting nurse for the date and she smiled and said "March 3rd is a date you'll never forget." Boy was she right.- Running frantically back and forth between the post-op room where Kirsten was recovering and the NICU- desperately wanting to be with both my wife and daughter. - Running into my father-in-law in the hallway when dashing back and forth. Steve had somehow slipped past the front desk nurses to see if everyone was okay. (I'd made one frantic call earlier that day telling my in-laws that the baby had to be born emergently and then hung up after giving them the name of the hospital.) I'll never forget Steve's expression when I told him that his daughter and granddaughter were resting peacefully.- Calling my parents to tell them the news. I talked with my mom first and then called my dad. My poor dad was in Northern Michigan driving between towns as he was spending the week judging choirs at choral festivals. My mom had been calling him but the reception in Northern Michigan was so poor that he kept dropping calls and he didn't know if the baby was okay. He was pulled over on the side of the road when I reached him and I was so overcome with emotion that I couldn't get any words out. I remember standing in the visitor's waiting area blubbering and crying, trying to tell him that he had another granddaughter to worry about. It took me forever to get the words out and I can remember everyone in the waiting room staring at me while my dad was screaming through the other end of the line for me to calm down and talk. - I remember going upstairs with Kirsten to her room and making sure that she was settled for the night. I wanted to make sure that she was going to be okay but Kirsten finally told me that I could go back downstairs to see Madeleine as it was painfully obvious that I wanted to get back downstairs ... I kissed Kirsten good night and raced back to the NICU.- I remember finally leaving the hospital sometime after midnight and going over to our good friends' house for take-out Chinese. I hadn't eaten all day and the cold Chinese was just what the Doctor ordered. I was exhausted but could hardly sleep, calling the NICU throughout the night for updates on Madeleine.
I could go on as most reading this blog are well aware that I can talk about Madeleine for hours on end. So, how the heck have two years passed? It's strange because being a dad feels extremely natural to me and I really struggle to think of myself without the label "Dad.". At the same time, has it really been two years? I think of all the challenges Madeleine faced, all of the surgeries, all of the true heroes we met at Holy Cross Hospital and then Children's hospital, all of the milestones that Madeleine has reached (yes, I'm aware that I'm woefully behind in updating you on her progress. Trust me, she's doing great) and all of the amazing moments when I walk into a room and I know that Madeleine's toothy, dimpled grin is for her big old goofy Dad and I guess it really has been two wonderful years... I guess I'm just one heckuva lucky guy. Happy Birthday Madeleine!