SMILE!

I was so excited today!  I love ice cream it is my biggest weakness.  When I walked into the room this afternoon with a pint of Ben and Jerry's in my hand Brylee got the biggest freakin smile on her face!  I have not seen her smile that big since she was about a year old!  I saw teeth and everything!  She smiled and said "I want some ice cream!"  How can you turn that down?  We ate the entire pint of ice cream the whole time she was laughing and smiling.  If that's the reaction I get over ice cream 300lbs here I come!  I would honestly eat ice cream all day with her just to see that sweet smile that I've been missing so much.  I remember last summer calling my mom almost everyday crying because Brylee never smiled.  I did crazy amounts of research on toddler depression and mental disorders.  I was so desperate to see that smile and I never did.  I thought she was miserable!  It's almost a relief to know that she truly has been happy all these years.  And the even more positive about the smile is that means radiation is shrinking the tumor.  The reason she couldn't smile is that the tumor was so big it was putting pressure on specific nerves that control certain parts of the body such as her smile, facial expression muscles in the forehead, chewing muscles, swallow muscles, eye muscles, arm and leg muscles.  So now that she is smiling again means that the tumor is shrinking and taking pressure off those specific nerves.  I also noticed that she is raising her eyebrows a lot and her right eye now closes all the way.  Her eyes aren't crossing in anymore either and her arm is not jerky when she tries to reach for things.  She is slowly coming back to me.  Hopefully I can get some awesome family pictures in May that show her real smile.  I haven't been able to have her smiling in a family picture for a very long time.  I would love something that will remind me of that beautiful smile forever.