Baby smiles for the first time after his second open-heart surgery

But when your baby is born with health issues these milestones are a miracle.

Theodore “Teddy” Nelson was born with half a heart and his parents had to wait until he was six months old to see his first smile, but when it happened it was a magical moment in more ways than one.

This sweet baby had just endured his second open-heart surgery and had already spend 185 days in hospital when he turned to his parents and gave them the sweetest smile.

“Around the second open heart surgery he suffered a stroke,” mom Alexandria Nelson, from Buffalo, New York, told “Good Morning America.”

She said they weren’t sure if Teddy would ever be able to smile.

“We weren’t sure the connections were there in the brain to allow a smile to show on his face. It really gave a huge glimmer of hope for the future that he’s able to overcome these obstacles.”

“That’s what the smile meant to us,” she said.

Teddy was born with a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome which affects normal blood flow through the heart. He had to have surgery 15 minutes after he was born in August 2019.

When Teddy achieved this magnificent milestone his parents were able to capture it on camera. The video has been shared by a number of sources on social media and hundreds of thousands of people have fallen in love with his adorable face.

“His sister was in the room; [Teddy] loves to hear her voice and my husband, he has the special touch,” Alexandria said.

‘Determination and fight’
Teddy will have to have a third surgery over the coming weeks but his family are looking forward to bringing their special bundle home for the first time.

“They call him feisty and we love it,” she said. “Half the time we don’t give him enough credit … he [has] so much determination and fight.

“I always say, ‘Theodore’s half a heart produces twice the love.’”