Happy Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend!

Joshua had a terrific time with Nana, who spoils him rotten (!), and he skied at Burke today with Rick. You should see the video! His skills have improved so quickly, and he has such confidence on his skis--I am so impressed with him! He didn't get it from me--I will have a hard time catching him the next time we ski together. He is very excited about going to Fletcher Allen with us tomorrow. He wants to know more about what Katie's days in the clinic are like. We actually have to report to the Comfort Zone, since Katie has to have a lumbar puncture, but I will try to sneak Josh into the Children's Specialty Clinic upstairs, too, so he can see the infusion bay where Katie receives a lot of her medications. He has learned a lot from the picture book we have for the siblings of children with cancer--he knows all about "chemo shark"--but it must be hard for him to picture Katie in place of the book's central character. With any luck this will make Katie's illness more real but also less daunting, ie. Katie really is sick, but she will get well, too, because she has such wonderful (and friendly) doctors and nurses. We are actively looking for creative ways to spend quality time with Joshua this week, and he is looking forward to basketball games at the Barre Auditorium. (Go Rangers!) We are open to other good ideas you may have...

Katie just gave up pretending that she is sleeping and wandered into our room. ("I missed you, mommom. I missed you so much. Is that a turtle on your shirt?") She is becoming such a night owl! We may have to begin parenting in shifts. I'll put Joshua to sleep with stories while Katie and Rick watch movies and work on the computer. Katie knows that she has to return to the hospital tomorrow, but this doesn't appear to inspire any real interest in rest. While she isn't excited about visiting with the doctors, she is willing to venture forth, anyway, and she promises to behave herself. We'll take her sticker book along. She likes to work on her "project." She is currently singing the song her piggy bank sings. She is free to learn now that she is feeling better, and we want to take advantage of this opportunity.

Katie's treatment continues tomorrow, and we will have answers to some of our questions. It will be good to touch base with the doctors tomorrow and to get moving again. We'll let you know what we discover.

Have a great week.

PS--Many thanks to Suzanne for Dora sheets! Katie's reaction to them? "Wow--Cool!..." She has been spending too much time with Joshua, I think!