Playing Hard

As summer vacation winds down, we are cramming in more and more activities to make sure that we fit in everything that we wanted to do this summer. These past couple of days have been pretty nice and we put the good weather to good use. We spent one day at Granby Zoo and the following day at the beach. With lots of sun and fun under her belt, Katie finally crashed at the end of the second day. Just minutes after returning from the beach, she fell fast asleep on the couch while waiting for dinner. Eventually, I carried her upstairs to her own bed. She didn't wake up until the next morning.

Next week, we're planning a trip to Boston for the Aquarium, Children's Museum, Duck Boat Tours and more, and then a trip to New Hampshire for The Whale's Tale and finally Santa's Village. We'll post more fun pictures from those trips.

Not So Bad

Katie has finished this round of steroids and this time around it wasn't so bad. Her appetite increased a little bit and she definately became more irritable and difficult to deal with, but she didn't take it to the extremes that she did the last time around. She is still feeling the effects however, and her last dose was two days ago.

I wonder what made her react to last month's treatment so much more strongly than this month...

Bracing for More Steroids

Another month has passed by and next week Katie goes back to Fletcher Allen for another treatment. It feels too soon and at the same time, it feels like the last treatment was ages ago. The problem is that for some reason the Dexamethazone (steroid) really affected her this time and she was dealing with the consequences for many days. She was explosively cranky and prone to emotional swings and outburts on and off for two weeks. On top of that, she was hungry 24-7 and ate more than her mother did at every meal. She packed on plenty of extra padding this month. We are already trying to figure out how to work around her worst steroid days once PreK starts in August. Fortunately, Katie's teacher has agreed to work with us on this. We are hoping that this next batch of steroids won't be so potent.

On a positive note, we have spent a lot of time outside this month despite how rainy the summer has been. We have been swimming and playing in the sand. Josh went to golf camp, and Katie tried out a club herself. We have spent time in our kayaks, and we have shared them with friends. The kids have been riding their bikes. Soccer started Thursday, and BOTH kids played. There is some color in our cheeks, and the kids have nice sturdy limbs. The bags beneath our eyes are slowly disappearing. Swim lessons have ended, so the only item on our agenda this week is the trip to Fletcher Allen on Thursday (followed by soccer). I look forward to working on some web sites. Amy looks forward to time at the beach, the library and the barn, and she has painting plans. The kids are happy just to be kids. We'll try to post some pictures soon.