Updates

It's about time for some general life updates.

Ethan first ... Mr. 3 1/2 is in a good place right now.  He likes cars and trucks, books, music, being active, and having "all of our friends home" (a.k.a. having the whole family at home).  He likes to do "jump forward rolls" in the basement, run fast in the running loop he created in the basement, and wear his "fast pants".  He is learning how to hop on one foot and is trying hard to learn how to skip.  He likes playing with others, especially his sisters or his dad.  Ethan's favorite foods are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, quesadillas, macaroni and cheese, peas, almost any kind of fruit, and tomatoes.

Ethan is still a good communicator, but I sometimes have to translate his ideas if he can't get all of the right words strung together effectively.  One of our favorite stories recently occurred at a friend's house, when Ethan's buddy's mom was checking on the boys.  Ethan told her "I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and kind of guilty".  Apparently, he thought he broke one of the toys and felt bad about it.

Kate next ... Miss Almost-done-with-first-grade is doing well.  Matt and I met with Kate's teacher for spring parent-teacher conferences recently; her perspective and comments confirmed our own thoughts.  She said that Kate is a very well-rounded kid who genuinely enjoys learning.  She also said that Kate is a bright girl who isn't growing up too fast.  We all chuckled at some of Kate's idiosyncrasies ... how she hoards books in her book box at school or in bed at home; how she can be very self-confident when she is comfortable and yet very shy and reserved when she is in new situations.

Kate's favorite subjects in school are art and gym.  Her favorite activity at home is playing, or reading.  Depending on the day, or even the time of day, she may prefer to play alone, or with Ethan, or with Anna, or with everyone.  She's a fun kid.  Although Kate looks taller and older than she did a year ago, she still has all of her baby teeth.  We joke that Kate and Matt have a lot of similarities, but it looks like she may be following after her momma in this regard.  (I didn't lose my first tooth until I was in 2nd grade!)

Anna's up ... The last few weeks have been tough for Anna.  Going from spring break back to school was a difficult transition.  Then we were out of town last weekend; those trips take more out of Anna than they do out of the rest of us.  The transition back to school this week has been rough, too, and was made more difficult by the cold Anna caught from Ethan, and because Anna's aide was gone on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday.  We have had more tears and tantrums at home from her recently than is typical for her.

In spite of that, she is still making progress in many aspects of life.  Over spring break, Anna chose to write a couple of short fiction stories (mini-stories ... more like a paragraph ... but independently and self-initiated!); we are still plugging along with nightly reading; and sometime in the last week she learned how to do 2-digit multiplication.

During Anna's last plan-of-care for speech and feeding, she met all of the goals her therapist had set.  Anna no longer uses handkerchiefs, even if she has a cold; she can eat a variety of foods, but the quantity is still small and is still takes more effort than it does most people.  During Anna's recent neuro-oncology visit, she has a relatively long conversation with her radiation oncologist.  Unlike last year, she didn't need any help remembering events or details, and she didn't need me to translate/explain for her.  Plus, during one of Anna's recent physical therapy sessions, she walked over 500 feet with her walker without a break!

Anna still likes playing with her siblings, playing games, and listening to books.  Her favorite foods are "whatever we are eating at meals", or at least that's what she says :)

Life for this mom is alternately busy and then not.  Certain days, or times of days, are very full and stressful, while other days, or times of day, are empty to the point of feeling l-o-n-g.  A lot of life is still filled with taking care of others ... food prep and clean-up, making sure people have clean clothing that fits, organizing life, prepping for school and/or therapy, playing with a little boy, reading books with children, dealing with medical stuff.  Most of this I enjoy, but sometimes it can feel repetitive.  (Or annoying ... like the 2+ hours I spent on the phone this week trying to continue our insurance coverage for Anna's therapy.)

During the last month, we finally ran out of our corn, beets, freezer pickles, peaches, and pears.  We're getting low on pearsauce, applesauce, and zucchini (really?!).  We still have plenty of tomato products to last us until August ... I hope.  The transition to grocery store vegetables is always a little difficult; usually the youngest member of our family has the hardest time accepting the different tastes :)

The weather this spring has been frustrating; more April snow than any of us prefer.  My broccoli seedlings would really like to get out of the basement and into the ground, but we may be a few weeks away from that milestone yet.  The alternating warmth and then freezing temperatures are not just frustrating, they are also making our fruit crop questionable for this fall.  Temperatures are expected to fall into the teens tonight - NOT a good thing for the fruit buds.

Life for Matt also bounces between busy times and open time.  This past week has been another full one at work, which has been stressful for Matt, especially since we have been out of town the last three weekends.  Matt is also looking forward to the nicer weather when he can continue to pursue some of his hobbies outdoors :)

In all, things are still going well.  Maybe we are more of the "homebody" type than others, but we are all immeasurably happy that we have a low-key weekend with minimal time out of the house :)