This year we have the added excitement of Anna's surgery, which is scheduled for Monday, May 15. She had her pre-op physical Tuesday after school and everything looked good. We are hoping that no illnesses come into the home between now and Monday, so that this procedure can happen when scheduled.
We haven't told too many people about the surgery (with the exception of this blog, of course). Right now we are feeling pretty relaxed about the whole ordeal, but that may simply be because of our perspective. Had one of our kids needed eye surgery four years ago, I'm sure we would have reacted and prepared differently.
The surgery itself shouldn't be more than a couple of hours; the whole thing is considered outpatient. We have been told that kids bounce back after this type of surgery fairly quickly, but she is required to be out of school for at least three days. We will just have to wait and see how Anna does with it all.
Enough of that.
Last week the clouds disappeared for a few days, but the temperatures didn't warm up too much. It was enough, at least, for Ethan and I to go for a great bike ride one afternoon on a local bike trail. This awesome 4 year old managed a 3-4 mile ride, with a pit stop mid-way through at a park. He has had a blast not only going fast this spring, but also trying out different skills. Most of the time when he falls, he jumps back up and yells back to me, "I'm okay!"
With the nicer weather, we headed to the backyard as a family in the afternoons and evenings. Last summer we spent a lot of time in the driveway with Anna practicing her walker while Kate and Ethan rode bikes. This year we have been spending time in the backyard so Anna can/will practice using her crutches. She tells us that she feels safer practicing them on grass because then if she falls (which she does), it doesn't hurt as much. Kate and Ethan are more than happy to play t-ball or kick-ball so we've been opting for those activities lately.
Swinging and balancing on the wooden timbers are also still a hit, especially if the grass is too wet.
And Kate taught Ethan how to kick dandelion puffballs this week. They spent plenty of time doing that after dinner the last few nights.
Even with the nicer weather, though, the kids still wanted to do some quieter indoor activities after school. So we pulled out some of our puzzles. Surprisingly, all three asked to do a second puzzle after working together (with a big effort on my part to keep everyone's impatience in check) to put the first 100-piecer together.
Then they spent a few days taking apart portions of the puzzles just to put them together again.
The parallel bars still get lots of love in our house, from Anna as well as the other two. Sometimes, they all even find ways to play on the bars at the same time.
This week was the second year our family participated in Bike-to-School day. Anna biked her portion with flying colors, even forcing me to jog to keep up with her on the flat sections. Meanwhile, Ethan had sped ahead into the pack of 3rd through 5th graders. Crazy boy.
Kate wanted to bike from our house to her school with Matt this year. We weren't sure just how long the 4.1 mile ride would take the two of them so they left the driveway at 7:15.
Matt said they pulled into the school lot at 7:50, just as the first bell was ringing. But she did it! And then she rode her bike by herself from her school to Anna's school (only a mile or two, but crossing roads and making turns) at the end of the day. Anyone who knew how insecure Kate was in her younger years will appreciate just what this means for her.
And finally, Kate lost another tooth tonight! Apparently she was pretending to be Ethan's dog and was fetching something with her mouth. She bumped her face and came to tell us that her tooth was bleeding. We offered to pull it out, but she walked away and came back a few minutes later with tooth in hand. Silly kid. This was the second upper front one, so now she has a nice big gap up there. She was practicing saying all sorts of "s" and "th" words the rest of the night :)
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