Angel
This was from a party last Christmas, but still among my favorite pictures of the Little Angel.
Here’s wishing you a peaceful and happy holiday season.
Halloween Party
On the way to the Halloween party, she started to have second thoughts about her costume.
“But, I don’t want to be a dinosaur ballerina.” I assured her that she didn’t have to wear her costume.
“I want to be a camel.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t have a camel costume.”
“Do you have a crocodile costume?”
By the time we got to the party, and she saw that all the other kids were wearing costumes, she was thrilled to be a dinosaur ballerina again.
This was the annual Halloween party for the kids at Gilda’s Club. Gilda’s Club is an amazing supportive resource for people whose lives have been impacted by cancer: the patient, and their family and friends as well. Their kids program is wonderful. Events like this kids party allow kids to make friends with other kids who have cancer in their lives, and build a support network of peers who understand what they are going through. The get a chance to be in a situation where having a mom with cancer is normal, and they’re not the weird one.
Gem is flourishing in this environment.
She loved the craft station, and is so proud of the mask she made.
After a thorough consultation with the make-up artist, she finally decided on whiskers to complement her ensemble.
Sitting still for the face painting was the hardest part. It tickles.
The best sight of the evening was watching her perform an interpretive dance to the Halloween music. Then she upped the bar and performed her dance inside the haunted house.
This is the first time she’s really gotten into Halloween, and she LOVED it.
Checkup
It’s checkup time for me again. This time, it was with my radiation oncologist.
Gem has spent most of her life going to the doctor with Mommy. She’s an old pro.
She brings one of her “friends” – today, we brought Tolee, the Koala Bear.
Get him all comfortable, and make sure he feels safe.
And since doctor visits mean a lot of waiting, we pass the time with a little dance.
And a little more dancing.
Maybe we’ll just rest a bit.
And then while the doctor talks to Mommy, Gem borrows her tools to give Tolee a thorough examination.
And me? I’m still improving. The doctor said I look fabulous! I’ll take that. I need to wear my lymphedema sleeve more. I already knew that. I need to get back into physical therapy. check. The fatigue is normal, and should continue to decrease over the next few years. Sigh. And, unless something comes up, we’re going to go a full year till my next radiation checkup!
Party like a rock star
I don’t enforce a silent nap time. In fact, around here, nap time is ‘learn how to make your own fun, and maybe rest a little bit, while Mommy tries to get her work done‘ time.
So when the happy-fun “Woohoo!” sounds wafted from her bedroom, I just smirked and went back to work. She’s doing a great job learning how to make her own fun, I thought.
From the looks of her trashed room, I imagine she had quite a lot of fun.
Work Hard ~ Play Hard ~ Sleep Hard
One of these days, we’re going to have to install a video camera in her room. I’d love to know what her play looks like when she thinks no one is looking.
That girl can party like a rock star.
Apparently, my 3-year-old thinks she needs a credit card
I let my little girl play with the junk mail because she loves the pictures, and the bold, eye-catching fonts are great for learning letter recognition.
But I didn’t expect her to fill out a credit card application.
Some day soon, I’m afraid our junk mail games will have to include a conversation about usurious interest rates, and the weight of debt. But for today, I’m just going to marvel at her form completion skills. This is an important life skill; it’s practice for the SATs, right?
