What a blessing it is to be a parent.  Sharmi just ran into the office and told me a very animated story about her and foxy (our cat).  It is so fun to watch her grow into an interesting little person (and a busy person).  She has now settled on the floor and is putting Jesus stickers (sent by one of you) all over her hand.  She loves stickers and she even loves the cards that they come in.  I keep her cards in a box in her room and she sits and “reads” them, over and over again.  She jabbers away usually saying something that goes along with the pictures.  Thank you very much to those of you who take time out of your lives to send her a little love and enjoyment.

Her appointments on Monday went OK.  She shut down emotionally again when she got there, to the degree that when Daddy called to talk to her she refused to talk.  I kept putting the phone to her ear and she kept pushing it away.  This is not typical for her.  She usually is saying, “I want to talk…” to whomever I am talking to.  They gave her the flu shot this week, so they postponed her steroids until next week because it is just too much for her little body to handle all at once.  Some good news is that her steroid dose has been decreased.  I believe the nurse practitioner actually increased her dose last month for the maintenance phase, but the doctor we saw on Monday (not our usual provider) said that the steroid dose was too high and she decreased it (I think it is a 25% reduction).  She covered well for her clinic and said that Sharmi had weighted more earlier, but I know that she did not weight more when we started maintenance last month.  Anyway, I am just grateful that this was caught and she won’t being taking more steroids then she has to. 

She had a hard time coming out of the anesthesia this time.  She has always done really well in the past, but this time she was confused, frustrated and kept trying to sit up but she kept falling over.  I tried to make a circle around her with my arms to catch her without actually holding her, because if I held her she felt confined.  She also complained of a headache.  When we were leaving she said “mommy my head hurts.”  Pointing to her forehead.  I asked her were and she said,  “inside.”  She has never complained of a headache before so we took her back to see the doctor.  Thankfully, by the time the doctor was able to come out and see us Sharmi was feeling better and running up and down the halls. 

Sharmi and Chantel are both still fighting off a cold.  It has been almost three weeks now.  The poor kids.  Sharmi has been very tired lately.  Yesterday she was laying on the kitchen floor on her blanket and then she got up and went and laid on her bed.  This is unheard of for her.  I am hoping that the cold is partly responsible for her exhaustion versus this being an indication of what we have in store for her maintenance regimen.

Chantel is growing like a weed.  She has already grown out of some of her 0 to 3 months cloths and she is only 6 weeks old.  She is starting to plump up.  I thought she was going to stay lean, but it looks like she might take after her sister and become a rolly polly.    I love chubby babies so I hope so.

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Marysville.  It was mid 70’s and we took advantage of it and went to the park.  On the way back Sharmi let Chantel sit on her lap in the stroller.  (I haven’t had the time or energy to buy a double stroller yet.)  This was certainly easier for me than pushing one and holding the other.  Sharmi did really well, but once we got home she was really anxious to have her taken off.  I was trying to take a picture, but Sharmi kept saying, “mommy, Chantel is wiggling, pick her up.” 

I live a very small life, so I didn’t know until yesterday that San Diego and Southern Cal are going through the hell of fires again.  I am so said to see the devastation.  I hope all of your homes, family and friends are safe.  It is interesting how when you have gone through really hard things in life and felt the pain that tragedy brings you can empathize more with others pain and loss even when it isn’t the same.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Cheris