Author: Doris

If you noticed in our Easter photo – there is a young Korean girl standing in the background (appropriately holding up bunny ear fingers!). Se Hyun arrived from Korea on Friday to be our new caregiver and I flew home from Nashville to pick her up. Because the rest of the clan did not get home until Sunday, I had the distinct pleasure of a hosting a very grown-up introduction to DC. We met up with my friend Vickey downtown and ate at the Shake Shack and saw the Botanic Gardens on the most beautiful spring day of the year!

I even pinched the Washington Monument on the steps of the Capitol Building. I have gained a tad bit of weight since I moved my office next to the fridge during our time without childcare. I see it most in my double chin – but maybe it’s always been there – but now that SeHyun is here, I can move my computer back upstairs, where it is far from the kitchen, but dangerously close to the bed. At least naps don’t make me pudgy.

Well – at least I am back from vacation – I flew home today from Nashville, but the rest of the pack is still motoring down south. We went to Georgia and Tennessee on this road trip and I did none of the planning, but I did partake of all the fun. I slept a lot in the van, I did nothing on my to-do list and I think I’ve almost recharged all of my batteries.

The first night – we stopped in a Comfort Inn (our favorite motel chain). This particular one checked into had a heated indoor pool. Edda says AWESOME to that.

Edda missed school today, a little under the weather. She got to stay at home and watch all her favorite videos over and over again and moan occasionally. I got to snuggle with her under the covers and take a nap with her. One of the drawbacks to being a grown up is that usually no one takes care of you when you are sick. You just moan and no one else is around to snuggle with you. Here’s Edda on a healthier day:

I miss having a wide lens. Unfortunately, Nikon does not make a prime lens that are cheap enough, wide enough and fast enough for me. Almost makes me want to switch to Canon.  On our trip last weekend – a pal let me borrow a 10mm lens to stick on my trusty Nikon D40 to play with it! So much fun 🙂

Edda’s birthday, for me, can be a day of great sadness – so we were very lucky this year that we were out and about this Saturday, the 24th of March, the day Edda turned 8. I have the cub scouts to thank for this outing – we were in Chincoteague and Edda’s birthday could not have been any better.

We saw Misty – well preserved:

We went for a walk outside with lots of people:

I did not tell anyone it was Edda’s birthday (I don’t want anyone to make a big fuss – I was just so happy that we were spending the day with friends and a jam packed agenda and Edda was happy with it all) – but somehow, someone found out that it was Edda’s birthday and all the little sisters of all the cub scouts (there are at least 3 little girls that are Edda’s age) insisted that we order a slice of cake and sing. Nothing could make me any happier! The slice of cake was so large, we split it six ways!

Happy birthday sweet Edda!  May all your wishes come true :).

We thought that at the 4-hour-long 20-boy 10th birthday party, we would have a pinata, but it was clear 30 minutes into the party, there was no need to add anymore swinging sticks to the hoopla – so we saved the pinata for Sunday night dinner when the atmosphere was a little calmer and the ratio of adults:children was more than 1.

I did not actually know that this pinata did not even require the use of a swinging stick, apparently you can take turns pulling the ribbons at the bottom of the tank and one of them opens the trap door spilling the candy out. All the children knew about the ribbons and declared it not as cool as the ones that need a good beating with a stick. Leave it to me to not even question why a tank needs beautiful ribbons cascading out of the bottom of the chassis. I figured it was just to make the tank more “festive”.

So I did read the Nature paper on Rett and the data seems really great for the bone marrow transplant – most notably for girls with RS before symptoms really appear. There is a line in there that states that for symptomatic patients, the recovery of skills is not very noticeable.

A few months ago, Vince declared that he was done sharing a room with Edda. It was a sad day for me because it means my kids are growing up. I feel it very strongly now, Vince and Edda both pulling away from me, growing up and away from my person.

We rearranged a lot of the furniture a few weekends ago and we are still knee deep in the mess that is made up of stuff you found hidden under beds and tables and chairs that haven’t found a home yet.

I think I need more music in my life. I will try and find it.