We had our six-month clinic appointment in Pittsburgh Monday. As usual, Gerry and Judy made Pittsburgh home by hosting us even though they just got back from 5 weeks over seas. Since they've taken her as an honorary granddaughter, I think they enjoy our visits a little too.
Shayna's favorite thing about the visit was the stairs at Gerry and Judy's house as they have a 2nd floor so she got lots of stair practice and improved her down technique a lot. There is also a 1/2" step into the kitchen that once she tripped on it and realized it was there became another favorite. She practiced stepping into the kitchen and out of the kitchen. It was so much fun to watch her walk back and forth and get better at handling the slight elevation change. (When we get a chance to watch her discover things or practice skills without her seeing us, it is so amazing and fun to watch how much effort she puts into things and how quickly she learns and enjoys herself.)
Ima and Aba's favorite things were getting to talk to the doctor face-to-face, having 1/2 her meds dropped (especially that yucky anti-viral Valcyte), and having labs moved to every other week (from weekly). It was nice to have the Dr. Sindhi give us such a thorough explanation of where he thought Shayna was and his opinion on our EBV issues. Plus the fact that it was all positive; he thinks Shayna is doing great and he also stressed really treating her like a normal child with a little extra hand washing. (It's nice to hear that what I do is good.) Dropping so many meds just makes every day so much easier and the thought of any travel much less intimidating. (I had no idea how we were going to get the Valcyte in her while camping this summer short of having my dad and uncle perform various skits for us every morning and evening.) If the labs continue to be good, we could be moved to monthly by the end of the summer or sooner. It is so wonderful to be within the normal range AND on the less complicated side of normal too. It is also nice to see how happy the doctor and nurses are to see a happy, health, thriving toddler whose life they transformed.
Shayna's vocabulary is slowly expanding. She says "eye". She surprised me today by saying it and getting my attention to a picture in a book with lots of eyes (the bugs where hiding for miss spiders surprise birthday party). Shayna wanted to make sure that she had identified the things on the page correctly and was very proud of herself when I agreed that they were indeed eyes. She says both "hi" and "high". While she says them in context (as a greeting and when I push her high on the swing), I really wonder how her little brain differentiates between the two. I spotted her first little molar pointing its pointy head through her upper left gums last Tuesday. It was nice to finally see progress after 2 months of chewing on fingers and drooling. She has bumps on the bottom on both sides so she should be able to eat steaks soon. She runs now. Her upper body gets going a little faster than her legs so if she's not careful (eg we're playing and she's excited or she tries to run too far at one go) she does a face plant. Her favorite place to practice is our closet (it's a big walk-through). She goes over to the bathroom door, hoots at me to get my attention then runs through the closet to our bedroom, looks at me for praise and turns around to do it again.
Nahum and are doing well. Nahum is currently trying to get though 80 proposals (like the ones he puts so much effort into himself) because he will be sitting on the panel judging proposals for NASA's Chandra X-Ray Satellite next week in Boston. I joined the swim team last week at the B-burg Aquatics Center. Since my friend is on a "competing" team, I am much more excited about actually practicing. We're fairly evenly matched, but she's been doing a much better job than I at getting to the pool so I'm going to have to start working hard if I hope to beat her at anything. I'm reading my first Danielle Steel novel. It's low grade writing but the characters are all nice people so I think I'll finish it.
Pictures of the Princess:
6/2 Shayna plays with her toys in her beloved kiddie pool in the back yard. That's my current favorite 4-5pm activity. I moved to pool to the deck (gnats in the grass) so I can just sit in a deck chair and watch her play while I read. She loves to climb in and out and fill and pour out her stacking cups.
6/5 Shayna enjoys an apricot on the kitchen counter. She'll eat 1/2 of it then give it back to me. I also have to be careful of the pits. If she bites it before I take it out the apricot gets flung violently away from her.
6/5: Enjoying the hose since her pool got over run by older kids (2 1/2, 3, and 5-years). She loved watching the water run down her arm or trying to drink from the hose.
6/11: Enjoying a snack while I get dressed after a play date swim at the Aquatics Center. I had to fish her out of the water several times as usual as she still likes to walk in to her armpits but has trouble always staying on her feet. At least she doesn't cry about it. Just coughs a little, recovers for a few seconds on my lap, then goes to play again.
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