Days +149-154: Happy Birthday Isaac!

Today was Isaac's first birthday. It's hard to believe he's only been with us a year. Feels like he's always been around. And it's only been a year since Teri, Kennedy, Tutu and Richard were here taking care of Mina Brigitta while Keri was in the hospital with Isaac. So much has happened since then, sometimes it feels like we've lived a lifetime.

Grandma Lyn arrived late last night, so the kids got to spend the whole day with her. Grandma must be exhausted, because they didn't give her a break all day long. Mina Brigitta especially was at her side pretty much constantly from the moment she woke up until she finally went to bed at nearly 10:00.

Mina Brigitta was very excited about Isaac's birthday today. She helped wrap Isaac's presents while Isaac was down for his morning nap. When he woke up, she was so excited she was shrieking "Yook (look) Bubba, yook!" and pointing to the pile of presents. She also helped to bake and frost the birthday cake, and then later to open the presents. All day long she was walking around saying "Happy birthday to Bubba!"

As for the birthday boy, he had a great day. We didn't have the energy to plan anything involving other people, but it was festive enough just having Grandma here. They pretty much played in the house all day, except for a walk to the grocery store and to get some balloons. Grandma got Isaac a big box of legos, which was a huge hit with both the kids. Isaac is turning into such a little boy now. He loves to walk around holding onto two hands, and he's just now able to walk holding only one hand. He has such a good time doing that, he cries when you stop every time. He'll be walking within a few weeks. Then the bruises on his head will start to multiply!

Mina Brigitta is still doing pretty well. She just got through her first week without a trip to the doctor, so that's big news. She'll go twice next week to make up for it, to the orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday and to BMT clinic on Wednesday. She's walking very well now, better I think than before she sprained her ankle. Hopefully that means her hip is starting to get better. She does still have some rash on her upper back and around her neck. It's subtle, and we haven't been real consistent with the hydrocortisone cream. But it's still a worry, of course, if it's a sign of GVHD. There are other things as well -- she threw up on Wednesday, something she hadn't done in a couple of months. And today she seemed a bit pale and her eyes seemed kind of dull. But her appetite has been pretty good, and her energy level has been great. And her poops have been perfectly normal now for several weeks. So it's probably just the medications she's still on. I'm looking forward to when we can go a whole week without having something like this to worry about!