Day +725: Wonderful Birthday Party

Just five days until the two-year anniversary of Mina's transplant on Sunday. We've been looking to this milestone for so long, it's hard to believe it's nearly here. We are heading for the Russian River for the weekend, and we've scheduled a telephone call with Sean Rodriguez, Mina's donor, for Sunday. That should be a very fun and interesting call. Other than that, we are just planning to relax, go to the beach, go for a hike, throw rocks into the river, etc. Two years is a big milestone for AML, but it's not the end of the battle by any means. I'm sure I'll start worrying again and looking forward to the three-year anniversary on Monday. And I've always looked to starting kindergarten (at about 3.5 years) and the 5-year anniversary as milestones when maybe we could actually start to relax a bit about the AML. But the odds are pretty good even at two years, and this is the milestone Dr. Loh has always talked about. So we're going to enjoy the occasion, and enjoy each other, but then get right back into the trenches on Monday.

Mina's birthday party was absolutely wonderful. We didn't do anything special; in fact, I was still out picking up the bagels and coffee when the first guests arrived, and Blaire and Walt had to help out in the kitchen for quite a long time or else there's no knowing when the birthday cupcakes would have been done. And we didn't have a clown or an animal show, or any entertainment, except a lame attempt to form a conga line and a pretty dorky version of the hoky poky. But Mina got to wear her new princess dress -- gown, really -- and there was a big turnout of both school friends and family friends. Some of the other little girls wore princess dresses too, and Mina loaned one of hers out to Devon, who was the first guest to arrive and didn't have a princess dress on.

We are still basking in the glow three days later, and in fact in true Olsen/Olson fashion we still haven't gotten around to opening up all of the presents. She got some really terrific gifts, with a heavy princess theme to them, which went over big with her of course. We weren't quite expecting so many, and we're already attempting to lay the groundwork for a much smaller party for next year.

Isaac had fun at Mina's party too. He doesn't seem to be quite at the age yet where jealousy is a big issue with him. He seemed geniunely happy for Mina that it was her birthday, and seemed to enjoy the whole affair without a hint of an attention issue. He's a very sweet boy these days, and he really loves his sister. Keri and I both decided we really like that age. Three is harder somehow, because the kids become much more self-aware and opinionated, and they start trying to trick you. They are still very sweet at two, and Isaac has been a joy to have around these days.

I posted some pictures and a couple of videos of the party. The link is in the sidebar to the right. I'll post some more this weekend. Thanks for checking in, and thanks to everyone who sent birthday gifts and wishes.