Saturday fun

Cora learned about scoring goals in her football training Saturday morning. She scored three, and was quite pleased with herself. She also was happy about her new shin pads and knee highs.

When she and Stace arrived at the park, she said, "I'm a right footballer!"

After soccer, we drove down to Anaheim for a fun afternoon at an amusement park.

No, not that amusement park - we'll let Grandma and Grandpa do most of the Disneyland duty. Rather, we met up with them and Cora's godparents and family to have fun and celebrate Grandma's birthday at Adventure City.

It's a cute old-fashioned amusement park, with rides, a petting zoo and arcade. I imagine it to be the kind of place you'd love to go to in parts of the country that aren't near the major theme parks we have on our doorstep.

John and Linda's younger daughter, Mikayla, was excited to show Cora the rides, and Cora had a lot of fun with her and her older sister, Noelle. Hard to believe these beautiful young ladies were our flower girls seven years ago!

I am amazed at Cora's lack of fear on these rides! She loved the roller coasters and the ride that took you straight up and straight back down again. My stomach was upside down, but Cora took it in stride, laughing the whole time and saying, "That's crazy!"

On the way home, there was a lot of traffic on the 5 (to the surprise of NO ONE) so we stopped for dinner. Nothing like In-N-Out to top off a great family day!

On a side note, we are grateful for all the warm thoughts we've received for Somer. She is doing a bit better, surprisingly, over the past few days.

This special food she is eating seems to be helping a lot. She is eating a can a day, up from the few bites a day she had been eating. That means she is no longer wasting away, and seems to be more energetic and lively. We'll take it!

Our poor Somer

This post comes from a very heavy heart.

Stace and I learned Tuesday that our Somer has cancer in her intestine, and it's spread to nearby areas and her lymph nodes.

This explains her lack of appetite; her weight had dropped another pound, to seven pounds, from her prior vet appointment 12 days earlier.

At the last appointment, we had hoped that her various symptoms were from a urinary tract infection. When we later learned that the culture was negative, Stace and I did fear it was far more serious. Over the weekend her appetite dropped even further, so I moved up her re-check appointment from Wednesday to Monday.

At that appointment, the doctor could now feel the tumor, and Somer stayed overnight for an ultrasound Tuesday morning, which showed the cancer.

The vet suggested, and we agreed, to give Somer a steroid shot that might make her feel a bit better and slow the tumor's growth, to give us a bit more time with her to prepare ourselves and Cora. We also are giving her a "low residue" food that digests easier and produces less waste, to make her more comfortable.

The shot worked, in that Tuesday night I was wakened at midnight by Somer coming into bed with us so I could pet her. She purred.

I realized I haven't heard her purr for weeks, and maybe months, if I think about it hard. And continuing that train of thought, Somer has been much less social for months.

I feel bad that I didn't pick up on that fact earlier. I guess we were busy with the new baby, and figured she was getting older. But she is only 7, and she has always been a very social cat, following us room-to-room to be nearby and talk to us. In particular, she always followed Cora around, and allowed Cora to roughhouse with her. But in recent months, Somer has mainly sat on a kitchen chair, or on the padded toybox.

These photos were taken the past couple of days, while the steroid was working. In the second photo, Cora is "drawing a picture for Somie."
Somer even played with a leaf Thursday morning. But today, Friday, she seems to be slowing down again. I'm dreading taking her in for the final time, and have been pretty much a mess a lot of the week.

We've been telling Cora that Somer is very, very sick, and she can only stroke her very gently. On Thursday, I asked her if she would like to get a new cat "someday," when we didn't have Somer, and she got excited about that idea.
Today, I told her that there is a bad thing in Somer's body, and it hurts. She asked if God could make her better, and I said, "Yes, and she will be better, when she has died. Because then she won't hurt anymore."
Cora brightly said, "But she'll in heaven, and when we go to heaven, we can play with her again!"

From the mouth of babes! I tell you, the tears flowed then, and still do as I write this.

Catching up

We've been without our computer most of the week, thanks to a virus.

These photos are from a week ago, when Ave and Johnny came over for part of the morning. I had some bananas that needed to be baked with, so I found a yummy recipe on allrecipes.com for whole-wheat cranberry chocolate chip cookies to use them in.

I was lucky enough to have three helpers to make them! As they say, many hands make light work. Or, is the phrase, many tiny hands make lots of messes for one pair of hands to clean up?

We're getting back in the swing of things now - MOPS, Pioneer Club and Terrific Tots have all started up again.

Cora is again a Skipper at Pioneer Club. While she had Harvey last year as her special boy/friend, this year Johnny has joined her class. She is very excited about this. (Harvey is in Florida for a few month while his dad works on a movie there.)

In the photo, we caught up with Lucas, Liana and their parents to enjoy our first-Pioneer-Club ice cream.

And, we have a couple of photos from Cora's first day at Terrific Tots. She was so happy to go, and this time seemed like one of the bigger kids.

When she was in the class a few months ago, she was one of the younger ones since many of the kids were already four. Now, all those children have moved onto longer preschool programs.

I helped out at class today, with Auntie Mel staying home with Violet, and it was fun to see Cora interacting with the children and the teachers. She loves Miss Diane and wants to sit next to her at every opportunity.

A couple of Coraisms: Stace was telling Cora that he was going to take her to the Home Depot, where he always gives her a quarter for the candy machine. She told him that she isn't big enough to reach the machine herself, but maybe she'll be able to reach it when she's 15.

And I told Cora I hope she's able to go without nighttime diapers soon. She said, "No! Maybe when I'm 6. Or 7. Or 78... When I'm 78, I'll be as old as you!!!"

Saturday fun

After Cora's football training, we had a birthday party and then a visit from cousin Elizabeth and Jerry - what a great day!

Elizabeth - Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty's oldest - and Jerry were married two years ago, and Cora was their (very young) flower girl. Somehow, we haven't seen them since their wedding!

Now, they've graduated from university and Jerry has been accepted into a five-year physiology program at UC Riverside where he'll get his masters and his doctorate.

It's great to know they'll be close for the next five years, and to know that Bill and Patty will have even more reason to come down to SoCal often.

We all spent the afternoon together, enjoying a meal and the pool. Here's to many more such occasions.

And before their visit, I took the girls to a first birthday party for the son of a Stroller Strides friend. It was fun; Cora loved playing with their 9-week-old puppy and Violet was very happy in the walker. It made music when she pushed buttons, and she was entertained by it for a long time. Everyone was very complimentary on her pleasant disposition.

Cora Loves Soccer

Cora had her first football training today!
Or, for my American readers, her first soccer practice.

She is participating in a half-hour class for three- and four-year-olds through a group called Kidz Love Soccer.

Cora was excited about this for the past couple of days. She kept talking about how her trainers/running shoes were to be her football shoes, her soccer shoes, her baseball shoes, her cricket shoes, and her "tennis-ball" shoes. She also wore her "Future England Star" shirt today.

For now, we don't need to get cleats (boots) but she will need shin guards in time for next Saturday morning.

The kids today were taught to only use their feet, and to stop and put their foot on their ball when the whistle was blown. They were adorable, and all went very well. Cora was one of only two girls in the class, which had at least a dozen boys.

At the class's end, the kids all cheered together and slapped hands.


Violet also enjoyed the class. She especially liked the part when Daddy let her lick his sunglasses.

Playing!

Here's Cora, above, and Violet, below, in the pool at about four months old...

Last weekend we had a lot of heat again, so we had some fun swimming in the pool. Cora had a great time, as did Violet. Violet has definitely reached the stage of loving her big sister, and laughing at the funny things she does.
Annoyingly, there was a pair of 6- or 7-year-old girls at the pool who were being rude to Cora, when Cora really wanted to play with them. Cora thought they were playing together when the bigger girls were splashing her. I'm glad she didn't "get" the fact that the bigger girls were being mean, and she didn't hear when they were whispering about the "little kid" in the pool. It made me so sad; I wish girls weren't like that! I definitely remember being the odd one out at times in school and I hate to think of my daughters going through that pain.

On a cheerier note, Cora has been busy playing with her new kitchen! Genia's friend had given her this gorgeous Melissa and Doug wooden kitchen, complete with all the trimmings, and Genia's kids were finished with it. I wish we had a photo of us wheeling it down the sidewalk to our house, in Genia's little red wagon! Classic... Thanks Genia, and thanks Ave, Johnny and Owen, for sharing with us!
The oppressive heat we had even brought out the girlie-girl in Cora! She was excited one day to get out her Ariel dress, heels and wig, and later her pink sparkly tiara. She was too gorgeous for words, and she couldn't stop dancing when I was taking the photo.

Stace created a new game to play with Cora. He made these word cards and hid the objects listed around the yard. Cora had to sound out the words (with help from dad) and then find them, like a treasure hunt. Great idea, Dad!

What else have we been up to? Well, Stace and I celebrated our seventh anniversary earlier this week with a dinner/shopping date. It was great to get away for a few hours; we hit Happy Hour at the Elephant Bar and shared drinks and appetizers, just like when we were newlyweds. Actually, it was better than when we were newlyweds, as we've grown to love each other more and appreciate one another better with each passing year.

Labor Day labor

On Sunday, the day before Labor Day, our church leaders decided we would do some labor out in the community.

People worked on projects all over Santa Clarita, and at the church, packaged up over 100,000 meals to send to Haiti.

We decided to help paint at Newhall Elementary School, one of the oldest in the Valley.

The handball courts were plain white, and we helped turn them into works of art. Well, something like that.

I helped mask, Stace masked and painted, and Cora painted. Violet stayed at church in the nursery, for the first time.

When I picked Violet up, she was sleeping in a swing and looked so sweet and comfy. Our baby swing is a small travel swing; maybe that's why she's never fallen in love with it.

Back at the school Violet enjoyed picking at the grass.

When we got home, the work continued, with Cora scrubbing down the garage door.

Blocks and ... Uh Oh!

Cora has been spending a lot of play time the last couple of days with her blocks, making houses and garages. The first photo shows her version of a garage. She's recreated this same structure quite a few times. When I asked her how the cars get out, she said they just drive through, knocking the blocks out of their way.

The second photo shows Daddy's version of a house, complete with all the cars in various stages of (dis)repair in the front yard. Uncle Bill (and Grandma), this one's for you.

Later in the day, Violet was on her blanket playing with her toys. She is mobile, however, and here's what happened next.







Thankfully, Cora handled this with flying colors. She didn't notice the destruction until we showed her the video, and she found it hilarious. Cora wanted to watch it again and again.

I've been saying for a few months that the transition from one child to two has gone very smoothly, that Cora loves her baby sister dearly, but that it will get more difficult when Violet is getting into her things. Obviously this was just the first of many such encounters, and I don't expect them all to go so well!

Doctors - well and not-so-well

Violet had her four-month well-check Thursday, and she is very well.

As you can see, Violet is 14 pounds (55th percentile), so she's on the same growth curve as she was two months ago at her last well-check. She is 25 inches (75th percentile), and the doctor said she is doing great!

Violet got two shots and an oral vaccine, and we'll go back next month for another shot.

I had Cora with me this time, and thankfully my sister got off work (just down the street) and could join us and entertain Cora for much of the appointment. Normally they are pretty quick, but they were short a doctor and things took longer than usual.

Somer also has been to the doctor this week.

We noticed over the last few weeks (months?) that her appetite has decreased, her coat was dull with tufts of fur sticking out, and she always wanted to drink water out of the tap. Then, a week after we got home from England, she started peeing on the playroom carpet. Uggggh. Somer had never peed outside her box in the six-plus years we'd had her.

Somer spent the night at the vet's so they could do some testing, and it appears that she has a urinary tract infection that has gone into her kidneys. Poor girl! She's home now. The results from her urine culture will be back early next week so we'll know for sure then, but she's on antibiotics in case that is the problem.

We also found out that she is just eight pounds. The doctor said she's not too thin, but that was an amazing revelation since she was 12 pounds the last time we took her in (four years ago, shame on us, but she does live indoors).

The last photo is of Cora getting ready to go to Disneyland! She was very excited, as you can guess, and even consented to pigtails. Stace and I will either have a quiet night at home with Violet, or maybe go out to dinner? He's been very, very busy at work lately so we'll see.

Story time and scary skeletons

First off, an update on Violet's crib progress. Her first night in the crib, she awoke at 3 a.m. (unusual) and after I gave her the pacifier, she went back to sleep until 6. Then I brought her in bed about 6:20 and fed her, but before we could settle into sleep again, Cora woke up before 7, wide awake and ready for breakfast.

Tuesday night was better; Violet went down by 9 and didn't wake up until about 7. Cora woke up about 7:20 - still early for her (and me) but better, especially since I didn't plan to go back to sleep after Violet finished feeding. I think with Cora taking her naps earlier (by 1:30 instead of 2ish), I need to make sure I'm getting her up by 3:30 instead of 4, so that she's tired by 8:30 and sleeps until after 7!

Today we walked over to the big park for storytime with Miss Carol. Genia and her brood, and Juliana and Maya, all attended. Owen and Violet spent a bit of time together - they are almost exactly one year apart.

Before our walk home, I switched our second seat on the Phil and Ted, so that Violet is in the extra seat and Cora in the normal seat. It works! But it does mean a lot more sun for Violet, so I might switch it back. The first stroller photo shows the new arrangement, the second two show how it was, with Violet in the "newborn" position.

After our Tuesday night ice cream, we went to Michaels' craft supply to pick up a few things. Cora and I were surprised (shocked!) by an animatronic skeleton, a Halloween item, that began yelling at us in a scary voice. Poor Cora! She started screaming, over and over, an eardrum-piercing scream appropriate for a horror movie. The rest of our trip, she discussed the scary skeleton with us. She kept asking if it was scary, and resolved over and over to not walk by him again. She also said that he was a "weirdo" and a "dipstick."
I think we're in for a long couple of months, as just about all stores seem to sell these scary things!