Spring Fever is going to hit hard!

I love Spring! Kids can run and climb outside on the jungle gym instead of inside on the couches. That makes for a much happier mom scrambling around the house while kids are occupied and very tired sleepy bugs at night. Great for everyone involved!

It's nice having the weather change just in time for March. Especially since Sada's MRI was rescheduled until the first week in April (instead of the first week of March). The change means the quarantine will continue for at least one more month until we can get back to church, school and playing with friends. But we won't be all stuck inside together - we can be outside together getting our daily dose of vitamin D.

The nicest surprise that has come from all this togetherness is that the kids have become really close friends. They liked each other before but true love at home was definitely fleeting at times. Tolerating one another has gone by the wayside and they are much more thoughtful of each other's feelings. Even Jason and Paige talk out their conflicts instead of banging each other over the head. They've learned that if they get along they get more activities - painting, playdough, beads, puzzles... so they're pretty happy most of the time. And if they all keep it up this week, they get to toilet paper Dad's bedroom (shhhhh - don't tell). It's not considered Mom's room if she's helping, you know. As always, any other ideas to keep little hands and minds busy over the next month will be greatly appreciated!

Dinosaurs

Today's middle dive was the birthplace of the next most popular hand-clap rhyme. Alexis and Sada have been making up songs and claps to go with the songs to scare away boredom and the creation for today is called "Dinosaurs."

Dinosaurs in the land of the mists
Hit by a comet and don't exist
We've never seen one but we know
They all lived a long time ago.

The tune is "Down on the banks of the Hanky Panky," with a little creative liberty. They're both poets and didn't even know it!

Since the primrose and crocus are now in full bloom (just in time for this weekend's snow flurries!), Sada and Alexis have been happily snapping away getting every angle viewing angle captured on film.... well, pixelated on memory card. After this morning's shoot, Sada was sitting by me on the couch and said, "I just remembered something. Sometime before my surgery, I remember looking through into the view finder and I couldn't see anything. I thought there was a problem with the camera, so I didn't worry about it." We had been playing around with photos the Friday and Saturday when she went in... but it could have been earlier, too, especially if the pressure had been fluctuating and affecting her vision.

Note to self: If I wake up some morning and have to start raising a family from scratch all over again, along with rules like "Don't draw pictures on your bed sheets with red permanent marker(and don't let your big sister remind you of your follies by writing "Don't write on the sheet" in big red letters under the aforementioned mural)" and "Always apologize when you put your elephant's nose into someone else's ear," don't forget to add "Tell your parents IMMEDIATELY when the camera only works with one eye and not the other." I'm going to be an incredibly insightful mom someday if I can just remember what I've learned so far....

Another evaluation at physical therapy to see how far Sada's progressed. The results: she's improved leaps and bounds from where she was a month ago and still has plenty to work on for next month, as well. Skipping, running then stopping to pick up a ball without tipping over, and standing still are all about up to acceptable. Without depth perception it's a lot harder to judge distances or height changes when walking on uneven ground, so we'll have a lot more work in the throwing/catching and kicking categories just to learn about determining distances. Balancing on one foot is still WAY off - if she focuses on a wall or window she can last for about 3 seconds... improvement by 3 whole seconds over last month when she couldn't even attempt it. Patience is a virtue here because progress isn't overnight. Then again, according to the original outlook, she's months ahead of where she should be. I love my bug!

Spring fever has hit... I actually had to come up with activities today to get Sada into the hyperbaric. Usually she has them planned out a day in advance, but not today. Even with the rain, the snow melting and tulips and crocus popping up keep drawing her outside. That's a good thing until she needs to be in the chamber - so I spent a half-hour threading looms so Sada and Alexis could make scarves/ blankets/ doll pillows while diving. It worked today - and any other ideas of what to do for an hour in an extremely large balloon are very appreciated!

Beautiful day + lots of kids all awake at the same time = Trip around the neighborhood and beyond!

Since it was up to 45 degrees and everyone was up from naps and out of hyperbarics for a whole 75 minutes (new record!) we explored the neighborhood TOGETHER!! Yes, sounds simple, but trying to fit it in with so many sleepy times and dive sessions has been impossible - until now. :-)

The crocus are popping up and the tulip mounds are bulging . Moss is growing inbetween cracks in the street - in Utah this is a very rare occurance, in fact, Paige didn't even know what moss was, poor little desert dweller. I loved not having to push a stroller since Kyra loves her sling wrap (and I do, too). No clouds, no coats for a couple of kids and best of all, no complaints about being cold. Wahooooo! We saw a ton of people drive by and waved like a bunch of ducks on parade. Sada did pretty good walking on uneven surfaces like bumpy sidewalks and snow, although after a couple near spills we instituted the buddy system for her as much as for Paige who was wearing Alexis' boots (four sizes too big made her clumsier than a blindfolded cow).

Bookworms have voracious appetites

Sada's done pretty good at keeping her reading down to normal human levels (not her average 4-5 hours each day). That is, she was doing great until today. Over the past few days, Sada and Alexis have both been reading "Little House in the Big Woods." Same book, different hyperbaric sessions. Then before bed last night, I dug up another copy of "Little House on the Prarie," being nice and thinking they could each keep track of their own. Then this morning happened. That's when they realized they were both starting the same book at the same time. If Sada reads at the speed of light, Alexis is the speed of sound. But Alexis reads when you least expect her to and passes Sada up regularly. They both read the Little House books in Kindergarten and 1st Grade, but hardly remember anything about them after watching too many Little House reruns on PBS. I'm guessing Alexis will start (or already has started) another book soon so Sada will obviously finish faster and Alexis can enjoy Laura's literary adventures without having to race.

Snow started falling right before physical therapy and it was COLD outside. Then within 10 minutes of starting her exercises, Sada had little sweat beads on her nose - quick climate change! Lots of midline-crossing moves and stretching her back and feet to help keep her body balanced. She moves faster and faster and since her brain is rewiring how to stay upright, if she's not concentrating and moving purposefully she tumbles. She did get some nifty tape on her hands to help improve her palmar strength and hand/eye coordination with pincer grasp activities. The tape stays on for a week (or until it peels off) and supports the muscles that should be used by strengthening them without conciously having to think about it.

We counted up how many dives we've done on our hyperbaric chamber in one month - and Sada's spent a whole lot of time diving. As of today, the total comes to 120 65-75 minute sessions! A dozen or so were only Jeff, but that's still an insane amount of time for a 7 and 9 year-old to hang out together in a very confined space! Sada and Alexis are now expert Nertz, Speed and Clue players and can both shuffle card decks like pros. If only there were sharks to swim with to make it more adventurous.....

For Valentine's Day, Daddy got heart-attacked. Sada has wanted to sew something for ages, so we made 6" hearts and Sada and Alexis stitched them closed during hyperbarics. Then while Daddy was busy cleaning the kitchen, Mom and kids strung a bunch of red and white streamers and tied a dozen balloons to the heart pillows and let them go around Daddy's bedroom. It left Kyra speechless - well, squeal-less. Sada was awfully proud of her hearts and interior design abilities.

Grandma and Grandpa Wright have been in Salt Lake for training sessions while preparing to go to the Philipines as an Assistant Legal Counsel for the LDS church for 18 months. They stopped by Friday night to drop off Valentine's/Christmas presents and were able to talk to Jason and Paige while Sada and Alexis were in the hyperbaric. The kids have had a wonderful time playing with the dolls and cars. We should have a happy, un-bored family for a while with all the activities!

Getting ready for Valentine's, here's a heartfelt THANK YOU for prayers, cards, emails, and all the other extras that have been rained down on us. There are soooo many people who have truly gone out of their way to help without our having to ask. Some of the extra miles we've seen include:

• Calls from our driveway telling us to look on the porch for surprises (they didn't want to risk spreading germs)
• Lysoled presents to make sure nothing extra is given along with the intended gifts
• Grapevines of calls to figure out how to include our kids in Primary lessons without passing the possible coughs or colds on to us
• Letters from next-door neighbors because they knew they wouldn't be able to talk at the door
• Aunts, uncles and grandparents visiting through the front windows instead of coming inside
• E-mails galore instead of cards (especially from kids who are not known for their anti-microbial characteristics)

It's so stressful keeping on top of everything we have to do, alot of the "should dos" have slipped through the cracks. Instead of asking to be exceptions to the situation and put really bad possibilities into the equation, it's been a huge relief to have others watching out for Sada, too, without having to be told or even reminded.

Once again, thanks!

Welcome to our home! For those of you who can't walk up the sidewalk in person, here's a virtual view of what you would see upon reaching the porch:

More polite than "Quarantine!!! Stay away!!!" and it seems to get the message across to most people that no one is allowed inside. Yesterday I saw a salesman walk up to the house, pause, and turn around to go on to the neighbors... maybe I should leave it up until summer to cut down on all the vacuum demonstrations.

Paige wanted some time in the blog spotlight (she reads now so I can't make up new stories while reading posts to her) so here goes:

Paige and Jason are great helpers. They help Sada get better by giving her shots with their souvenir syringes, giving her hugs and giving her kisses. Paige would like to share Sada's dresses, but Sada doesn't think that will help with the whole healing process. Overall, they are helping out instead of hindering especially when it comes to helping with Kyra. They keep her from eating papers and books while Sada and Alexis get in the hyperbaric, and they know where all the baby toys are for when Kyra starts getting frantic and Mom is counting out vitamins. They really like having Sada and Alexis home because playtime and school time is much more fun with a couple extra friends/teachers.

Paige and Jason

Do you have something to share with the rest of the class?

For all those who have tried to leave a thought or two and ended up in cyber neverland, the comment form should work now. If you're still having troubles, try commenting as "anonymous" and leave your name in the comment. And don't fret if your comments don't show up immediately - due to a number of little issues, they will go to our inbox to be accepted before they show up on the blog. We'll see if this tweak fixes past problems!

By the time we finally get Sada's supplement regime figured out, she's only going to need one real meal a day.

This afternoon, her pupils weren't constricting much no matter how bright the lights were, and unusual dilation is usually what precedes the bug-eyed look that seems to indicate extra pressure in the brain... goody gumdrops! (Please excuse the sarcasm - it's been a very long night.) In the treat bag from Jeff's office came another 8 supplements/ homeopathics/ nutrients which will add around 18 more pills each day, all specific to inflammation, swelling, bruising and trauma. I've been told that with brain surgery it can take 3-5 months for inflammation to subside. No horse pills this time, just some little vitamin E caps, bromelain, EFA & DHA to go along with everything else.

She doesn't have headaches and she's not throwing up, so there's no "proof" of the swelling and no way to test it without getting inside the skull... been there once and not going to do it again, thanks! It would be really frustrating right now if we had to wait until things got worse before being able to do something about it. Maybe that's why Sada got to be our oldest instead of growing up in another family!

Today's school lesson focused on construction - industrial and grammatical. Before rearranging the kitchen and family room to create a 5 bedroom, 8 blanket (queen & king sizes) fort that takes up all of one room and part of the next, Sada and Alexis were tasked to create a mini-opus. But that was way too much work to do with such an edifice waiting to be raised. Sada settled on an ingenious composition, reflective in more ways than one. Meant to be read backwards and forwards, it sums up her current outlook on life pretty well. I've typed it out twice to make it easier to read. Her teacher is awfully proud ;-)

Recovering

Recovering is ok
Though visitors must wear masks
You can talk on the phone
However you can't go anywhere
You can eat fruit
But
You can't eat sugar
Recovering is hard work
I know

I know
Recovering is hard work
You can't eat sugar
But
You can eat fruit
However you can't go anywhere
You can talk on the phone
Though visitors must wear masks
Recovering is ok

Sada started a countdown for the next time we can go to the zoo. Why? She misses seeing the animals. The child hasn't hit stir-crazy yet because we've been doing LOADS of activities, but she misses normal life. She still has some massive knobby nodes on her neck so her immune system is still working overtime - little by little. And with the 5-8 grams of vit. C she's getting each day, she'd better be healing fast!

Tucking Sada in, I asked what the best part of the day was. We had made a ton of crafts, played games, danced, had puff pancakes for dinner - all good stuff. But not good enough. "For physical therapy I didn't have to wear the NeuroSuit!" They did a lot of midline crossing exercises to help with her balance and perception but it was a lot easier without a couple dozen elastics providing resistance - she was sure it had only lasted 15 minutes. Time plays funny tricks on your mind when you can appreciate how good you've got it.

Good thing Sada's not a groundhog - she wouldn't have been able to look to see her shadow. The latest adventure is a stiff neck... she was fine all weekend, but today she kept saying it hurts in a stretchy kind of way back by her incision whenever she looks down. She also didn't do any stretches or exercises this weekend because she was feeling fine. Welcome to the wonderful world of scar adhesions and healing! I rubbed it out a little and stretched her some more, which helped. She said she would remember to do it herself so it won't get bad again like it did today. Experience is a fine teacher; just brings with it a bit more pain than learning the other way.