Milestones!

Today was a big day in our kitchen.  Dylan distinguished himself by being legitimately helpful while cooking dinner.  Without any assistance from me, he peeled the cucumbers for gazpacho, and squeezed lemons for lemonade.

Lyra, who has turned out to be a terrific eater, gave what I'm pretty sure was the sign for "more".  She was fussing on the floor while I was preparing dinner, so I asked her if she wanted to taste the pesto I was making. I dipped some bread in the pesto and handed it to her.  She had a little taste on her tongue, wasn't sure for a moment, then decided she was on board.  She ate up the whole piece of bread, then tapped her fingers together.  I said, "do you want more?" and she looked at me expectantly.  I gave her another, and then some of the cheese I was grating, and we went through the "more" sign several more times.

We're way behind on pictures, so here are a couple as teasers:

Two feet tall

Various grandparents have complained that we haven't been keeping up with the monthly baby updates the way we did with Dylan.  Well, Lyra has cleared the fourth trimester, and is now a happy, bouncing baby girl.

A few weeks back, she had her 4-month well check and measured in at 24 1/4", and 12 lb 6oz.  This puts her at about the middle percentile for height but only 10th for weight, which is surprising given her chubby little arms and legs.  She's also 80th percentile for head circumference, so overall, she takes after Dylan.

Here's our little girl the day after her 4 month birthday.

It's a girl!

We are pleased to announce the birth of Lyra Autumn Fromm, 6 lb. 7 oz., 19.09" (yeah, like it's really that precise...), at 7:45am on September 25, 2014.

Mommy, Daddy, and baby are all doing well.

11th hour announcement

Due this Thursday, Sept 25, via C-section.

Happy Rosh Hashana!

Happy Chemoversary

Two years ago today I was in the hospital, starting chemotherapy.

Things are looking much brighter now.

I realized I haven't blogged in quite some time, but it's really a reflection of how much life has returned to normal.  While I won't say exactly that it's not always somehow in the back of my mind, recovering from cancer just isn't something that dominates my thoughts on a day to basis.

Things in general are going well, although I'm still not 100% recovered from a brief bout with the flu a few weeks back.  But I won't complain too much.  Not compared to last winter, when I ended up in the hospital.  Twice.

I decided the start of chemo was the right point at which to start marking time, even if xkcd somewhat disagrees.  With my type of cancer, they consider you "cured" after 5 years, and the start of treatment is when they start counting.  But I'd like to think that I'm way more than 40% of the way there, due to the nature of the survival curves.  Basically, the longer you make it, the better your odds are.  So, having made it 2 years so far, I've optimistic.

I'm way behind on pictures, and really need to devote some time to working through my backlog and getting them up online.  I will leave you with this one utterly adorable picture of Dylan at preschool, that some of you may have already seen from Facebook.

Dylan holding court at preschool with his entourage of older women. [photo courtesy of Gay Austin staff]

A tale of 3 doctors' appointments

First, the most important appointment: Rich had a scan on Monday and it was all clear. His oncologist feels that he's stable enough, and his odds of recurrence are sufficiently low, that he doesn't need another scan for a year. Huzzah!

Next, Dylan had his 3-yr old well child visit. He hasn't been particularly "well" this week, since he's been suffering from a persistent cough, but, they did weigh and measure him. He's 38 3/4", which puts him in the 76th percentile for height, and 32 pounds, which is the 51st percentile for weight. It also means that he's legitimately tall enough for the big merry-go-round at Fairyland in Oakland. Sadly, they no longer measure head circumference, which is where Dylan really excelled (at one point I think he was up to the 98th percentile).

Finally, I caught Dylan's cold, and pink eye. Dylan's was mild and cleared up without medication, but mine was pretty yucky. I didn't even know adults got pink eye. My doctor's appointment was to get antibiotic drops for that.

Anyway, it's been a while. Dylan had a 3rd birthday party at Aquatic Park near Dreamland Playground (or Train Park, as we like to call it). Pics are here.

And here's Dylan in his Nemo Halloween costume that he finally got to wear after using it as a stuffed animal for a year. If you recall, he missed Halloween last year because Hurricane Sandy interfered with his flight home from Philly.

Goodbye, Selena

This post is long overdue.

Our second beloved kitty, Selena, passed away on July 7, age 17+, likely from old age. Her death was somewhat of a surprise, given that she'd been to the vet a few months ago and was given a clean bill of health, but she had been slowing down a bit.  Maybe she missed Dirk.

Our house feels strangely quiet now (other than the toddler), since we've had cats continuously living here since we moved in here in 2005.  There are no more explanations for noises heard in the night. I'm finding it difficult to put away the cat paraphernalia.

Farewell Selena, you are missed every day. Here are a few photos from the past couple of years.

Selena loved the amount of time we spent laying around when we had a newborn.

Detente

She hung out here because of the heater's pilot light.

Warm and snugly by the fire

Selena's insistence on sleeping under the covers was definitely a mixed blessing.

Being a good sport

Who knows what lurks in the shadows...

Infinite Cat

Back when Selena was willing to let Dylan manhandle her

Helping me read to Dylan