Thomas's birthday

Thomas's birthday party was a great success. All the kids seemed to enjoy themselves. Lots of cupcakes and a super playground--what more could a preschooler desire? It has been a busy week for us. Between teaching, Lewis's current book project (the deadline looms) and the kids being off school Monday, we have not stopped! And the busy time of semester occupies our usual help--babysitters from Candler!

Enjoy the photos and check back for more over the weekend!

Anna gets ready

At least it looks like she's ready to go out--shopping, perhaps?! One hates to ask. What isn't obvious from this distance is that she's got those sandals on the wrong feet. All this to show that she is really getting back to her usual self. She still doesn't like getting undressed at bath time, and protests, "I got hurt!" To which one can only say, "Yes, you certainly did."

We have no idea how long it will take to wean her off the TV. She was allowed to watch TV constantly in the hospital, and has been allowed rather a lot of 'screen time' since coming home. Slowly, we're reducing her hours, if for no other reason than that the Doodlebops are driving us absolutely mad! More time at school this week will help, as will her steadily increasing energy and interest in the usual range of things.

Iain's birthday!

Iain's birthday was a great success. In the morning he experienced forward-facing car travel for the first time. This was probably rather more exciting for the parents, but he seemed to enjoy it as well.

Iain's party guests began to arrive around 4:00 in the afternoon. Tommy treated those daring enough to his own mojitos, and there was enough food to feed twice the crowd we had. It comes of being Italian, I suppose. A couple of brave souls (in the under 10 set, of course) even went for a swim! Thomas finally admitted defeat, and asked for a towel through chattering teeth. Anna had to content herself with a new Doodlebops DVD, since she is not cleared for swimming for 5 more weeks!

The party itself had two high points, especially from Iain's perspective. First, the cake:

Iain regarded the cake first as a new toy of sorts. He explored the texture and consistency before considering tasting it! He did enjoy smearing me liberally with icing and crumbs as well.

Second: his bear.

Anna goes back to school

Yesterday Anna went back for her post-op check-up with Dr. Kanter and was cleared to return to school. I took her for an hour on Tuesday, but today she went back from 9:00 to 1:15. Her normal school hours are 8:00 to 2:30, but we thought a couple of shorter days to begin with would help ease the transition back to school. For the next six weeks her activity level is restricted (insofar as one can keep Anna quiet), but she can partcipate in normal classroom activities.

Iain's big day is tomorrow: he'll be a year old. I will certainly post the obligatory cake-covered-baby photos over the weekend! Although he's not likely to understand what all the fuss is about, we thought he should have some anyway. Besides, it seemed like a good excuse to invite a few grown-ups for drinks on a Friday afternoon.

Thomas, on the other hand, is practically counting the days until his birthday. Next Friday, he'll turn 4! I can hardly believe it. It is a school holiday, so there may be a special trip as well as the party on Saturday morning. Unlike Iain's party, Thomas's will be all about the kids!