Another One Down

We aren't terribly frequent with our updates - sorry about that. I do regularly think about writing, but it never seems to get done. It's been almost 3 weeks since Karli wrote our last entry. Since Oliver has had another round of chemo, we may well be back in the same place by Sunday.

I am taking 5 days off each cycle to help out with our little man, from Saturday through to Wednesday. It is quite exhausting, but nice to be able to spend time with our monkey and to help take some of the load off Karli. So as of Saturday, I will be sleeping in a little bit. Not that it means I get more sleep. I find I want to stay up late and pretend we don't have the responsibilities we have. I'm sure I'm not the only one to feel that way.

Oliver is still taking about 2 weeks before he returns to our normal little man. It's almost like flicking a switch. One day he won't want to be alone, the next he is happy to play by himself forever and a day. As you can probably guess, his development seems to be on hold during the weeks he is feeling the effects of his treatment. But he is still growing and developing, and I have no doubt that he will take off once he can get a good run on it. He is getting longer and is putting on weight, and is getting a good head of hair.

His legs are getting stronger, he is getting better at standing up and sitting back down. He has started to experiment with taking his hands off any supports for a split second when he is standing. I'm excited by it all, anyway.

He has much better hand-eye coordination, and is better able to manipulate his toys. He has also taken to his cars and trucks, so I now have an excuse to start rebuilding a Hot-Wheels and Tonka collection - and no doubt there are some other cool toys that have been released since I was a little tacker. Of course, they are for Oliver. I will be merely quality control.

He still loves his books, though you need to be a speed reader to get all the words in. Needless to say, he loves the pictures, and loves to turn the pages and lift (and tear) any flaps. I have become quite adept at repairing books with clear contact. Once he actually starts school I will be the master at covering books.

Today went well. We were in and out fairly quickly and smoothly. It seems to be getting easier for us. I'm not sure if that is a result of the hospital's change of policy with regards to how it works through patients, or because we didn't have to sit and bide our time for extended periods of time, or because we had a room to ourselves today. Whatever, today was quite pleasant, all things considered.

The day was certainly made better by seeing some of our friends in much happier states. Little Mitch and his parents were in, and though he wasn't able to have his treatment, he was a much happier little man than I have seen for a long time. And to know that they have been home for a few weeks after being at Ronald McDonald house for so long is just great. He still has a couple of years of maintenance ahead of him I think, but a monthly visit will be better than having to be across the road or in the ward. And to really brighten our day, we got to see the beautiful Ava. As we were heading up to the carpark, Ava and her mum were heading in. Ava has grown so much, and her beautiful hair has come back, and her eyelashes are just so gorgeous. They're longer than her hair! She looked so very good. It's hard to believe that she is a little ticking time bomb. She is in remission, but they can't remove her tumour. I can't imagine what mum and dad must be feeling.

This is Oliver pushing his trolley along the path in Hyde Park. It's not very close to us, but it's my favourite park. Always green, with big deciduous trees shading the path all around the ponds, and lots of ducks.

This is one of the few books we can actually read to him before he turns the pages. Humphrey is almost as cute as our happy little baby.

Daddy usually leaves Oliver to entertain himself. This is where I found him the other day, sitting in his Thomas couch waiting to be read a book. I think Aunty Mandy and Uncle Mike would be very happy to know that their gift is the official reading couch.

Why the helmet you ask? I have finally been able to get Oliver into his bike trailer. I know he doesn't look terribly impressed, but who likes to wear a helmet anyway? He did actually enjoy going for a ride, after I managed to get the helmet to fit properly. I'm hoping to get in some trips while I'm home during the next week. I'll be devastated if he decides to become an indoor boy when he get's older.

I almost forgot, we have had some great news in that a number of friends have had little ones over the past few weeks. We do have a strange mix of emotions when a new baby comes into the world, but we are so looking forward to watching these little bubs growing up with our little bruiser.