We arrived in the cities on the evening before radiation began, in two fully-loaded vehicles. Brad had a few days off work while we all settled in, trying to find our groove with the kids and seeing how the first few days of radiation went. It was wonderful to have him here, and we tried to take advantage of the time by doing fun family activities without going too many places right away (after all the craziness of back-and-forth to Montevideo, we wanted a few days for the kids to settle in before we started dragging them around the cities.) Here's what our days looked like...
Megan, enjoying some "quiet time" reading with dad.
Ready...aim...RUN, MOM!...I mean, FIRE!
Here's a rare sight...all three kids playing quietly together. Sometimes I feel like I'm on safari, stalking my picture-prey so they don't notice and keep on doing what they're doing.
Emily loves brushing her teeth (us brushing her teeth...not so much!) If anyone is in the bathroom, she'll crawl in, haul herself up onto the stepstool and beg, "Teef! Teef!"
We brought along the slip-n-slide for cooling down outside. Brendan's gotten to be a pro at using it, and can whip down it. Brad and I clap and cheer for them as they slide around (and I quietly try to push away my visions of broken limbs and missing teeth...ahhh, the joy of being a helicopter parent.)
The water from the slip-n-slide brought up a couple of one of Megan's favorite creatures...worms! She dragged this little guy around for quite awhile, eventually making a home for it out of sticks and grass.
Emmy enjoyed her first few trips down the slip-n-slide too. We thought the water would be too cold for her, but she absolutely loved it, begging for "More!" as soon as her slide down was done.
Emily has started standing up in the middle of the room, balancing for longer periods of time. The kids developed a game with her, where they exclaim "Stand Up!", she stands up, and then they clap and cheer for her (which she loves...she even claps for herself-see above.) Then she plops down and they do it all over again. They all love the game (the older two get to boss her around, and Emily gets smiles and applause...what's not to love?!)
A shady driveway picnic snack while Emily naps and dad works.
One of the other moms I've been talking too, who has been going through a very similar cancer situation, came up with the idea of making a paper chain for the days of radiation. I loved the idea and stole it (thanks, Kristin!) So we made the paper chain together, with Brendan writing the numbers, Megan drawing pictures and Brad adding some special phrases for the last week of radiation. We hung it over the clock at my grandparents house and each day we rotate between Brendan and Megan, each getting to cut a link off the chain or getting to cut off my medical wristband. They look forward to this every day.
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