It has been another great couple of days. These past couple of weeks have been so good that looking back on the weeks prior to them I can really tell ViviAnne wasn’t feeling as well as I’d thought. But there was never any signs until the vomiting started.
Anyway, enough about that…..Like I said she has been doing remarkably well the past few weeks. So well that yesterday I took she and Cooper along with Gramma to the Newport Aquarium to visit Aunt Stacey. It was a wonderfully full day with no tears or fits. She simply took it all in with wonderment and curiosity. It was great! And as an extra bonus there were only 2-3 other families visiting that day so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Which was great; if it had been crowded she could not have gone!
She and Cooper enjoyed looking at all the colorful fish and were a little unsure of walking through the glass tunnels and/or over the glass platforms. ViviAnne was a bit startled when a BIG shark swam over our heads but all she did was hold tighter to my hand, no tears or anything. Cooper was quite funny with the glass bridges, he would stop dead in his tracks and baby step around the glass if he could. Aunt Stacey led both of them over one glass platform and he kinda shimmied across until it was close to the end then he ran. It was so funny. I love to watch the things they are afraid of because you can see the “what is that?!” look in their eyes. As we age, we definitely take for granted knowing what everything is around us, and forget that these little people are taking in the world for the first time ever! It was really something!!!
A quick note from Aunt Stacey...
Kristen did not have time to finish this post before ViviAnne had woken up and was calling out for her. She asked me to wrap the post up for her...
ViviAnne is doing amazing! I cannot tell you how full my heart is after spending the day with her and seeing her enjoying life like every child should be able to do. Just weeks ago she was so weak and her body so taxed by Chemo that she couldn't even sit up for very long by herself. I can remember one day we were absolutely ecstatic when she wanted to get down from the couch and lay on my back. She was too weak to stand and play so she laid on my back while I was on the floor and we pretended to be alligators and other animals. Just her wanting to play was a big deal to us. Fast forward to yesterday where she was literally tearing through the Aquarium, running from window to window too see all the different species, enthusiastically yelling out to all of us to come see. Watching her and Coop interacting is so heart warming. They just love each other so much and play together so well. When she was going through that horrible first phase of Chemo and steroids, she refused to let Coop anywhere near her. To see her back to loving on him and mothering him is such a good indicator of how she feels.
My mother-in-law, Doris (or DOWIS as ViviAnne says) is in town visiting and came along yesterday. She bought the kids some stuffed animals from the aquarium and they LOVED them. Coop even tried to ride his for some reason. They had a blast running around the plaza with them. They really liked the telescope (or SKELESCOPE as ViviAnne says) that they could look through to see the boats on the river or the buildings downtown. I'd be holding up ViviAnne so she could see through it and look down to find Coop had completely scaled half of the telescope base.
Doris went on and on about how well behaved the kids are. I think that says a lot about Brent and Kristen. Even through the stress of this horrible ordeal they have not lost focus on still teaching ViviAnne and Cooper how to be well behaved, sweet and polite children. I know they are still trying to figure out what their new "normal' is, and though things are going well now, they still have a long road ahead of them, but I am so proud how they have continued to be such amazing parents through the stress of it all.
I go home after days like yesterday and just feel so grateful and appreciative to have days like that. If anything, the last few months have taught me to thankful for ANY good days. Until Andy and I have our own babies, ViviAnne and Cooper are the most special people in our life. I am so proud and thankful for these ridiculously adorable bright blue eyed, blonde-headed little people. And even prouder of their parents.
1 comment:
It's so nice to have Aunt Stacey's photographs to accompany the posts! We are so fortunate to have professional pictures to document ViviAnne and Cooper's lives. Stacey is right we have learned to be grateful for the good days and thankfully there have been many more good days lately!! Thanks to everyone for their support, whether it be reading the blog, call us, making donations to ViviAnne's fund, bringing dinners, praying etc. etc. etc. If we haven't said it loud enough or often enough - THANK YOU!! WE FEEL VERY LOVED!! Grammaw (otherwise know as Kim)
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