Yes, Virginia, there is life outside of cancer

and being in the hospital and giving IV antibiotics every 8 hours...

:)

Although sometimes it may not feel like it, we do have a life outside of all these things and get to have lots of fun time together here at home. My posts have reflected all the crazy cancer things that have consumed our life for the last few months, but now I want to take a little break and catch up on some of the other things we've been up to since this blog is how I document those things.

(Quick update: Elena's counts weren't high enough to make it to the hospital this week, so we're trying again next week. She's been on IV antibiotics for a week now - I'm just grateful it's the every 8 hour one instead of one of the every 4 hour ones!)

(Hey and sorry for the phantom post from this morning, for those of you that saw it. It's one I'm posting later that I've been working on and it accidentally got posted before it was finished. :))

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So for part 1: let's get up to speed on Lily.

She is coming up on 15 months and keeps us laughing every day. She also occasionally has me throwing my hands up to heaven in frustration since she's in the phase where she follows behind me as I clean up and literally pulls every single thing out of the toybox/off the shelf/etc. that I've have just put back. It's maddening. (This too shall pass...) :)

We sure love our little Lily, though! She brings so much joy into our lives. I love watching her big, innocent eyes and seeing her face scrunch up as she's trying to figure things out and hearing her squeals and giggles. It is so nice having this little lady in our house to bring us some pure, unadulterated, child-like joy. She is a special presence in our house.

With Lily, I'm finding myself wanting her to stay little (well, not really physically... I want the girl to freaking eat and grow! But anyways...) and wanting to freeze time and soak up every little thing about her as a wonderfully squishy baby. With Elena, I was so excited for her to get to on to the next thing and grow up when she was a baby. I don't know if the change of heart is a function of the things we've been going through or a natural change that occurs as you get more kids and realize how fast they really do grow up or what. But I love watching my little Lils.

Some more about Lily at 15 months:

• She is still SUCH a snuggler - she has a way of clinging to you and nuzzling into your shoulder that would melt your heart.
• She has the loudest, most high-pitched squeal in the history of the world. We call her our "Whistling Pete", like the firework - because she sounds identical. I swear this girl is going to grow up to be the voiceover person doing loud, shrieking, horror screams in Hollywood. :)
• She likes to sit and quietly flip through books. It's pretty dang cute.

• She is very obedient. I'm not bragging - I mention it because it's weird. Lily is very compliant. Compliant really is the best word for it. It's so funny. She'll try taking something or try eating something she knows she's not supposed to and when we see it, she ALWAYS walks right up to us and gives it back/spits it out/etc. She has never once tried to run away, shake her head, or just sat and ignored us, etc. Elena did (and still does) that like crazy. And if we get after Lily much, she starts crying. She is still SO sensitive and doesn't like to get in trouble.
• She is her father's daughter! Lily LOVES the fish tank! Some mornings, she'll sit and stare and point and shout at it, waiting for the light to come on. And she'll spend a long time just standing on the couch watching the fish. Any little kid finds a fishtank entertaining, but this goes beyond that. She loves it.

• She communicates very efficiently by nodding yes, lifting up her arms when she wants out of the highchair, and shaking her head no and pushing things away when she doesn't want them.
• She still has a serious love affair with the bathtub. Oh, how she loves it. She recognizes the phrase, "Do you want to go take a bath?" and lights up and nods yes when I ask. While she walks to the bath, she says, "Ba!"Ba!"
• She is moving on up in the world- she went from being on an exclusive Elecare only diet to now being able to have: pears, apples, bananas, peaches, mangoes, grapes, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, peas, broccoli, squash, spinach, avocados, lettuce, rice, straight wheat, and chicken, Neocate Nutra powder (kind of like rice cereal - ugh! do not even get me started on regular rice cereal - most brands have SOY in them! SOY! like the second most allergenic food! And rice cereal is supposedly the first thing you're supposed to introduce to baby - and many brands have freaking SOY in them!!), Duocal powder supplement - along with her Elecare.
• She is a little monkey. She has recently mastered climbing up onto Elena's bed, onto and off of the couch, and tries to dive head first into the bathtub while I'm filling it.

• She is trouble! :) (Oh yes, we've got trouble! Right here in River City!) About a week ago, I walked into Elena and Lily's room to find Lily starting a movie. Yes, she climbed up, turned the TV on, and pressed play. She knows how to do all that and she is not even 15 months old! Oh, dear. What have we got coming? She tries to help herself to movies quite often, so I have to keep an eye on her. :)

• She can look sweet, but really has some pretty sweet ninja moves. :) She can be pretty mischevious if she wants to. In this picture, Lily and Elena were sitting on Elena's bed watching a show (notice Elena's "Baby" - the very important, have to have it to sleep stuffed bear - sitting behind Lily, to Elena's right). I was sitting poised with the camera because I was taking pictures of them sitting together, when all of a sudden, I noticed a sly look come into Lily's eyes and then she reached behind her, fast as lightening, and snatched "Baby" and started cuddling it (second picture). I burst out laughing because it really was like she was trying to be a ninja - she didn't even turn around, just whipped her hand back behind her. Usually, Lily stealing "Baby" would start Elena freaking out, but my laughter and Lily's silliness had Elena laughing, too. Lily is a silly, silly baby. :)

• She absolutely adores Elena. Her love seems to grow with every day. She follows Elena around, copies things she sees her doing, lights up when she sees Elena first thing in the morning, stays up at night squealing and laughing with Elena in their room when they're supposed to be sleeping, and giggles at pretty much anything Elena does.

• She is the light of all of our lives! We're so glad to have our little Lily bug!