A Visit with Great-Grandma Baer

We loaded up the mini-van and took all three kiddos up to Beloit to see Great-Grandma Baer. Suzi and Cooper met us over at Riverside and we had a nice visit.

The kids had a blast running around the courtyard and were quite entertaining to watch. Cooper was a big hit and got lots of exercise as all three kids wanted to have their turn to walk him around. :)



We were able to get everyone on the bench for a quick picture - although it is impossible to get everyone to look in the same place at the same time!



After working up an appetite we took everyone over to The Rock to get some dinner and spent the next hour watching the kids play in the sand volleyball court


and using the bag boards as a slide.


I think we were all exhausted by the time we had to head home. I have no idea how Grandma had 5 kids!

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Neverly Brothers

This was the second time Keira saw The Neverly Brothers in concert and she is a big fan!



Being such a cute two year old, she was able to convince both Papa and Daddy to take her out on the dance floor multiple times.




In between the dance workout Keira put us through, we all enjoyed some cool beverages on the patio (gotta love the pink sippy cup!)




At the end of the evening Keira announced to us that "I love those guys" and was speechless when Papa actually took her over to meet the band!

I have a feeling we will be attending another concert next summer. :)

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Backyard Fun!

Keira is taking full advantage of having a big backyard to play in. She found Aiden's motorized 4-Wheeler in the garage and after some practice has gotten pretty good at maneuvering it around.



She also had a lot of fun helping Papa trim the trees.



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Happy to see you!

Our arrival back was extra eventful this year. Aiden greeted us with a colorful welcome sign, and Uncle Brandon made sure the bounce house and slide were up and ready for the kids. It is so sweet to see how excited Keira is to see her cousins. They had a great afternoon playing together. Perfect start to our summer visit!



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Videos: Happy to see you!

I thought we would post a couple of videos from our arrival back to IL.
It's so cute how much fun the cousins have together.

MRI

Keira went into LPCH this morning for her 9 month follow-up MRI. We were so happy to have the early morning slot and she was in great spirits considering she was not allowed to eat or drink anything since last night. The most challenging part of the day is after she comes out of the anesthesia since she does not seem to comprehend (or care) that she is quite wobbly. Everything is "I do it myself" Luckily, we were able to keep her from cracking her head. :)

We also met briefly with Dr. Effinger since she is not due for her next IVIg treatment for another 5 weeks. The MRI results were in and everything continues to look clear.... no signs of any cancer cells. Yay!

We are, however, still concerned with some of Keira's behavior. She has become quite whiny in the past few weeks. As much as we want this to be "normal two year old behavior" we also do not want to dismiss something that could be a sign of increased anti-bodies in Keira's brain. After much discussion, we all agreed to watch her for the next few weeks and if things don't start to improve with some behavior modification we will most likely increase her steroids again to see if that has a positive effect.

Father's Day Brunch

It has been quite a year for all of us, but in my humble opinion I think Naveen deserves an award for being one of the most amazing dads of all time. He has truly done everything possible to make sure that we are educated and making the best decisions for our little girl's rare condition and I know that I could not get through this without him. In addition, Keira absolutely adores him. Her face lights up when he gets home from work and he can make her laugh like no one else. Truly, we are blessed.

For Father's Day this year, Keira picked out matching shirts and they both proudly wore them all day in the Mission. Although this was probably not the most memorable Father's Day, we did have a yummy brunch at Bar Tartine and Keira lived up to her promise of being a good girl for the entire meal.



While we waited for our food, Keira kept herself amused by putting stickers all over Naveen's arm.


And her friend of choice today was George. Keira is always good at making sure everyone is well taken care of.


She even gave George a piggy back ride on the way back home!

Video: I Don't Have a Tail!

San Diego

Mom's last day of school meant that it was officially summer!

We flew down to San Diego to hang out with Dad for a few days. This was Keira's first flight as a paying customer. She loved having her own seat. Also, when you fly Virgin they deliver snacks and you get your own little TV, which just happened to have Dora On Demand so the flight when by quickly for us both!


During the day Naveen still had to work, but Keira and I took full advantage of the hotel and had a blast walking around the city. In the evenings we would meet up and find somewhere fun to grab a drink and eat. Keira practiced some of her OT skills with edamame at Nabu.


On our way back to the hotel she pointed out a very fancy motorcycle and explained to us that, "when I get older, I'll ride that!"


K and I also found a Children's Museum and spent a morning exploring the exhibits.






We were also able to meet up with Ray and Tom for dinner at The Fish Market. Keira was the super excited by all the helicopters and every time one went by she called it to everyone's attention.


The biggest highlight of the trip was going to Sea World with Supriya, Sridhar and Krishna. It was so cute to see how excited she was to see Shamu for the first time.


Keira also enjoyed watching the dolphin show and just goofing around with Krishna.




On our way out of the park, K spotted a very large polar bear and insisted that she wanted to give him a hug. There was another girl with him at the time and when she left K ran over. Unfortunately, I'm a novice when it comes to these kid parks and I did not realize there was a VERY LONG line of kids waiting for their turn to take a picture so we were told we had to go to the end of the line. I thought Keira was going to have a meltdown but when I explained what happened, she went right to the end and patiently waited her turn.


And, of course, we came home with yet another stuffed animal.


The rest of our visit was spent just hanging out with Supriya, Sridhar and Krishna. It's so nice to spend time with good friends. We stayed up way too late talking and the kids were up way too early, but truly we were happy that the K's had so much fun playing together. I have to say we were all sad to have to say good-bye.



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Playdate with Soraya

Keira was so excited to have a playdate down at Soraya's house. It was such a beautiful day that we took the girls to the park so that they could enjoy all the sunshine.


(Keira was determined to follow Soraya up the big ladder!)


Afterwards, the reward was a popsicle to cool down.



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Ajji and Thatha's Visit

Keira was excited to have Ajji and Thatha come visit this month. The weather was beautiful and we all enjoyed the three day weekend. We were even able to bar-b-que out in the back terrace in celebration of Memorial Day.





Keira was a big fan of the corn on the cob again this year.



Although Naveen and I had to work the rest of the week, Keira spent the week going on walks to the park, reading books, singing songs, and playing, playing, playing! I think Ajji and Thatha slept very well at night - Keira is quite good at keeping her company busy!







As usual, the week went by too fast, but lots of great memories were made!

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