Back in the swing of things

Summer has her no more chemo party at the clinic this afternoon. This is actually the first Monday in probably six months or so that we have not had an actual appointment at the clinic or been in the hospital. As fate would have it, we ended up having to go anyway so Summer can get her cake. It isn't until 1:00 this afternoon though.

We just showered and she is making her "dolly" in the floor with her clothes. She already tried on the shirt I picked out (this hasn't happened in a while), but insisted on taking it off to make her dolly before putting on anything else. I don't know what is up with the dolly, but I'm going to let it go. She is becoming more independent at playing. Her imagination soars. Yesterday, we were at my aunt's house who has a rather hissy cat. So, Summer wanted to lay on the couch pretending she was a cat and have me come up and pet her. Then she would wake up and hiss at me and chase me through the house. She even got my Granny and Sandra to play along a few times. I even chased my Granny around like I was a hissy cat. I must say I've never done that with her, even when I was a kid. The only time she was chasing me was with a fly swatter....and I was faster than her. :) It was so much fun. And, a pretty good workout too!

We've developed sort of a night time routine. At some point it will be time for "goodnight games." We will play Pretty, Pretty Princess or Go Fish or Crazy Eights or Old Hare (like old maid). She likes to play and would never be happy with just one game. She just told me Hannah Montana was her favorite game still, but the last time we tried to play my CD player wouldn't work. :( NOT. Sometimes we also play Hungry, Hungry Hippo or Don't Spill the Beans. After that we will brush our teeth and usually read a few books. Of course, we don't limit game playing to night time. I don't think she would go for that.

She loved helping me put the tree up on Saturday. We had a little talk about how some of the ornaments can break easily on the hard floor so we have to be careful. That put a little fear in her and she was careful with all the ornaments. I don't think we broke any this year. However, all three of the stocking holders managed to get broken (and repaired) at some point in the day. First, Summer knocked off one trying to hang a stocking on it. Two seconds later, the second one went. I didn't make too much of a fuss of it because the look on her face was enough to know she was upset by what she had done. Anyways, the day was spent decorating and finding old treasures. When we came to my Memaw's old Nativity, Summer wanted to set it out. It was cute. She tried to stuff all the animals in the one stall in the stable. Then we went over the Christmas story again and moved them around. Good times. That night before bed we read a few Christmas books, one of which Summer's Nona had given her which tells the Christmas story too.

Summer especially likes to wrap presents. There are still no presents under the tree for her. I am trying to decide how to do it. I have accumulated quite a few little gifts for her throughout the year. Maybe the 12 days of Christmas will be possible again if I can get them all wrapped and organized. That's hard to do when she is here though because if she sees the wrapping paper, she is stopping by to help. Tape is usually her job. I did let her wrap her Paw-Paw's present by herself. Well, I did the tape, but she did all the folding of the paper. There is one more thing I have to get because she is asking Santa for a magnetic dart board like we saw at Learning Express. I hope I can find a coupon like I had the day we saw it. I just couldn't buy it then though with her with me. Plus, we were on the bike. There is no sneaking there.

We had a "normal" breakfast today. All three of us had cereal. I can't remember the last time that happened. Summer told me she liked the milk and asked what flavor it was. I told her skim. :) She is eating so good and gaining weight too from the looks of her. Her hair is growing back. She has blonde fuzz all over her head although you can't really feel it yet. Her eyelashes are longer and will probably be longer than mine by the end of January. That's just not fair! She is a bundle of energy, always wanting to play. Last night, I let her run me across the bridge. She would pull my hand while I jogged on a small ledge and then I would have to do hers. We ran into some of our neighbors who probably thought it was quite a sight to see. Then she asked me to pick her up and run which I did. I had a hard time making it to the end, but she wouldn't give up on me. :) She's such a blessing and an inspiration to me. I know now is the time to live life to the fullest. There is no reason to wait. Oh, what an adventure this life is....and a fun one with her by my side.