January 3, 2006

I survived my first day back at school. While I did find it quite difficult not to be thinking about Leah the entire time, it is probably good for me if I can be away some of the time. Still, I did miss her and Chloe a lot. However, when I called Leah did not want to talk to me because she was plenty busy doing other things. Grandma Karen appears to have survived her first day taking care of them both, too. Chloe will still be going to her daycare, and Karen will be with Leah, although if Leah feels well enough and her counts are good, she may go to preschool sometimes, too. Her teacher dropped off the January calendar tonight and Leah looked it over to find out when things would be happening.

Leah appears to have had another great day. She did seem to eat about as well as yesterday-which is not setting any records, but is not horrible. It would be nice if she would initiate the eating (or interest in eating) on her own instead of having us badger her each time we have a meal. She and Chloe are on no good schedule-they can make bedtime last for hours. At almost 11 o'clock last night Chloe was sitting up in her bed making goofy faces when I looked in. Leah was still awake in her bed and heard me laugh, so came running to Chloe's room to see her sister. The two of them ran around laughing for a while after that. I thought they would sleep in, but Leah was up by 7 AM, and only napped for an hour. She may be anemic, and need a blood transfusion, but anyone who did not know her wouldn't guess this at all.

Tonight I took the girls to the Sunset Home in Denver to visit my grandma. The girls visited GG (great grandma) every day all summer long-sometimes twice a day. This fall when school started we did not visit quite as often, but since Thanksgiving we have been infrequent visitors. Leah and Chloe both enjoyed seeing everyone - after visiting there so often we know many residents and staff there. One of their favorites is Sarah who has two girls of her own that happen to be Leah and Chloe's ages. GG said our visit was the best surprise of the night. We will take this as a compliment even though I am sure we were the only surprise of the night. GG turned 90 on Christmas Day, and if you can believe this, I don't think she looks a day older than the last time we saw her.

We continue to look forward to emails and phone calls from our friends and even from new acquaintances. We have received several emails from people in New Sharon, Iowa, who are also praying for Leah. This extended support we continue to receive helps us know that there are many people out there that are praying each and every day for Leah, and continues to encourage us. Our prayer requests continue once again-for Leah to be returned to health, for her chemotherapy to continue to work, and for her strength of spirit as she endures many different medical procedures.