Nico's Nibbles

Nicholas definitely shares Daddy's love of the kitchen.  He recently wrapped up a 10 week cooking class at Peekadoodle that he really enjoyed, so now I try to do some sort of cooking/baking project with him once in a while.  He especially loves making cookies (I buy prepackaged dough that he can "cut" and "make" all by himself....I actually highly recommend Immaculate Baking Co. dough!).  He also recently discovered the SEVENTEEN jars of sprinkles in our pantry, and he has used each and every one of them during his endeavors!!

Nicholas and I also started SoccerTots on Friday mornings and within ten minutes he reported, "Mommy, I LOB ("love") soccer!!!"  We play on the Marina Green with views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.....we are lucky :)  

Just a couple more...

For Father's Day, we sailed around the Bay and had lots of fun!!

Weekend Things

We visited the Botanical Gardens...

Got a haircut.....

(so did Daddy!)

And went to Ben's birthday party!

"It's not you, it's me"

This last period of blogging inactivity has been the result of lots of different factors!  In March, we transitioned from a full-time nanny to a part-time one, so my Director of Household Operations role has expanded to include more childcare duties :)  Nicholas has also started a drop-off preschool prep program for 3 hours on Monday mornings.  Concurrently, I developed a GVHD relapse (likely a result of finally getting off an immunosuppressant in February), which, over time, led to a pretty debilitating situation for me.  My joints ached and I was so fatigued, and it kept getting worse.  Finally, on Friday I started Prednisone, which will be a "wham-bam" fix to the issue.  So now I'm bouncing off the walls and was back in action in time for Easter weekend!

On Saturday, we went to the annual Bunny Party at Peekadoodle.

Nicholas was not happy that the BIG bunny came to this party.  He likes the LITTLE easter bunny.

But then he figured out that the big guy brought all these great eggs..... 

And he warmed up a little.

 

Organizing his Easter basket loot.....

This morning, we went to Peekadoodle for school and Nicholas was very upset to find that the Easter Bunny had gone home.

Other things we've done....

Taller than a cone, shorter than a digger's wheel!

Pre-swim class stamp session (he got looks!).

We went to play with Gregory and Giuliana!

Dining at the farmer's market.  So good, they're right!!

Check out this falafel sandwich!!!!

Updates....Good Ones! :)

I've anxiously been checking my UCSF chart online for results from my PET scan on Tuesday.  Finally, this morning Dr. Andreadis called to say it was clean!  Whoa!  I'll continue receiving my brentuximab treatment for now, but that's fine.

Aunt Rara came to visit us all the way from NY for 9 days!  We had great fun visiting supermarkets, grocery stores, gourmet markets, and restaurants.  No time for museums with so many stores here!

Cristina's last day with us was last Friday.  We're sorry to see her go, but Nicholas will still hang out with her on a weekend day occasionally.  Nicholas and Carson now have a new nanny named Tania on Tuesdays and Thursday, who is wonderful.  She's a former preschool teacher and perfect for this phase of their lives.  Nicholas will be in a preschool prep program on Mondays and Wednesdays part-time, and I'll be a mommy the rest of the time!  Big changes but it'll be fun (and challenging) to be with Nicholas more.

Taking pics of ourselves before music class....

Not much time to write/post/search for pics (not sure why a bunch are missing from my computer right now) since Nic is needing attention!  Cheers! 

Suggested Reading

I like to follow a blog called "A Cup Of Jo".  Today she posted a link to this article.  It's beautiful, and heartbreaking, and just....so....complicated.

Oopsies

That was a really long gap between posts.

But we were sick.  Nicholas and I got sick on the very same day with an upper respiratory illness.  He got better after a few days and I ended up in the ICU for a week.  Then Jonathan got sick and couldn't visit!  It's been a long recovery but I'm feeling more energetic each day.

I've also started up treatment again for my Lymphoma because a couple new spots appeared on my last scan (in late October).  I'm back on the antibody drug Brentuximab, which is an infusion every three weeks with very little side effects.  I've had two doses so far and am doing well :)

Nicholas got a green ribbon because he can now swim at least 6 feet on his own!

He really enjoys the carousel at Golden Gate Park

Trick or Treat!

Nicholas was his favorite superhero for Halloween, a fireman!  I crafted a fire truck out of a cardboard box which he gladly wore (and even added his own siren for effect!).  In the morning, we went trick or treating on Chestnut Street, where the local merchants line the sidewalks with bowls of candy and hundreds of toddlers march along gathering their goodies.  While the morning activity was certainly enough to fulfill any Halloween needs of a 2 year old, I wanted Nicholas to get the nighttime experience too.  So we went to nearby Sea Cliff and went to a dozen or so houses....most of which were on hills and had quite a few stairs, which is hard enough for a little kid, let alone one wearing a box!

Nicholas had the opportunity to show some real fireman his costume and he got scared!

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