The Summer Finale

It's September already and the summer has come to an end.

We just returned from a short trip to the Bay Area over the Labor Day weekend.  Matt's mom celebrated her retirement with a big party, Kalista started her first day of school last week and Bella had a blast at the doggie hotel.

Grandma Evelyn's retirement bash at the Cliff House

 Bella enjoying playtime and making new friends at the pet resort

We got this emailed to us from the pet resort on Labor Day...Bella is too cute!

 Kali enjoying her last few days of summer vacation before her first day of school

Kalista also sat on the airplane for the first time over this past holiday weekend.  She did a great job on both flights.  She said "whoa whoa whoa" upon take off and then slept for the remainder of the flight. Whew...we were so glad that we did not end up a victim of those crying kid airplane stories.  She did a great job!

Here are a few pictures from our trip up north visiting friends and family:

 Having dinner with Great-Grandma (Jen's Grandma)

 Hanging out with Great-Grandpa (Matt's Grandpa)

Kali borrowed Auntie Jeanette's Barbie mobile with Grandpa's help

 Kali had to show off her new bathing suit. It hides her belly bump well!

 Enjoying pool time with dada

 Poolside party with the cousins

Because we haven't updated our blog over the past few months, we have plenty to talk about now.  Kalista is growing leaps and bounds.  Her speech and vocabulary has expanded and she talks non-stop.  her new favorite phrase is: "What is.....????"  So she asks us all the time: "What is a bird?  What is Brobee?  What is Muno? What is dada? "  Kali is still a big lover of Yo Gabba Gabba and asks about Brobee and Muno on a daily basis.

Bella has adjusted to life without Joey and is enjoying all the attention she gets from all of us in the house. She loves cuddling with Kali and I think the feeling is mutual from Kalista too. We will sometimes find Kali laying on Bella as if she was a pillow.

 Summer chalk art classes for Bella - Kali is a good teacher!

 Mastered the pursed lips pose for blowing bubbles

Enjoying plenty of time outdoors

We just celebrated our five year anniversary and will celebrate the monumental milestone in the next few weeks while we are on a long vacation.  Matt is working hard at the Marriott still, but Jen has decided to leave private practice after almost 7 years to join the optometry team at Sharp Rees-Stealy, a larger medical practice, as their pediatric specialist mid-October. It has been exciting news and a big change!

Update on Kali's medical status: We have been placed on hold from any surgeries until we wean her 100% off her g-tube.  Which might be a good thing since she is so petite.  We have seen the GI department and our nutrition team quite a bit over the summer because we were not gaining weight as quickly as we should have.  With a little adjustment in the calories and quantity of tube feedings, we are back on the growth chart with good progress. We had to bump back up to Boost 1.5 formula with some extra calories from Duocal, but we broke the 20 pound mark FINALLY sometime in mid-August.  Yay!! 

We have a feeding team evaluation coming up in the next month and a half to assess where we are and figure out our next plan since we are at a standstill with oral feeds again. Kali will get hungry...stuff food in her mouth....but won't swallow it and then gets frustrated and taps her belly for her tube feeding. She is too smart for her own good!  

We are just blessed that she is doing well overall and growing into such a little woman.

New Beginnings Come With Endings

It was a bittersweet day for our family.  

The Ending.....

The agenda for the day unfolded at the later part of yesterday. We anticipated Kalista's first day of school, but we didn't anticipate that we were also going to be putting our dog, Joey, down that same day.  Joey has been wasting away before our eyes more rapidly in the past few weeks.  He had lost so much weight from his inability to eat his normal large quantities of food due to the tumor in his mouth.  Joey did not look very happy, but bless his soul...he never whined or complained.  Not a whimper at all.

 

Our handsome Joey just finished his gourmet breakfast

Bella wanted to get in some last minute sniffs and kisses

Joey has been with our family since he was six months old and was about to turn fourteen this upcoming July.  He was our 4th of July baby.  He has definitely had a good long life with us and we know he will continue to have an even more fulfilling one in doggy heaven.

Matt had to take Joey this morning to our vet's office, while Jen got Kalista ready for her first day of school. Kalista had no clue what was going on this morning, except the usual dog feeding session.  Joey got spoiled with finely chopped chicken breast meat, all minced up to perfection by our close friend, Beverly.  Bella looked jealous, but also a tinge saddened.  We couldn't quite tell if she was sad because she didn't get any of the gourmet meal or sad because she knew something was going on.

Saddened Bella

We will miss Joey very much. He was a great friend, companion and brave dog.

A new chapter begins, as one ends.

The Beginning...

Kalista started her morning with a little breakfast.  She ate a bit of her hash brown before we had to give her a tube feeding.  Ironically, she hasn't been super hungry when she wakes up.  We'll give it a little more time.  It's only the second day without an overnight feeding...we're a little over anxious for amazing results.

We dropped Kalista off at school and she said "Hi" to her teacher before she  ran to the trampoline.  We stayed for about 20 minutes to see if she would be fine without us. It appeared that she was doing fine on her own.  She would play a little bit and then look up to smile to let us know that we could leave.  We knew there would be no tears as she giggled and ran around meeting her new classmates.  Kalista even waved "Bye" to us through the window. So precious!!!!  Kind of glad that there was no separation anxiety, but at the same time...disappointed that our baby didn't really need us.

Bounce Bounce Bounce

She found another lam-b in her classroom. How funny!

When Jen went to pick Kalista up, she was so tired from the half day of ultimate fun.  Jodi, her teacher, said that Kalista had a great first day. Kalista did her own thing at times, but for the most part...she sat like a big girl with all her other classmates during lunchtime and ate her noodles and Vienna sausages.  All in all....a success!

Bella was super excited to see Kalista when she returned from school.  Kali spent some time hanging out with Bella- petting her, chasing her and even putting all of our dog toys into Bella's crate.  Oh that Kalista!!!!

Bella got a surge of extra attention and pampering today.  We renovated her living quarters and expanded some space for her to roam.  We washed her linens and gave her a spa treatment during her bath.  The princess is back!

Bella found a comfy spot while we were doing laundry

Getting Ready For School

Kalista gets to start school tomorrow.  We got the green light to start a few weeks early.  Since Jen has been going to a Hanan speech and language workshop at the elementary school, Kalista has been dropped off for daycare in her future classroom so she can interact with her new teachers and other kids in her class.

Kalista got her new backpack the other day.  It has Hello Kitty on the front with neon stripes.  Her first mission, when she got her hands on it, was to take all the paper stuffing out of it.  Once that was accomplished, she decided that she would pack the Kung Fu Panda 2 blu-ray case, her stuffed panda and a few other toys in the backpack.

Jen packed up all of Kali's necessary medical accessories and diapers/wipes to bring on the first day of school.  The school nurse will be readily available for any g-tube help during her school days.  Rest assured...Kalista is in good hands!

We know potty training is stressed highly before kids start preschool at age 3, so we have been working hard on that.  Our potty training skills are much improved since we started 3 weeks ago.  Kalista now lets us know if she needs to go potty...of course...when she remembers.  At night, she has been really consistent with her pee-pee skills as part of her bedtime ritual.  All new parents out there listen up....ROUTINE and CONSISTENCY PAYS OFF!!!!  We began by just sitting her on the potty right before bed, just after her PJ change and right before teeth brushing.  Now it's so automatic....  pajamas...potty...brush teeth...sleep.

Big milestone....we are off our night feedings!!!!  Well...this is the first night...not to jinx ourselves.  Per our nutritionist, we have switched back to the higher calorie drink (Boost or Peptamen 1.5) and requiring less volume to accommodate her nutritional needs. This makes for a hungrier kid that eats more.  At least, that is what we are hoping for.

We've got lots of things going on this week and we will continue to keep all of you posted.