#165 Saturday 5 February 2011

It's been a 2:30am start to the day .... a call from the hospital to say "It's time to come" .... at 11am, the waiting goes on.

Kaylia managed to saturate two beds last night ..... that must be some sort of record!

Kaylia, Zoe & I are now at the lake for Jana's birthday party .... lots of balloons on a very windy day! The windy conditions make swimming hard work .... unless you're Kaylia! With her swimming technique the wind doesn't bother her as she spends most of the time underwater. At the lake she swims a long way from the shore ... the water is deep so I follow close by in the inflatable dinghy. This gives her something to rest on if needed. She rarely needs help as she is very good at floating on her back and resting in the water .... she often does this.

For those of you old enough to remember the 8mm home movie camera, here's a glimpse of the lake the way we saw things in my childhood!




Later:
It's now 6pm .... the day at the hospital has been hard for Naomi and her family. Her Mum is now in palliative care ... and as an ironic twist, her father has also been admitted and is two floors above.

Kaylia came home from the lake ..... and spent most of the afternoon in the "hot bubble bath"!! Today she has learned to turn on the taps to run the bath herself! This poses a new issue for us ... something we need to watch for.

#164 Thursday 3 February 2011

At 11am I listened to the jet flying overhead .... Thinking that it was probably the flight I was going to be on! Ah well ... maybe in two weeks time. I was able to change my tickets .... the extra cost can be claimed on travel insurance.

Today Kaylia's been puzzling people with her perfectly personal vocab .... words that she knows but no one else! Such as "co" .... clothes!

Last night was the new normal .... up at about 2am and awake till about 4am. I'm too old for this game! I spend the day barely able to function. This must be why people have kids when the parents are still young ..... they have stamina ..... and the grandparents are still young enough to help!

#163 Wednesday 2 February 2011

Today the life support has been turned off and Mum is still with us. There is still no prospect of a happy outcome though and we live by the moment.

Kaylia has had her first day in Year Two .... She seemed very happy to be back in the familiar routine. She is making good friends in her class ... Just what we hoped for.

#162 Tuesday 1 February 2011

Today has been another hard day ... Kaylia had a wet bed at 12:15am and I didn't sleep till about 2:30 .... it messes you around!
She goes back to school tomorrow ... Year Two! She will be very happy to be back again.

Bali trip??? ... at this stage I may still be going ... but who can tell.

Later: Again .... No change at the hospital.

Kaylia has been introduced (by the demon Zoe) to a new game .... "Shoulders"!! ..... she climbs on your back and you give her a ride! Now this was a wonderful game two years ago ... but having a Hefalump on your back is no laughing matter! ..... and when the Hefalump doesn't understand why you're not too keen, it can be wearing!

#161 Monday 31 January 2011

No change on the hospital front today.

Kaylia was up and about several times last night .... I try to settle her each time so it means a very un-settled night for me! As a result I was tired today and Kaylia was too .... this afternoon she was just in stimmy-land .... she didn't want car, library, shop ......

Zoe bought herself a Macbook Air today .... very nice! It's interesting to put it alongside my iPad .... similar specs all round ... just a different approach to computing.

3 sleeps to Bali!

#160 Sunday 30 January 2011

Kaylia's 7th Birthday

We started the day with presents in bed .... followed by hot shower and yummy breakfast! All a girls favourites! Then it was off to the swimming pool .... and therein lies a tale!
For a long time Kaylia (she who swims like a fish) has been swimming to the deep end and casting longing gazes at the kids on the diving board (.... the swims are closely supervised of course.) Today the pool had few swimmers so Naomi decided to give Kaylia some lessons ... she was carefully instructed in the rules for the diving board and then sent for her first solo! Success! It was followed by 6 further solo flights! Now I'm not sure whether she now has her wings .... but she must be very close.

For those who haven't seen her, Kaylia's swimming technique is very similar to that of dolphins & whales .... she has the whole of body movement and she dives deep, swims as long as she can and then comes up for air. She spends much more time underwater than on the surface.

It's now afternoon and Kaylia is enjoying her post swimming pool "hot bubble bath" .... this is a regular event! Naomi has gone to the hospital to spent some time with her mother .... no news on that front ..... so in a way, it's good news.