It Feels Like Home

It has almost been a month since we've moved back to Reno from Palo Alto. And while I miss the farmer's markets and close vicinity grocery stores, I don't miss being down there away from home. After being home for a while I realized just how displaced and unsettled I felt down at the Ronald McDonald House. We made the most of it, as did/do so many families. A person doesn't really have any other choice than to just adapt to a situation like that.

We've been going in for a lot of blood draws because of the Prograf levels being so weird, but I think we've come to a unanimous conclusion that the levels were wacky because of the way the pharmacist mixed it in Arizona. Now that we have in on some different Prograf from the compounding pharmacy in Reno his levels have been where they want them to be. Last week we did labs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The phlebotomists at the labs were never too happy to see us, it felt like. On a day that they had drawn extra blood we came back the next and the phlebotomist told me that they had drawn more than enough, we shouldn't be back. I had to explain a few times that it doesn't matter how much was drawn the day before because the levels can fluctuate from day to day and we need to monitor that. By Thursday I told myself that I wouldn't come back in for labs on Friday even if they told me to. I was going to draw the line. No more. But I never heard from the doctors or Amy on Thursday and so I figured no news was good news and we slept in the next morning. I got a call in the early afternoon from Amy saying that we didn't have to get labs again until Monday because Prograf levels were looking alright. So hopefully things will continue to look good and *hopefully* we'll be back to our desired once weekly labs.

Joaquin is working hard at pushing about 5 teeth through his gums right now. One night the poor little guy was inconsolable because his teeth hurt, but he ended sleeping alright after a good cry. He is fine-tuning his walking skills and has even conquered a new move: to go from sitting to standing by getting up on all fours and then pulling himself to standing using his balance and tummy muscles! The first few times he did that we all cheered and he was so proud that he strutted around all the while smiling at us. He is learning new words and practicing his old ones. Some new words include: apple and puppy. And he loves exercising his new-found opinion by saying "No!" and shaking his head at everything we ask him. He's also still snacking on everything. He likes his bananas, avocados, hummus, butternut tomato coconut soup, and of course his raw brownies (which Chris likes equally as much.)

I can't believe how fast the Christmas season has snuck up on us. I'm the queen of procrastination and Chris is the king, so we are just beginning our shopping tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get as much done as we can or as much as Joaquin will permit!