Break-bone fever, tamales, and crickets

I think we've been here 11 days. Eleven is my lucky number, and so far the day has been good. Coincidence? I don't think so.

My mom arrived last night, and Vivian was beside herself with excitement. It was nice to see her so happy. She showed Grandma all of the tricks she can do in her walker, and there are many. The weight she's carrying around is up to 10 lbs now, so I think she's experiencing something close to zero gravity. Right now she has one leg up on the pool table and is hands-free (a move I patented in the '80s).

Because my mom is here, I was able to catch up on some emails and light work stuff, and I'm also taking the opportunity to write this update. We seem to have gotten through the worst of the disappointment and grief over the change in the surgery date, and many nurses and other doctors have reassured us that if Vivi's surgeon thinks that the delay is necessary, the delay is necessary. I was just having a conversation with the pediatrician here, and she told me that Dr. D'Astous (he's the surgeon) is truly gifted, "an artist," she said. I feel like Vivian is in excellent hands. He's also an incredibly nice man, as I may have mentioned in my last post. Currently he's in Equador on a medical mission. Fingers crossed he comes back!! The humanitarian work these people do takes them far and wide, and sometimes they get sick. One of the anesthesiologists here has had Dengue twice and malaria a handful of times. He's still standing, though, so there's that. (In case you're wondering, he told us that Dengue is known as "bone-crushing disease" or "break-bone fever," and that he's never felt worse than when he had it. Twice.)

I really enjoy chatting with the doctors, nurses, and staff here. You've never met a nicer bunch of people, and they're interesting, too--and full of book recommendations! Science types DO read for pleasure.

Downstairs there is a gratitude board, and families and staff alike add messages to it:

Here is the one that we added on our first full day here:

This one is Vivian's favorite:

And here's my favorite:

Because her hips don't lie.

I mentioned a few days ago that I would write about SummerFest, which happened on August 5th. It was a fun event outside that included games (like the beanbag toss and freeze-dancing), music, a rock wall (which Vivian did not climb), face painting, and prizes. Vivian won a CD of children's music plus a bunch of swag, and she ate popcorn and met a few of the Salt Lake City Bees and their mascot, Bumble. Bumble even danced with her. The child-life staff here do so much to make the kids' experiences as pleasant as possible. Carolyn is the child life specialist who's spent the most time with Vivian. She's helped Vivi to decorate our room and has found lots of fun activities for her to do. On Friday we converted a make-a-bug kit into a make-the-planets kit, so now we've got the solar system hanging in front of our window. Along with the banner from Auntie Joyce and the adhesive flowers from Carolyn and the blinged-out "V" from Arianna and the origami cranes from Alisa, our room is downright cheery.

I suppose the last bit of big news is that Vivian won first place in Friday Night Bingo. Friday Night Bingo is not amateur hour, people. It's the real deal, complete with one of those metal spinning devices for the balls, a volunteer caller who knows his stuff, and games that last a very long time. Each kid gets to play four cards at once, and the competition is fierce. Vivian prevailed with 13 wins, and one of the kids who had fewer wins has declared next Friday a grudge match. We say: Bring it.

Well, I have more to say, but it's 11:30, and around here on the weekend, that means we have to eat lunch before lunch disappears. Last night we raced down for dinner at 4:30, afraid that we'd miss out on Jose's tamales. We did not, and they did not disappoint. Thank you, Jose. Remember what I said about small comforts? The tamales were one of them. Oh! And last night we took Vivian outside to see the Super Moon. She hasn't been outside here at night before, and when she stepped out do you know what she said? "What's that sound?" It was the crickets. She had never heard them before and was captivated. God, I love that girl.