Thursday 11 December 2014

Hernia today, gone tomorrow (well, February)


Back to earth with a bump today. After her 7th birthday yesterday, today we booked Lara in for a hernia repair in February. The Alberta Children's Hospital is the brightest, most cheerful looking hospital I've seen though! The inside matches the outside, too.

I'm not sure how it would have worked under the NHS, but once Lara had been assessed today by a surgeon, they agreed it required surgery to resolve, and they commit to scheduling the operation within 3 months. We have a certain amount of say in the matter, and we've picked a date just before Lara breaks up for half term, so she can recuperate at home. She's to avoid exercise for 2 weeks after, and she'll only miss one ski lesson, although she will miss more skating sessions. It's only a day procedure, no overnight stay needed, and Lara gets to choose the smell they'll use to disguise the anaesthetic gas. She's agonising between candy cane and bubblegum at the moment...

Wednesday 10 December 2014

Happy 7th Birthday, Lara


Lara turned 7 today, she enjoyed opening her presents before school, with Danil's help - he was a bit confused, and thought it was his birthday too. Grandma joined us via skype for the big unwrapping session. Lara took her cookies to school, and then came home to a little party here. Dan enjoyed helping blow out the candles, and we had to re-light them several times so they could both have a go at blowing them out again.


Yesterday was Lara's school Christmas Concert, which was streamed live on the internet, so Grandma and Baba Luda and Aunty Lucy could watch. Olga and I tuned in too to the afternoon matinee. There's Lara, in the middle row, second from right:


Monday 8 December 2014

Nearly 7

Lara is fully into her preparations for her 7th birthday on Wednesday, and that includes preparing cookies for her class.

She has her Christmas concert - completely in French - on Tuesday, which will be streamed live on the internet by her school. We're having a party for 8 of her friends on Saturday afternoon, in the music studio where she has her piano lessons, and her piano teacher will be there to supervise the kids as they have a go on his instruments.
After her party we'll be clearing up and heading straight out to the trailer, as Lara has her first lesson with her new ski school at 9am on Sunday morning, and we don't want to be late. Having said that, we were late last weekend when we stayed there and had to get Lara to the resort (8 minutes drive), but we'll blame the -37 degree temperatures for that. This week it's forecast to be +13 for a few days midweek, before dropping for the weekend, so some of that 50cm of snow that fell should have melted by the time we get there on Saturday teatime.
Whilst the focus for the age group Lara is joining is still on fun, rather than competitive racing, all the children are considered as athletes. so we have been advised to send her out with protein snacks in her pocket rather than chocolate bars, and there are recommendations on what she should eat after her all-day lesson to help her body recover! Serious stuff...
Back at home, Lara has been asking about getting another pet. We've had a look at hamsters, rabbits, cats and fish (my preference is fish) but we've kind of ducked the issue by suggesting she officially adopts Jackson as her pet, so for the past two nights he has been allowed to sleep in her room, which in reality means, in her bed: