COOKIE - Progress.....July 12, 2007

Dearest Friends and Family,
How's the weather been for ya? Hot, cold, hot, cold. No wonder everyone is sniffling and allergies are flaring! It's a jungle out there! hahaha

As usual, we've been busy little bees over here. Best news ever? COOKIE got her lines out on Tuesday! No more flushing! No more dressing changes! Swimming! Boogie boarding! Spending the night at Aunt Shannon's! Showering all by herself! No preparation! No saran wrap! FREEDOM!!!!!

If you think we're excited for her, you should see what possibilities are floating around in COOKIE's mind! She's so happy to be free of the ace bandage on her little tiny arm. It's much smaller than her other arm because it's been wrapped up for a year!
Ahhh. The smallest of victories seem so monumentous. It was yet another excuse to celebrate.

COOKIE is being weaned off of her last immunosuppressant medication. She doesn't have to go to UCLA for THREE weeks! Now this is progress at it's best. A couple of concerns.....she hasn't grown very much over the past 2 years. She's a tiny little pixie-like girl with the weight of the world being lifted daily. She had a bone scan on Tuesday and her doctor wants her to see an endocrinologist, just to make sure her hormones and such are doing what they should. She may start being "weaned" from UCLA and begin to see her Dr. Finklestein in Long Beach. COOKIE is one grateful and happy little girl.

For the past 2 weeks, my son's daughter from Reno has been visiting. Ashley is 10 1/2 years old but she's twice the size of COOKIE. It's been a busy time trying to keep the three kids occupied. Movies, museums, beach, Aunt Shannon's! Christopher took Ashley to Disneyland. This was her first time and the two of them had a ball! COOKIE can't go to amusement parks yet and her brother is patiently waiting until they too can have their day at Disneyland!

How was your 4th? We had our annual block party bbq and it was a HUGE success! I think we had more people than ever participate! The neighbors across and down the street had a jumper with a water slide attached. Farther down the block were arts and crafts and our next door neighbor's daughter did some awesome face painting! The kids loved riding their bikes in the street with no worries. The local fire department came by and let everyone climb on the fire truck. This time Parker actually got up on the truck and sat in the seat! We had a TON of food, burgers, hot dogs, shish-ka-bobs, tri-tip and white sea bass! Salads and chips and dips and yummy desserts! We had the annual ping pong championship and it was a draw between Shelee and our neighbor Scott, as always! The fireworks were a huge disappointment though. Everyone sets up their beach chairs in the front yard and we watch the display at Wilson Park but it was less than spectacular this year. Apparently, they had mechanical difficulities and the finale was a real flop. But, all in all, I think everyone enjoyed their day.

Tonight (Thursday, 7/12) is very special for COOKIE. The same person who introduced COOKIE to Hilary Duff years ago called Shelee. His name is Terry. He formed his company, DREAMMAKERS, because he felt that children fighting for their lives should be given more than one wish. Tonight is a big concert being put on by Drake Bell. It features Drake Bell (from Drake & Josh Show), AJ & Aly (from Phil of the Future), Bianca Ryan (She won the first So You Think You Got Talent) and Corbin Blue (from HIgh School Musical). These are Disney stars that made it in the music world and the kids LOVE them, especially if they watch the Disney channel. COOKIE will be the only wish kid there. I get to go with Shelee and COOKIE and we're being treated as VIP's. We will be parking in the VIP lot, next to the tour buses. We will be with Drake one whole hour before the show so he and COOKIE can get acquainted. We'll have VIP seats and COOKIE will be taken backstage in between each act to meet the stars and spend some time chatting with them. Terry says he has more surprises up his sleeve but he won't tell us just yet. They're expecting 15,000 people at this thing. COOKIE will be under protection and will not be in the throngs of kids yelling and screaming, although I think she'll be one of the screamers! hahahaha It should be a very interesting experience for all three of us! I'll definitely write all about it on the next blog.

Sorry this blog is so short! Got to get showered for the big event tonight!
Lots O' Love,
Cookie, The Grandma