Hazel's Birthday

Yesterday Michael's friend Hazel celebrated her second birthday.  Hazel is just a few months older than Michael, has the same cancer as Michael, and was diagnosed a few months before Michael.  We met Hazel and her family last year at Children's Hospital while Michael was recovering from his first surgery and Hazel her second.  Hazel is such a sweet little girl and comes from a wonderful family.  We're so grateful to know them.  Sadly, Hazel's cancer has returned, so her birthday party was both a wonderful and a sobering event.  She and her family are always in our prayers.

At the party we visited with two other ependymoma families who are also being treated at Children's Hospital in Denver.  Tanner and Natalie were both diagnosed at a very young age.  Tanner is now a teenager, and the Tanner Seebaum foundation founded by his family has brought millions of dollars into Children's Hospital to help fund pediatric brain cancer research.  Michael is very much a beneficiary of his foundation.  Natalie was diagnosed a few months before Hazel and has made a miraculous recovery thus far.  Watching her play and interact at the party she seemed just about like any other three year old.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, Mikey!

Here's a birthday kiss!

Michael's daily physical therapy is really starting to pay off.  This last week he started crawling on his hands and knees a bit more, rather than his usual army crawl.  He also climbed to the top of our stairs all by himself for the first time!  I have to stay behind him in case he loses his balance and takes a tumble.  But for the first time I didn't have to help him or catch his fall even once.  Today he climbed the stairs again by himself, crawled over to Spencer's toddler bed and climbed onto it, pulled himself up to the foot board, and stood there clapping to himself for several minutes.  "Look dad, I'm king of the mountain!"