You guys, we made it through 2020. In retrospect, no idea how, although I did just empty out the 2lb bag of baking yeast that I bought at the outset of the pandemic, so there's one small clue there at least. In addition to the victory of arriving at 2021, I can also now report that we survived winter break. I didn't manage to do any themes or plan any kind of real daily schedule, but we muddled our way through. The kids had their haul of Christmas toys to play with, there was snow on the ground, we did many art projects and edible experiments, watch movies, and generally made the most of our extended time together. I also had a last minute project for work, just to keep things extra interesting.
In other years, I've done kind of a year-in-review post, but let's face it, no one really wants to dwell on 2020 for a moment longer than absolutely necessary, so let's look forward instead in the hopes that 2021 will be a different sort of year. We are getting things off to a promising start in our household, with Papa Bear getting the COVID vaccine on Wednesday (through the VA Hospital where he works). I have no idea when "healthy people who work 100% from home and are under age 45" will come up on the priority list, but I'm guessing not for a while, and of course the vaccine for kids is a ways off yet.
Later this month, Lemon is still scheduled to participate in his clinical study of imaging with hyperpolarized xenon. The COVID situation in Wisconsin has been better as of late (not great, but better) so I think I will take him to do that unless things take a turn for the worse in the next couple of weeks. Maybe someone on the study team will have some more information on when we can expect to get Trikafta, since there is a second "post-Trikafta" phase of the study.
School in our little learning pod resumed today (YAY!!!!). I am incredibly grateful that we have this option for our kids, and it was kind of amazing to see them just pick right back up where they left off, doing their Zoom classes and running around in our back yard at recess. In four more days our school district will announce its decision regarding school reopening for the 3rd quarter of the school year. Even if they reopen, there will be a remote option, which is of course what our kids will be doing. I am cautiously optimistic that they will be back in person for the 2021-2022 school year, but that is still a long time from now.
One thing that has become clear to me from watching the kids over the winter break is that early childhood is well and truly over for both of them. With Lime losing his first tooth and learning how to read, he's beginning to make the transition from "little kid" to "kid." Lemon, meanwhile, is the living embodiment of boyhood, reading chapter books on his own, causing trouble, and so full of life.
Seeing all these changes in the kids has made me reflect on this blog, how it started out and where it is going. And so, dear readers, after over 7 years of weekly posts, I've made the difficult decision to step the frequency of the posts down to once per month, still on Mondays of course. When the kids were littler, things changed faster and the weekly cadence made sense. Now that they are bigger, the timescale has thankfully slowed down somewhat, giving their Mama Bear a bit of breathing room at last. I think the monthly posts will be a better fit for how they are now, and the pace of their lives. I hope you'll continue to follow our journey in this new format, it wouldn't be the same without you.
Wishing you health, happiness and all the best in 2021, and see you all soon.
