Happy 2024!
I am writing this on January 2. Surprise, surprise, life with two small kids gets pretty busy around the holidays. With the additional end-of-year required work for our small business that Dave and I own, this is the first we are getting around to this letter. We don’t think we will be writing a letter next year.
This has been a year unlike any other for us. During this year, Cassie was the same age that Kate was when she was getting really sick, ended up in the hospital for five months, and got her heart transplant. It brought back many memories, while at the same time being completely different.
This is the year where Cassie went from being sweet, easy going Cassie to “I am a toddler. Hear me roar!” It became very difficult to do things with her. Especially after she started walking in the spring, all she wanted to do was run around and explore. That put a damper on things like baseball games, restaurants, and taprooms
Cassie has grown like a weed. Today she is 20 months old. She has been wearing 2T since the summer. Her pajamas are 3T. She can climb on just about anything in the house, including the bar stool height stools near the kitchen. She has taken to not holding on to anything as she walks up the stairs. At less than two, she has the complete run of the house. Just this past week we saw that she can climb out of her crib whenever she wants. Luckily, she hasn’t done so yet. I hope she can stay in a crib until she’s at least two years old.
Cassie is exceptionally verbal. She regularly talks in three to five word sentences. I think the highest I’ve counted is an eight word sentence. Her singing is also completely on pitch.
Kate is doing great this year. Her development and skills have continued to soar. Although she is still in physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, family therapy, and food therapy through Fraser, she is closing the gap between herself and “normal” peers. She attended her cousin’s 6th birthday party at a trampoline park, and she held her own with all the other kids.
Kate’s one exception is eating. She has decided that is overrated. She gets 99% of her nutrition through her g-tube. I am fine with that for now. Her growth is good, and we don’t have to worry about picky eating. She’ll eat eventually.
School has done amazing things for Kate. She started the year in three-year-old preschool two hours a day, four days a week. It was a special-ed small group class, with four to eight students. In the fall, she started pre-K for two and a half hours a day, five days a week.
Her class is really cool. She is in a “Peanut Butter and Jelly” classroom. The Jelly room, her home base, is all special ed, with up to eight kids and the extra adult helpers. The Jelly room is paired with the Peanut Butter room. The Peanut Butter room is the school district’s standard “normal ed” pre-K class, with up to twelve students and fewer adult helpers. The kids can go back and forth between the rooms, and often the two rooms come together for a large group of twenty. I think it is a great ramp up to kindergarten with 18-28 kids. Kate is bussed both to and from school, with pick-up at the end of our driveway.
Because of school, Kate’s ability to wait in a line for what she wants is amazing. She has more patience than both Dave and I if she wants something, like to race at the Science Museum or the Trick-or-Treat line at the Eagan Halloween Party.
With the daily grind, it feels like we don’t do much. It is challenging with little ones. However, our pictures show a different story. We like to do things locally. Here’s a quick list of things we’ve done in the past year: sledding twice, the Luminary Loppet, the Ice Castle, the Circus, Kate raced Goldy’s Run, the Fulton Gran Fondo bike ride (25-mile Piccolo version), the Fraser festival where we got a free toddler chair, a spring Twin’s game, but an August Saints game proved too much for Cassie, we supported a friend during the FANS 12 hour race, weekly Cascade Bay Little Mates followed by Puppets in the Park, Lake Nokomis beach a few times, Kate did a bike race on her balance bike, a 4th of July family bike ride, the kids’ first real haircuts, Team Kate Race for the Kids, Halloween race fiasco, the State Fair, Sever’s Fall Festival, the Renaissance Festival where the whole family dressed up including two little fairies, two Halloween events, Trick or Treating for hours, Nickelodeon Universe, and joining the YMCA mainly for the pool. Swim lessons start in a week and a half
We did manage to do a few trips this year. We went up to Duluth in June and hit Jay Cooke State Park on the way home. Both kids went into Lake Superior, even though it was freezing. We did our first family camping trip at Lebanon Hills Regional Park, a whole mile and a half down the road. We almost aborted at 2am, but managed to figure it out. It was worth it. We started a tradition by going back to Grand View Lodge in Brainerd for a few nights. We had a private pontoon ride, which worked out for the best since we cut it short. We also went back to Duluth in December for the Bentleyville lights plus Santa and his live reindeer. We learned from last year and had a much better time, even though the kids didn’t want to sleep.
Dave and I are hanging in there. Kate changed schools this fall from the early education center to a real elementary school. With a bigger school came bigger bugs. The whole family has been sick again since September. Although fevers were few, the constant coughing, congestion, runny noses, and bad sleep takes its toll.
We would love to see more people. We actually found a babysitter this fall. We can get away for a few hours every weekend. Holy cow! What a luxury after four years. We are open to meeting up with people during that time. We are also open to seeing people with our kids, if that’s what you’d like. Drop us a line and we’ll figure something out.
Here’s hoping 2024 is a wonderful year for everyone, full of growth, love, and fun.
Sincerely,
The Royers – Dave, Audrey, Kate (4), and Cassie (1)
PS: Here’s some more photos from the year!
PPS: Here’s more that didn’t fit on a single sheet to get mailed out with our cards. If you noticed, we didn’t mention a thing about Kate’s heart status. Three years post transplant, she is doing great. Her drugs have stayed stable at one prescription drug that she will be on the rest of her life, and one over-the-counter supplement. Her follow-ups are purely routine. Her heart stuff is merely the background of life. Her autism is what creates challenges day to day.
I also intended to share a bit more about Kate and Cassie together. This is the year where Kate went from holding Cassie to playing with Cassie. Cassie loves her big sister, and wants to do everything that her sister does. They have a pretty typical sibling relationship right now. Sometimes they love each other; sometimes they fight and scream. I feel blessed that we were able to have them close enough to play together.
Have a great 2024!
