Kaitlin visits uncle John

This past weekend, we made the trip to San Diego to hang out with John. Kaitlin had really missed him and asks about him often. I think she really liked seeing John!

We still haven't figured this one out but Kaitlin would look at John's amputation site and say, "pop". She was not afraid of it and fully expected John to still be able to read her a book. It was a test for him but he was able to hold the book and turn pages and read to Kaitlin. John usually reads to Kaitlin whenever he sees her so I think she figured this was how she'd find out if they would be able to continue with their routine. I think it made John happy too to see that he could continue with their bonding routine. It always makes me smile to see John and Kaitlin interacting. He truly is her uncle.....

There were other times where it was at it always has been... John, Kathy, Kaitlin and I taking a dog (Lucky--Jen's family dog) on a walk and chatting about all sorts of stuff. Many of you have been victims of John's long hikes/walks and I am certain that there will be many marches in everyone's future.

We also spent some time down at the playground in Jen's neighborhood. John tested his balance by walking a roughly 8 inch wide plank which is suspended in the air by cables and thus has a bit of, "movement" to it. Kaitlin was walking it while holding my hand and although I was next to John when he walked it, I am not sure I could have caught him! At about the middle of the plank, John realized that this was probably not a wise thing for him to do but he finished anyway. As challenging as it was for John, I hope that he continues to work on his new balance because I am looking forward to snowboarding more with him!

The other highlight of the weekend was spending time with Christopher, Nicole and Nicholas. They came to visit on Saturday and the whole crew had a blast sharing stories, laughing and watching Nicholas and Kaitlin run around the Dorsey house with their toys.

It was a great treat for us to be able to spend a little time with our friend and we hope our visit wasn't too disruptive. We'd love for this to be the first of more visits to San Diego, but until then, we're looking forward to more updates on the blog to keep us posted on how things are going.