June 9: When we traveled to Wichita in early April, we had some family photos taken. Ben’s brother, Tim, is a professional photographer. Not only was he kind to do a really fun photo shoot with the Dotzour gang, he also gave us electronic copies of the photos. I’ve narrowed them down as much as I could and posted them in the gallery. To see more of Tim’s work, visit his photography website. Many thanks to Ben and Melanie and to Tim for giving us this great opportunity.
So many milestones!
May 25: Andrew is fast transitioning from a 10 month old to a one-year old. It feels like in the last month, Andrew has been on a mad rush to grow up fast! I can barely keep track of all his activities. Here’s a few highlights…
- While he’s still not really crawling, he’s pulling himself around a lot, and when he is on carpeting he sometimes crawls. At day care at Karen’s, he can crawl up on a low trampoline. Amazing!
- Andrew said his first “words” last weekend. A DUCK (pronounced “uk”) say QUACK QUACK (wak wak). Andrew is also saying “mama” and “dada” a lot, but not consistantly or exclusively for his mom and dad.
- Andrew is eating almost all foods now. And the food is going everywhere. His favorite food is still cheese. mmmm cheeeese. He has a total of five teeth at some level of appearance. The bottom-left tooth came through last weekend (making it three on the bottom, one on the top), and the top-front-right tooth came through yesterday. My baby is growing up!
Recent photos in the gallery include pictures I took of Andrew to send to Bryan on his birthday. I also have a fun gallery of pictures of our terrific visit with Granny Lu and Grandad last weekend. Finally, we have some good pictures of recent visits with Mum and my Grandparents.
Hope you can make it to Mom’s party on Saturday!
May 25: Mom’s carpe diem party is nearly here! I hope you can make it.
Here’s a reminder of the details…
Date: Saturday, May 27
Time: 11 am – 4 pm
Place: Token Creek Park, just north of Madison on Highway 51 (details below)
We’re looking forward to celebrating my mom’s good health and thanking you for all of your support over the last year. There’s no need to bring any food to the party; it’s our thank you to you!
The entrance to Token Creek Park is on Highway 51, one-half mile north of I-90/94. When going north, it is on your right, just after the Pine Cone filling station. If you reach Highway 19, you will have gone too far north.
Shelter #5 is toward the back of the park. Follow the road up the hill and keep your eye open for signs and balloons!
If you have any questions on the day of the party, you can reach me on my work cell phone: 333-1475 or on Mom’s cell phone 239-5453.
A map is included below. If you have other questions, please give me a call.
Farewell April
April Dotzour
Madison, WI
— April, a 5 ½ year-old golden retriever, died on May 22, 2006.
Her sunny disposition didn’t keep her safe from cancer, and it was fibrosarcoma of the upper jaw that led to her death. April was born on October, 18 2000 at a kennel in Michigan. She was adopted into the hearts and home of Althea and Bryan Dotzour on June 18, 2002.
April participated in a wide variety of activities including obedience and agility classes. While she never really go the hang of running an agility course (she just liked to tear around the equipment), she did receive the AKC Canine Good Citizen award for her good behavior. In 2003, April passed a series of tests and became a registered therapy dog through Therapaws of Michigan and Therapy Dogs, Inc. April and Althea visited the University of Michigan’s pediatric physical therapy and cardiology units weekly where April spread happy dog vibes to sick and sad patients and their families. It was amazing the way people’s faces lit up when April came into the room. Her favorite activity was catching balls for children who were working to develop arm mobility and strength. In doing physical therapy, April made a positive impact in many peoples’ lives.
April’s favorite activities included eating, chasing balls at the dog park with her dad, running “crazies” around in the yard, and exuberantly greeting friends. She spent many happy hours cuddling or being pet by those who loved her. April’s heart was made ecstatic by many of her human and canine friends who will sorely miss her alert, welcoming face.
A retrospective of photos of April is available online.
Survivors include her mom and dad, Althea and Bryan; her boy, Andrew; and her fellow feline fur-faces, Bowser and Spooky. We are all so sad to see her go. A dogwood will be planted at the Dotzour home in honor and celebration of April’s beautiful spirit. In lieu of flowers, give your favorite pet or person a big hug.
“Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in
length.” ~ Robert Frost
On the move…
May 13: You know, it’s one thing to know that your baby can start to move, but it’s quite another thing to see your infant son’s head appear around the corner of the door. I’m so used to having Andrew staying pretty close to where I put him down, but these past few days, Andrew has started scootching from room to room. His favorite spots destinations are April’s bowls and electrical cords. Oh, and those springy door stops.
Photos in this week’s gallery include some family photos, pictures from our visit with Mum, and several photos of Andrew messily eating.
Relay for Life
Hello everyone! Happy Spring! Joe, the wee-est of the Bablers, here again.
A little less than a year ago, I asked for your support in my school’s local Relay for Life fundraiser and you were all extremely generous in your financial support of this great cause. Last year, the De Forest community raised over $20,000 for Relay for Life and they are trying for a similar goal again. A year ago, the event was held just two months after my mother’s diagnosis. Now, a year later, we all have something to celebrate! Mom will be walking in the survivor’s walk!
Last year I was involved in Relay for Life through my NHS, but this year some friends and I decided to get a team of our own together. The event starts June 9 when we all gather around the high school’s track.
People sent up tents, sell food, walk laps, and generally have a good time until the ceremony begins. The ceremony is aimed to bring hope to those with cancer, and celebrate those who have defeated cancer. They also sell paper bags with sand and a candle in them, which you can donate in memory or honor of a person, for $5 and line them around in the inside of the track. They then turn the stadium lights out and light all the bags for an amazing effect.
Anything you are willing to send is more than enough. In the past, donations of $10 to $50 were normal. If you want, you can send cash and I can buy paper bags and write any names you would like on them. Thank you in advance for your support!
Checks can be made payable to: Relay for Life
Send your donations to:
Joseph Babler
4575 Dennis Drive
Madison, WI 53704
Mom has started her anti-cancer vaccine
May 5: Mom and Dad drove down to Chicago last night for Mom’s first round of her anti-cancer vaccine. She had a new cat-scan taken last Friday, and when Dr. Oyama looked at it today, he said she remains cancer free. Yay! I can get used to this news:)
Here’s a link to a description of Mom’s new clinical trail.
Mom received eight intradermal injections today. The hope is that the vaccine will cause Mom’s body to identify and attack any pancreatic cancer cells that remain or try to grow back. The vaccine is composed of dead pancreatic cancer cell spliced with a mouse gene that the human body attacks. The logic behind the vaccine is that when her immune system to attacks this mutated pancreatic cancer cell that the immune system may then extrapolate to think that all pancreatic cancer cells are bad and thereafter kill them off too.
Vacation in Door County
May 8: This past weekend we took our first family trip to Door County. Gathering Waters organized a land trust staff retreat in this lovely location, so we used it as a starting place for a short family vacation. Andrew and I drove up on Thursday, and Bryan joined us after work. The boys did some hiking and biking and playing on swings on Friday, we all went on a hike of The Clearing with our group, and then the three of us took off on Saturday afternoon to explore the peninsula. We drove around and saw orchards and beautiful views of the water while Andrew napped in his carseat. Whenever he woke up, we walked around or biked in the beautiful state parks that dot the area. Our favorite part was a bike ride through Peninsula State Park. I can’t wait to go back sometime. It was such fun! Bryan pulled Andrew in the trailer, and we biked through maple-beech forests, white cedar forests and marshes, and saw stunning beaches and views of Green Bay. Photos from our trip are in our gallery. Pictures of Andrew creeping about (he’s on the verge of crawling) are also in the gallery.
April is getting much worse
May 8: Our dog, April, has had fibrosarcoma, a bone cancer in her jaw for the last 10 months. See my post from late July when I described her diagnosis. We had the lump on her upper jaw removed in July, and it didn’t start to come back until January. It’s been growing steadily for the last five months, and now it’s really starting to bother her. Chemotherapy and radiation aren’t effective treatments of fibrosarcoma. If her cancer had started on a limb, we would have had the limb amputated, but the only real treatment was to have her jaw amputated. And even then, the median life expectancy was only about 16 months after the surgery. So last summer we elected not to do the invasive (and gross) jaw removal surgery.
We’ve had our fingers crossed that the tumor would grow back slowly and would be something that didn’t bother her too much. April has been on prednisone and antibiotics for the last month to help with the side effects of the tumor. But this week, it has become clear to us that this isn’t a sustainable situation.
April is in pain, and she’s been bleeding a lot recently. We still don’t know when, but we have started talking to our vet about when to put her down.
This really breaks my heart, because she is such a good, loving, and joyful dog. I went through the hundreds of photos I have of her from over the last five years and compiled a retrospective album of April. I love how April’s joyful spirit shines through these photos. I also recently took some photos of April playing with our neighborhood dogs and some of her sitting on our lawn last night. She was very happy and rolling in the grass that night. See those photos in April’s April album.
From being a therapy dog at the Hospital in Michigan, to letting Andrew paw all over her to running her “crazies” around the yard, April has been a wonderful dog and family member. I’m hoping we don’t have to take any actions soon, but it is inevitable. I’ll let you know when there is news. In the meantime, feel free to come by (if you’re in the area) to
give April a hug.
Spring has arrived
April 24: Spring has come to Wisconsin. The daffodils are blooming and are in their full glory. Tulips are beginning to appear and fill yards with color. The maples are flowering, and the streets are lined with their other-worldly spring-greenness.
We’ve enjoyed taking Andrew out into the yard a lot the last few weeks. He’s having fun exploring all the new things that he can put in his mouth. Andrew has become pretty adept at rolling from front to back and from back to front. A couple days ago, he even got up on all fours while in his crib and started rocking back and forth. He’s thinking about crawling! But he still only has the reverse gear in his transmission activated so far. Backwards and turning. And his favorite activity is still emptying out his box of books or his box of toys. Andrew is a champion clapper, and he has a great head -shaking trick, but he seems to have forgotten his third trick of making popping noises with his mouth. When I ask him to do it, he claps instead:)
We had a nice Easter and got to meet Kyle’s family. Andrew also got his picture taken with the Easter Bunny. That weekend, we got Andrew a bike trailer so he can go on bike rides with us. Photos of out outings to Olbrich with Andrew and Easter are in the gallery.
A couple days ago, Bryan biked Andrew over to a park to enjoy an afternoon outdoors together. Photos of Andrew with our various furred family members and of Andrew’s trip to the park with Dad are also in the gallery.
Happy spring to everyone!