Thursday, October 12th

Good Afternoon. Alex woke yesterday morning with a smile on his face. It was a beautiful smile and one we all missed. He had rested comfortably since about midnight and I was sure he was getting better. So Wednesday morning, Steve and I left the kids with Courtney (thanks again!!) and went to Alex's IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting at his school. We learned that Alex ranks in the 95th percentile on cognitive abilities which would place him in the "gifted" category. Well, we always knew he was smart so now others know it as well. Also, Alex's language is above par and it seems everyone who assessed him really enjoyed getting to know our precious little boy. So that went well.

Steve dropped me off and went to work. Alex, Zoe and I did some shopping and had lunch then headed for the hospital. Alex did very well with his second round of intravenous antibiotics. His mediport was deaccessed and chemo was cancelled for the day. Alex fell asleep in the car on the way home and had a three hour nap at home. Zoe did not nap after the car ride so we shared some time together.

When Steve came home I pulled out a pesto Tilapia dream dinner to prepare but Steve and I agreed that it would be a good idea to take Alex to his favorite restaurant since he had not eaten in two days. So off we went, well the wait was longer than we were told and Alex was getting very grumpy because he was very hungry. When we finally got a table, we ordered Alex's meal immediately. He ended up only eating a few bites then started crying and asking for medicine. He felt very warm so we headed home. I called Oncology to ask why would he have a fever after two days of antibiotic treatments. The doctor stated that his ANC count was good and just to give him some Tylenol. So we did and put him and Zoe to bed. Alex was very restless through 1 AM but woke this morning feeling better. I was going to send him to school today, but since he had a fever last night that option was out.

This morning, I have cleared a lot of items off my "to do" list and now am just waiting for Zoe to wake up so we can go to the park, have a picnic and run a couple of errands.

On another note, Zoe has started potty training. Monday she watched Alex use the toilet quite intently to Alex's chagrin and then kept signing "toilet" and pulling her pants down in the bathroom. I think that is a clear sign the kid is ready! Well Tuesday night I pulled out our kid toilet and showed Zoe how to use it. She spent the next two hours walking around the house without any pants on and sitting on the potty. I figured she was just getting used to it, but I found out later she had actually peed in the potty. I was impressed! Well that has not happened since but we will keep working on it. Alex was pretty well potty trained by 18 months and we were successful using cotton training pants with vinyl liners. Unfortunately, I can not find cotton training pants for a 20 pound child that are reasonably priced. I ended up buying a pull up with "cool alert". We'll see how this goes. I may just have to make some pants for Zoe. If anyone out there knows something I don't please let me know.

Well, the weather here is absolutely spectacular. I hope you get a chance to enjoy your weekend! Have a great day!
God bless.
G