Let's get caught up, shall we?

First off - best news - Dante's latest test results were all normal! Woo Hoo! We are now to just blood work and no CT scans, although in December they would like a chest xray. Germ Cell tumor typically recurs and shows up in the lungs, so they want to make sure once a year with an xray. They still want us to swicth to once a year testing, but I don't think we are ready for that long of a break yet.

Dante starts Kindergarten tomorrow! WOW! I started crying today when I told the staff at school. Guess I'm a little more stressed about it than I realized. We met his teacher today and she seems friendly and on the ball - knew who he was and had already read his IEP. He also has a speech teacher who is super cool and will be looking out for him as well. Glad I know a few people on staff, it makes it easier to navigate who to talk to for things.

Dante picked out his outfit for the first day - a silly halloween shirt that says, "Chocolate, good!" and smells like chocolate. He's all set up with the Star Wars lunch box and a new backpack.

He'll be using an FM system in the classroom. This allows the teacher to talk normally and it is amplified directly into his hearing aids. We tested one out this week - and wow. We were whispering things 2 rooms away and he could hear it all clearly. I think that will all work out well. He'll have speech therapy twice a week for his lisp. I'm sure it will be corrected soon, as he can correct it when coached.

Carina had her first day of class today. She did great, although I guess she got a little bit upset at naptime. She has Ms. Johnson this year, who was Dante's 3 year old teacher. We are a little worried about the potty training thing, but she is coming along well. She just doesn't want to grow up around me. She even says that she wants to be a baby.

The other day she was reminding us that she is still a daredevil...this the girl who is 3 and has already had stitches, broken bones and multiple xrays...

I'm always calling her a silly girl and she has started telling me that I am a silly mommy too. I would have to agree.

We had our typical summer of playing, although I'm not sure where all the time went. Between swim lessons and a couple of summer camps, the days flew by. We had our annual escape to Alligator Point, which was rejuvenating as always.

Stay tuned for more filling in the blanks and photos of the first day!