We started the countdown!! :):):) Leo is finishing up his steroids round and then we will have “only” 10 more to go! What a great feeling and plus these past couple times it has been much easier to deal with, which we embrace as a pleasant surprise.
Leo is in great shape; he has a lot of energy and is a happy camper! He has been stable these past few months with 100% of the meds and a high ANC: between 1,400 and 2,100. That makes all the difference, as we can do more things without being too worried about him getting sick. We went to Universal Studios one morning, where both kids enjoyed Despicable Me and Simpsons rides a few times, and we took a few short trips to relax. Since his little friend Mathieu moved to Santa Barbara we have been there a few times so that they could meet and play; they are little pals and love playing bots with each other! 🙂
Charlotte has also been doing great; she lost a few teeth over the summer, which she was obviously thrilled about!, and is ready to go to third grade. She did a couple dance camps over the summer, that she really enjoyed, and went with Alex to Maine to visit family. They all had a blast over there and we all look forward to being able to go all together as a family. She also switched from violin to viola and has been enjoying it!
We are still debating if Leo should go to pre-K this year a few days a week, but it seems like it would still be safer to go for another year of various activities. Maybe in the Spring we will get him ready, especially socially, to go to Kindergarten; we will be in touch with Mc Kinley Elementary school during the year and we will see what they have to offer. In the meantime we signed him up for the aquarium, which he really enjoyed last year, and we will go back to Outside the box a couple times a week. We are looking forward to meeting the English teacher recommended there to teach Leo how to write and read. He has showed a lot of interest lately and actually knows to read quite a bit of words already, both in French and English. Mr. Leo also enjoys learning new words and takes pride in using them!! The other day I heard him say with mischievous and proud little eyes in the car “Mama, I am sweltering”, word that he learned in the show “Word Girl”…! 😉
Mama has been active with her flute and created a group with a couple of friends to tentatively raise money for research in defeating cancer. We will be giving our first concert at UCLA Mattel Children Hospital, where Leo is being treated, to raise funds for UCLA kids research lab. We are very excited about it, and please feel free to contribute and/or pass the word around if you wish to participate to the fundraising (simply click on the widget!).
We all enjoyed a few days in Paso Robles area last week: it was a fun way to end up the summer vacation!
Coming up: looking forward to Grandpa and Grandma’s visit next week, then September 9th we will go for treatment with LP/chemo in the spine (3 more to go after that one!!) and removal of his little birth mole while he is asleep. We keep moving forward and hopefully things keep going like this! :):)