And they're off...

We definitely have jumped back into the swing of things around here. Alex and Emma both enjoyed their first week of school. Emma has a teacher who is new to the school, although she has taught for the district for several years. Emma really seems to like her which is always good. Alex will continue rotating through 3 teachers this year. I spoke with a mom who has kids who have gone through Parmer Lane Elem and she said 2nd and 4th were the most enjoyable years. Yeah for us!

Emma started soccer last week in the midst of the blistering heat. She started off great, running and kicking with a smile on her face. By the time I came back to pick her up after grabbing Alex from the pool, she was drooping A LOT! We're looking forward to it cooling down around here, but that usually doesn't happen until October. Her coach is brand new, but seems very enthusiastic.

Alex has been placed in the silver level for swimming. I thought he would be in the bronze level and would only swim 1 hr per day. Nope, he's in the group that swims from 4-5:30. They would like them to go at least 3 times per week, so we're shooting for 3 or 4 times each week. Let's hope his love for the pool continues once cooler weather hits.

Benjamin had an appointment with his gastroenterologist this morning. He hasn't seen her since February - just after his lovely surgeries. The assistant, nurse and doctor all thought he looked great. They couldn't believe how big he's getting. He is almost a 3 footer now! He's 2 feet 11.5 inches tall (between 10th and 25th percentile). He weighs 31.5 pounds which puts him over the 50th percentile. He shot up a bunch on the weight, so she said that will give us a good buffer to use as we try to encourage him to eat more by mouth. We will start cutting back on some of his formula feeds to stimulate hunger and work to get him eating more. Eating and monitoring his kidneys are the biggest issues at the moment. Benjamin is amazing when we go to the doctor's office. He isn't scared or worried despite all that has been done to him. When the assistant came in to take his blood pressure, he informed her which blood pressure cuff he needed and then he stuck his arm out. What a boy!