First Day of School?!

We celebrated again today!  Here is Caleb, showing off his backpack for his first day of school!  We are thrilled that he can go, but not as thrilled as he is!  Caleb stayed for half the day, and talked non-stop for the rest of the day about it (including 45 minutes on the phone with Grandpa!).

Going to school is an exciting and slightly nerve-wracking experience for any parent.  We're blessed that we have a nurse who touches base with the school and helps to support us as we enroll Caleb and he adjusts to school.  The nurse has met with both Caleb's teacher and the principal, and will quite possibly meet with Caleb's class as well.  The most significant special need that arises when Caleb is in school is the awareness of his exposure to chicken pox and similar common childhood illnesses.  If Caleb is exposed to these, he could get very sick.  When he was home, we were able to keep good control over who he was exposed to.  Now that he's not always home, we're a little more vulnerable.  Enrolling him in March makes sense for all kinds of reasons, not just the end of leg needles: it's close to the end of flu season, and hopefully less chance for exposure to chicken pox.  We go forward in the trust that we continue to rest in God's hand!

We've received a lot of congratulations and encouragement as Caleb has finished the leg needles. Thank you to everyone; your words mean so much to us. Change, even positive change, always brings challenges and so we thank you for your encouragement to us. On Thursday of this week Caleb will go for a follow-up echocardiogram to check the status of the clot on his port. Please please pray that it has diminished so much that we can stop doing blood thinners. Blood thinners inhibit Caleb's freedom to be a kid, as he has to be careful about bumps and bruises--part of a normal childhood. We would so love to say goodbye to blood thinners and tummy needles, and Thursday's test will give us answers.


On a different note, we've had a busy few weeks since the last leg needle!  You'd almost think that we had March Break!

We visited Agape Valley Maple Sugar Bush, in Vineland.  They show us how Maple syrup was made in the old days and how it's made today too!  Pancakes and a straw ride and we had a great morning out!

Uncle Johan has been helpful in educating Caleb about the different makes of tractors.  He's been opened up to a new world of Kubota, Case, and New Holland.  This red tractor is a "White," the kind that Daddy had when he was growing up.  Caleb still prefers to Drive Green.



On our march through the sugar bush.

Niagara Falls.  

I don't know where we got the energy, but we went to Niagara Falls on the same day as the sugar bush.  Not sure I'd recommend doing that again.