Growth Spurt

I can't take credit for the great pics. Dad, you can experiment on our family any time!

Amanda woke up today and looked like she's grown two full inches. She has been eating me out of house and home recently and it finally kicked into her height rather than her waist. She is changing very rapidly into a young tween. She doesn't like the changes. She wants to stay little forever. But her bright mind and rapidly growing body are taking off whether she likes it or not. I looked at a picture from when she first started treatment and it is just a faded memory of what she looks like today. I know when she was diagnosed that we were ending the little girl phase and she'd emerge as a beautiful teenager. We are right on track.

She's had a great week. She looks good. She is happy. She has a lumbar puncture next week and we will quickly be reminded that she is still being treated for cancer. She has made the connection that these procedures make her feel yucky and are no fun. I reminded her that we are on the home stretch. We are counting down the few that are remaining. And I reminded her that we finally we have a good game plan to help her be more comfortable. She's really come a long way in handling it all better as I can tell she is more confident.

Will met with his feeding specialists yesterday and they gave us some good ideas for helping him gain weight. I finally found a formula that he can tolerate - despite it's $$$ price tag (just google Elecare and you'll choke!) One can only lasts a few days. But he is well worth it.! We're going to start treating him for reflux and have special diet and eating instructions in place. If he doesn't gain weight within a few weeks we will go back for a bunch of testing. The goal is to avoid a feeding tube. Knowing personally how miserable they are, I am VERY motivated to get his weight up. We have some physical therapy ahead and several follow-up appointments. Because he's doing so well developmentally he has a very good prognosis. And knowing that eases my mind greatly. Now it's his turn for a growth spurt!