So Long Summer

Dayssi's ANC was 1000 on Monday, just at the "normal" cutoff. We were expecting the counts to be higher but she was on steroids last week, and she has had a cold. So maybe that explains something. Who knows. The whole counts thing is a mystery to us, frankly. Anyway, Dayssi seems to feel strong and healthy, so we decided to squeeze in some relatively low germ-concentration end-of-summer adventures before school starts on Monday.

We took the girls to Bonfante Gardens on Wednesday, a kind of conservatory/amusement park with some water play areas (we use hand sanitizer after very ride), and today we went to the beach with Sharon, Cole, Edie and some other friends of theirs. Dayssi has finally discovered the beautiful collection of hats given to us by our friend Ann, whose daughter recently completed her leukemia treatment regime and is doing great. We haven't invested in many hats ourselves, partially because we were given this fabulous collection but also because Dayssi still has a bunch of hair. It is still falling out and it has gotten pretty thin, so we worry about sunburn on her head, but she has enough hair to wear it in little tiny pigtails (today she has four and she looks very funky, like a little rock star). Last night I came home with some new fall clothes for the girls and it prompted a fashion show, and the hats came out. Now Dayssi is hooked. This morning Dayssi picked out an adorable pink skull cap type thing for the beach --perfect, since we expected it to be cloudy and cold -- and then took off all of the rest of her clothes to run naked in and out of the surf. So it wasn't that cold, and I wasn't totally prepared. Anyway, I also forgot the camera, unfortunately, because the visuals were pretty fantastic. As usual, Dayssi and her antics captivated many on lookers. The child is just so full of life.

In other news, we had a long conversation with India's therapist this week. She thinks the emotional crisis has passed for India, for now, and wondered whether we might want to curtail our weekly visits since she doesn't feel they are necessary at this point. She reported observing some signs of stress initially, but reports that much of that seems to have resolved. She says India is a dream client for a play-therapist because she just dives into games and story telling while in the office and processes all kinds of emotional stuff through her play. From the very beginning she told us that India's play did involve stories in which sometimes scary, sad or bad things happened to people (often there was a sick child in the family who was getting all of the attention and the other children were left alone) but even at the beginning of therapy the resolution was always positive. According to Dr. Larsen, there are always protectors in India's stories who love and care for those who are sad or in danger, even if they are sometimes temporarily absent or unavailable, and the stories tend to end with everyone feeling loved, safe and secure. This is a big deal for the therapist, who said it suggests that India is fundamentally secure and that she believes everything will be ok -- the bottom has not dropped out for her. What a relief.

Enough about that. One day when she can read India is going to find this blog and I don't want to have reported too much that is too personal. I just wanted those of you who are feeling concerned for her, as we have, to know that she seems to be coming through this leukemia experience in one piece.

I am SO excited about kindergarten. I think India is going to love it. Strange, since apparently I hated kindergarten at first and had to be dragged crying into the school for at least several months. I remember complaining to my mom that there was a girl named Gina who took my crayons and pressed too hard. I did not know how to stop her. But India is India, and I am me. We will let you know how it goes.