The Wheels on the Bus...

Kindergarten! Full day! Wonderful teachers and aid and bus driver...the day is not even over and we have already gotten report that Harrison is having a great first day! Not that we doubted it...school is definitely much more exciting than home. And we are so happy for him!

We met teachers and classmates and saw the classroom at orientation yesterday and Harry was thrilled and so excited, he gets a big smile every time we talk about riding the bus and going back to school.

But I am getting ahead of myself...we still have a few days left of summer, and a great summer it has been. Harrison had 5 weeks of camp at his school, Tuesday-Thursday 9a-2p. It was an adjustment to a longer day, and he did great, thankfully, since now he is in school from 8:45a-3:15p!
Anyway, camp was so fun, the kids played in the sprinkler, planted a garden, and played with some animals. Harrison saw his therapists and worked incredibly hard, and he made some new friends too.

After camp was over we took a few day trips. We have stayed in touch with our friend who began the ketogenic diet at the same time last March, and we visited her in New Hampshire. She is 4 1/2 and doing so well, has made a lot of great progress, and was very excited to see Harrison. She chatted to him all afternoon and he had such a good time with her! 

We also visited our friends at the Cape for a day- Harrison's buddy Sam is such a good friend and loves to play with him, read to him, and help him however he can. I love this picture because it is just a great shot of two regular boys hangin out.

Harrison had a really fun day with his big sister when she took him to Build-a-Bear. She showed him lots of animals and clothes and accessories and he made lots of choices (wasn't impressed with any of the pants selection) in creating Bananas the monkey. He giggled and smiled the whole time and clutches that monkey like nothin else.

Our biggest news is that Harrison has his parents' appetite! Last Spring I mentioned that he had started smacking his lips, and then something clicked and he was starting to better manage food in his mouth. We realized it was time to start with a new feeding therapist and we found a really great one. She has only seen him 4 or 5 times and has already told me she is shocked at how much progress he has made! So I talked to his nutritionist about some more recipes to expand his menu, and this kid is chowing! He loves marscarpone cheese with some cinnamon or peppermint extract, loves avocado, almond crackers, hamburger with avocado, tuna salad...he is actually eating enough to account for half of a meal, which means we can spill out half the formula for that meal! SO PROUD!!! This is what we have been wanting for so long, and it makes me so happy every single time we have a snack or a meal. He had a good hearty breakfast today for his first day of Kindergarten...macadamia nut pancakes.

Sometimes he likes to hide from his food. He likes this meatball just fine, this is just how he plays with his food.

Harrison is also doing better handling fluids like water or milk...he no longer panics, and actually asks for more of his vanilla shake when I squirt a little bit at a time into his mouth with a dropper.

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to Harrison's nurse Liz who has been with him for 4 years. She is having a baby and lives kind of far, but she really timed it perfectly since he is back in school and needs less time with her at home. As a special treat she took him to the Southwick Zoo, and they both had a lot of fun. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of his newest girlfriend!

And today, as I said, it's the start of a new school year. We know it is going to be amazing.