February 1st, 2005
Kid of the Month
Spencer was January “Kid of the Month” at our health club, Full Court Fitness. Next time, we go, I will pick up the little form and post an actual quote. I think the main criteria for kid of the month are frequent attendance, good attitude, and cooperating with the staff. With high energy and spirits, Spencer has been working very hard on being helpful and showing leadership. At school, he’s started trying to help some of the “younger kids” (the 3 year olds and recent 4 year olds since he’s “almost 5”) with following the rules and learning. He’s been doing the same thing at Tukong martial arts, especially with two kids from his school classroom who tried out martial arts. When one of them didn’t like it, Spencer wanted to find out why (“the teach is too loud and bossy”) and tried, unsuccessfully, to change the other kid’s mind.
Behaviorally, we had a rough week last week with tantrums later in the day (getting earlier as the week went on). We think it was mostly that he was tired. Sleep got pretty disrupted last week with allergies among the family. We’ve worked bedtime back to a more rational time and had naps a couple of days. We’ll keep that up and see if it works.
Spencer’s Grandfather, Frank Brimmer aka “Mayor Grandpa” since he is mayor of Independence, IA, is visiting for a couple of weeks. He got here on Friday and will probably be staying until the 15th. Today is promotion test day at Tukong and we’re working on having Mom, Dad, and “Mayor Grandpa” there if Mom can get out of work in time.
We had an oncologist visit yesterday that was completely uneventful. No procedure, just a physical and blood work. The blood numbers were great, hemoglobin 11.1, ANC 2300, white bloods cells 3700, platelets 283,000. Next visit is on Valentine’s Day when we start delayed intensification #1. That visit includes short IV chemo with Vincristine, a lumbar puncture, and a chemo infusion of Doxorubicin. The infusion takes 15 minutes to 2 hours, so we’ll do that sitting in the oncologists’ office after the procedure. Spencer will probably love it since he’ll get to watch a DVD or play a video game.
