It's a tooth! It's also school days!

On our drive back from our recent visit to Tell City, I put my finger in Avery's mouth to feel her gums and I got a surprise...there was A TOOTH! Finally! She now has her first tooth, having started to come in just before her 13 month birthday. We are so excited, as we weren't sure how much she might be delayed in getting teeth...both because of the Dilantin she is taking and because she just doesn't get as much oral and gum stimulation as a well child her age gets. Anyway, just something else to celebrate! We are taking off for Balitmore again on the 27th for a week of pre-surgery testing at Johns Hopkins. Avery will have a brain MRI on the 28th and then we will meet with the neurosurgeon (Dr. Jallo) on Tuesday the 29th. Wednesday will be a free day, but for Thursday and Friday she will be admitted for 2 days of video EEG monitoring. Please pray that everything still points to surgery as a viable option for her (meaning that all the seizures continue to come only from the left cerebral cortex). If all still points to surgery, then it will likely be scheduled ASAP for either late September or October. That will be good...not too much time to dwell on it or dread it (which I will certainly do). Jon and I know that it will be the hardest day of our life, but we also know that on the other side will lie our most hopefull days for Avery. We must go through the first for the chance at the latter. God give us strength! Caiden started Kindergarten on Thursday this week! WOW! I can't believe he is offically in school. It is bittersweet for me, because it means that he is growing up. I know it will seem like no time at all and he'll be in high school and then college and then his own man. But at the same time, I am also super excited for him! I know that it will be so much fun and rewarding for him. It is also great for him to be out of the house and away from all the goings on at the house with Avery for part of the day...to have his "own" time and place and piece of the world. I took him and picked him up the first day of course. Today, he rode the bus for the first time. He was so excited about that! I was so paranoid that he wouldn't be able to remember where his classroom was or that he would forget where to get off the bus on the return home. We had a slight hiccup this morning as the Transportation department had changed the pick-up/drop spot and we were not aware. It all worked out though and he did make it home OK. I just had to teach him the new location for Monday. He has already made a couple of friends. There are 21 kids in the class with a teacher and an assistant. We have heard great things about the teacher (Ms. Moore) so we are really happy about that. This is her 11th year teaching Kindergarten. He also lucked out because his classroom is air conditioned (one of the very few I guess)...I was a bit worried about that. Anyway, it was a great start. I hope he continues to have this level of excitement towards school for many years to come. Soon, you will be able to check the webpage we are creating to see Caiden's first school, first bus day pictures and for pictures/video of Avery. Hope everyone is doing well! All my love, Holly