On Wednesday, Chase had his last day at Athena Montessori. He officially became a "Kindergartener", but he will stay there next year to complete that final year. All of his friends graduated to 1st grade or are leaving Athena to go pursue other Kindergarten programs, so it was a little sad. Although, I think Chase handled it well. Here are a few pics of the kids outside while the teacher gets them ready to go into the classroom. They did a little "stretching" to get the kids more zen-like.
For the graduation ceremony, each child that is leaving the school walks through the "gates of life." Since Chase is going to be the eldest in the class next year, he was given the special job to hold the other end of the gate along with the director of the school. As the kids pass through the gate, we say:
An end is yet another beginning.
Rejoice all ye who walk through these gates.
And sing:
Go now in peace
Go now in peace
May the spirit of love surround you
Everywhere
Everywhere
...you may go.
This is a pic of Chase and Logan, one of his best friends, eating their yummy breakfast:
After the graduation ceremony, Chase and I went to see a movie (Pirates, Band of Misfits) and then meet all of his school friends for a swimming play-date. He had a blast. I really love his friends and their parents, so it is going to be hard for me to try and make new "parent" friends next year as well. We will all be adapting together to the new changes.
Anyhow, Friday was also a busy day... but for Elizabeth. She had an MRI. For those of you not familiar with what's been going on, we were told by a pediatric dermatologist in April that Elizabeth has what is called "cutis aplasia." So, what's that?
On the very front of her scalp in the middle, she has a spot of hair that is darker and grows faster than the rest of her hair and it surrounds a white spot that looks like a scar. The white spot is the cutis aplasia or "missing skin, " and the hair around it is called the "hair collar sign." The doctor said it occurs sporadically in most cases. Rarely, it is a dominant trait that is passed down from generation to generation.
So how did that happen? When Elizabeth's brain was forming very early in utero, that small spot failed to completely close. I'm not a neurologist, but I think it has something to do with the separation of the ectoderm and endoderm. Cutis aplasia is usually seen along the midline, and it occurs with or without the hair collar sign. The pediatric dermatologist said the hair collar sign means "look here, stupid!"
Yikes, right?!? Well, all that means is that cutis aplasia and the hair collar sign are sometimes associated with deeper skin or scalp defects or even extra brain tissue underneath that spot. We were told we need to do the MRI to rule any of this out. 86% of cases are an isolated defect with no other findings, but because there was a small chance there could be something else we can't see, we had to do the MRI for peace of mind.
Elizabeth's MRI results showed that we are in the majority, and everything is absolutely fine. Mike and I always knew that from the start, but as parents, we felt we had to listen to the doctor and get the MRI over with. However, getting the MRI done was quite an experience for a 6 month old baby.
It started at 3 AM when I had to wake her up to feed her. She could not eat past 4 AM because they wanted her fasting for 4 hours before our 8 AM appointment. When she woke up at 6:30 that morning, everything went pretty smoothly as we got ready to go to the Children's Imaging Center at Dell Children's.
We got there at 8 AM sharp, and here is a picture of her in the waiting room. They wanted to do an MRI with contrast, which means they were going to inject dye into her blood vessels to see how blood flows in her brain. So, they put numbing cream on her hands to prepare her for the IV.
This is a picture of her once we got into our "sedation room." She is sporting her own mini hospital gown, and she is starting to get fussy. She kept looking at me like... "Come on, Mommy! Give me the goods! Why can't I eat?"
After talking with the nurse, we opted not to give her the sedation drops and give her the equivalent of Benadryl to help relax her. They needed her perfectly still and sleeping for the MRI, so we had to get her nice and mad and hungry before moving forward.
The nurse tried to stick her with an IV twice, but her veins were too tiny. She decided that we would go ahead and do the MRI scans without the contrast first, and then see if the radiologist thought it was really necessary to try and stick her again.
I was FINALLY able to feed her and put her to sleep about 9:45 AM. She was a perfect angel for the MRI, and she slept peacefully for the whole thing. The radiologist said, "this baby doesn't need a contrast," which was obviously music to our ears. Elizabeth woke up screaming when the nurse took out her ear plugs, but she quickly settled down and gave us her signature smile and coos (see below).
It was a success! We were able to complete the MRI without full on sedation or contrast dye. All of us were so happy it was over. I made friends with the nurse... I think she felt sorry for me when I was crying as they tried to stick Elizabeth with the IV... but anyhow, the nurse called me personally Friday afternoon to tell me secretly that Elizabeth's scans were perfect. We were supposed to wait until Monday when our dermatologist was back in the office to hear anything, but the nurse wanted us to have a great weekend. I love her!
So, that was quite a week! Chase and Elizabeth are growing up so fast, and we are thankful for the wonderful news. For all of you that knew what we were facing, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. You don't know how much it means to us to have your support. We love you, and we hope to see you this summer! Love, CER
What a huge relief!!!!! So glad that perfect baby is just that! I can't wait to get my hands on her!!!!!
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