Ben is coping reasonably well. Like all of us, he has his moments. He has a minor hurdle to face with minor ear/nose/throat issues (mentioned in previous blog entry), but he is otherwise healthy. He is growing into a very handsome boy (I'm biased). However, he will be having a haircut before we leave so he is presentable for school in Australia.
Ben is maturing and this has been more noticable to me in recent weeks. He is helping more, taking on a bit more of a support role. He was even heard one day during a play date explaining to a mate all about Maria's radiotherapy.
He received his school report early (today) and the results were an ongoing improvement from his previous report (which was a marked improvement from the previous year). Maria and I are very proud!
As you can see from the images below, Ben not only loves to draw from his imagination but 'Star Wars' is the theme on most occasions. He creates battle scenes with his Lego all the time and even manages to squeeze Star Wars into our everyday conversations.
I will give a brief description of each of Ben's drawings below. I am so amazed at how he is able to draw much of what he does with no reference to an image or toy to copy from (I'd be completely lost if put in the same position). Pay particular attention to the final image and commentary.
Image 1: Captain Rex (the guy in red) both with and without his helmet, accompanied by another Clone Trooper. 
Image 2: Clone Troopers in battle against droids.
Image 3: This was a "Brain Wars" battle (the four of us -v- evil) during which apparently I swing up my light sabre to deflect a laser bullet but hit an overhead pipe causing a poisonous liquid to seep into Maria's head and give her a brain tumour. Ben explained that he didn't intend for it to look like I was somehow responsible for Maria's tumour. Some psychologists may view this differently.