Day 16: New Day, New Dressing, New Attitude

Yesterday finished up with yet more mail, a nice card from St. Paul's, Mark's country congregation, another bright spot for our day. It's always heartwarming to hear from home! We had beautiful weather for a walk around the 'block' and a nice evening to cuddle and play when we got back.

Today has been great! The sun is shining and it's beautiful outside, and the attitude of the toddler makes it beautiful inside too. John played in the room this morning while I was mending some pants and little silly man, blocks are fun if mom is stacking them up so that he can knock them down but once I'm done, so is he, well right up until he realized that they all had pictures on them and then he was pulling them out of the box and telling me what was on them and asking what the things were that he didn't know. People are forever asking me what kind of toys that John likes and I can't imagine what goes through their heads when I tell them that he likes books and flash cards, I've never met a kid like this but really he would rather sit and drill signs and learn new signs than sit and play with anything. He will cuddle and love on his stuffed animals, each ones gets a kiss and a hug or two, he might even give them something to eat and drink if he has a cup and spoon at hand, but really if the choice is anything and playing something that resembles flash cards or book, it's the flash cards and books that win out every time.

Okay, his other favorite thing to do is to explore the world in his gait trainer, lol, this morning he was exploring a little more than I realized and scared me. I was in the shower and left the door ajar so that I could hear if he needed me, I thought he was out playing with the remote, reprogramming the tv so that the picture doesn't work as per usual, or opening all the cabinet doors or such, and then I realized that the shower curtain was moving and something was coming in the shower. I had already jumped and gasped when I realized it was him, he thought this was hilarious and so spent the rest of the time that I was in the shower backing up and then moving the curtain again to see if he could make me just and scream, of course the entire time he was doing this he had the hugest grin on his face and kept giggling. What a stinker!

After lunch we wandered a bit and then he was reluctant to come back to the room t have his central line dressing changed, he'd much prefer to play with the water fountain and run around outside in the parking lot, but was good even on the way back. He laid nice and still for the nice nurse to change his dressing, actually still enough that it makes me think that I could do this on my own, but I think I'll give him a couple more weeks to decide if good and still for this is going to be normal mode. It's been a very long time since we've had regular 'in-home' nursing visits, but the nurse that comes out is nice and friendly so we are glad of her company and her assistance. John was particularly good for her today and even kept his leg still so that she could easily get a blood pressure reading. All vital signs are good and as soon as she was done he was ready to run back out the door!

With no appointments or things to get I let John decide where he wanted to go. So we walked up the ramp in the Lied center and ran back down it a couple times, although medical students were coming and going on the ramp at the same time we were there, no medical students were injured during this show! Neither we little old ladies with walkers, or white coated docs either. John played behind the columns on the same floor for a bit and then decided that it was time to try going backwards through the cafeteria. Inside the cafeteria he got to stay and watch the revolving tray return to his hearts content and then after being persuaded that he was not going to get a box of cereal until supper he decided to go back through the cafeteria again. This time I showed him where the ramp was to the outside dining area, and it is now our new favorite hospital place, at least when the cafeteria is empty and no diners can be maimed or scared to death when he comes down the stairs. There are a couple very shallow stairs at the side of the ramp and his gait trainer bounces right down them like it was designed for this and so I let him go up and bounce down as many times as he could get up by himself. He had a great time and entertained everyone around!

It gave me time to visit with one of the cafeteria ladies, she talks to John every day, she just loves him and wants to take him home and keep him, lol, yet another sweet lady in John's life. John has a gift of bringing joy and delight to all around him, he is a constant reminder of how valuable life itself is and how God has a purpose for even the smallest and most frail of life. John attracts people, he makes them smile and as much as has been given to him in way of medical treatments and such he has given to others in joy. It has been amazing to watch and we can only dream and wonder what this little guys future holds.

For now the little charmer is napping peacefully, storing up energy to run ramps and bounce down stairs and who knows what else when he awakes.