Fun Cousin Sam & Few Recaps

Today certainly had its up's and down's.  Our posts about her test results and new IV explain some of the down's.  So I thought I'd wrap up  the night with some of the up's.

This afternoon we had a visit from Katelyn's cousin Sam and his mom, Ashli.  Katelyn just loves being around other kids, watching them play, learning to be a "big kid," and Sam was lots of fun!  We took them outside for a few minutes and they had a blast running around!

sick Elmo

To try and help Katelyn understand a little of what's happening to her, we've retrofitted her Elmo doll to look like her.  He has an ID band around his foot that has to have its "picture" (scan) taken when the nurse's come in - and he also has a "bracelet" (IV) on his arm like Katelyn's.  We are trying to teach her to "check Elmo's bracelet" like the nurses look at her IV before antibiotic doses.  And we are pretending to take lots of "pictures" of Elmo's bracelet on his foot, too.  These are just two simple things that happen repeatedly throughout our day - if we can get her used to these, maybe we can move on to some of the other things like taking temperature and changing diapers.  So, it's slow, but we are making some progress!

a few funny stories

IV Kisses:  My mom had to leave to return home as soon as they finished starting her new IV and we were going through the goodbye's with Katelyn, who was still somewhat upset from the sticks.  She wasn't very responsive when we cued her to say "Bye" or "Love you," but when we asked her to "blow kisses" she looked straight at my mom and lifted her newly IV-ed, fully bandaged hand to blow kisses.  It was totally sweet and sad all at the same time!

Left Hook:  While she was still very upset from the new IV, but was free to sit in my lap, she flailed out of my control and gave me quite a punch to the face with her new plastic fist!

Basketball Champion:  We've been trying to motivate Katelyn to move her hip in new ways.  So we had the idea to sit her on the floor and let her play.  Cousin Sam had left her a surprise in her room and inside was a suction-cup basketball hoop.  We hooked it to the door and gave her the ball - she's a natural!  Check out this short video to see her in action!

night night Daddy

Derrick is at the hotel tonight to get some real sleep while I stay with Katelyn at the hospital.  We switched hotel rooms tonight and moved higher up the building.  Derrick sent us this picture of the view from our room.  Beautiful!  Just wish we could all be there together tonight, but it we will all be together again soon I'm sure!

more pics

As always, more pics are on Facebook for those who have access.  Love you all!  Goodnight!