Thank you, Dora, Diego, and the Wonder Pets

We went back to the plastic surgeon today. He took the remaining stitches out of James' lip and said that he was healing well. It's still red and scabbed, so he wasn't able to completely determine that the line between the red lip and the white skin was perfectly aligned, but we're hopeful. And, there is no sign of infection, and at this point there's little risk of that. So, that's the good news. The bad news is that he still can't run, jump, play with other kids (unless they play quietly -- this doctor mostly works with adults, so doesn't seem to understand the life of a 2-year-old), pucker, smile or laugh, open his mouth wide, use a straw, or take big bites. Basically, these restrictions stay in place for the rest of May.

This week has been very rough for me, because it is stressful to try to limit his activities so much, and to be constantly worried that he is going to accidentally do something that reopens the wound. It's been tough for James, because he's getting cabin fever. Only the basics are getting done around the house, because I pretty much have to have him within arms reach and only moving slowly any time he's awake. And when he's asleep, I need a little down time for myself. The rest of the month looks like it will continue to be tough, but at least we don't have to worry about infection and about little bumps from toys, or him touching it. We've been spending a lot of time watching videos on NickJr. online. James has a new favorite every day (yesterday it was Dora, today Diego, last week it was Kai-Lan -- he is now tri-lingual). And those times when he just sits and watches them over and over are the only times we really don't have to worry. So, I am either a terrible mother for giving him too much screen time, or I'm a wonderful mother for finding him things he enjoys that keep him safe during this time. At least we do coloring, playdoh, and books, too!

A downer post, but at least things are moving in the right direction!

A brief mention of recent fun things we did before this happened (that I alluded to in the previous post): I had a really great time at The Melting Pot with Lori. It's been a LONG time since I've been able to sit down and talk with her (or just about any other adult) for an extended time, and it was great. Also, she agreed to be my maid of honor at the wedding! The next day, James and I met Lori and our friends Therese and Dave and their son Nate, who is the same age as James, at the zoo. We had just about perfect weather and it was a fun time. I was excited to take James to the new dinosaur exhibit there, but when they roared it scared him and we had to leave. The next day, my friend Meg was in town, and we met her for lunch. Again, it was nice to talk to someone from "home", although most of the time we spent talking about kids . . .

We've also been going to the local coffee shop more, since it is a nice walk and we like to support a local business. Especially since Starbuck's keeps trying to push Pike's Place on us by not offering a bold coffee.

That is all.