Our Family Blog: First Full Day at RMH

Today was pretty hectic. I woke up, nursed Gabriel and put him back down to sleep. Then Tyler woke up, nursed and I put on some cartoons for him. I had a bunch of phone calls to make and things to take care of before things get crazier again. We still don't know much about Tyler's appointments. Tyler decided to make up for lost time and went around emptying all the boxes, bags and knocking things off the tables and counters. He really went crazy for quite a while. Dawson really feeds off Tyler too, so they were both making mischief all morning. Thankfully Tyler napped this afternoon, I could sure get used to that! Gabriel did too, so I got some rest and watched tv while Dawson played on his starfall website. I keep forgetting about tv, we don't have it at home, so I never think to turn it on while I'm here.

They had a noon cookout today (every Wed). They ate some fruit and chips, but even Tyler wouldn't eat the meat. Afterward we made tye-dye shirts. Or at least I did. Thankfully we got a volunteer to help us out. We each got a shirt, even Gabriel. It was an interesting experience. Didn't sound hard to do, but the dye was running off the shirt instead of soaking in! I'm curious to see how they turned out. I'm not expecting much, but we'll see. We joked that if they didn't turn out well, we'd just say the kids did them! Dawson got bored quickly. We did the shirts outside and there's a small fenced playard right next to where we were, so I let them play in there a while. That didn't last long and Dawson started screaming at the top of his lungs, so the volunteer said she'd finish up. I now have several purple dye spots on my jeans and purple tank top.

Tyler did awesome with wearing his mask today. He's picking up on things so fast. I think it helps that he sees many other kids here wearing them. Once he even wanted a little wafer cookie, so he just lifted his mask out a bit, took a bite and put it back on. Usually he just takes it off though. He's been eating great, so that's been a relief. He's not drinking a lot, but he's nursing and eating watermelon.

I didn't have time to upload pics yesterday. Here's the boys on their last day at Mpls Children's!

Dawson suddenly wanted to sit in the stroller on the way to supper yesterday. I told him Gabriel needs to sit there. He held his arms out for him. He's only held Gabriel a few times. I offer fairly often and he always says no. He does really like having Gabriel around, he just likes keeping a safe distance most of the time.

So cute! He was slipping a bit though, so I moved Dawson's arm and he held him up better after that. :)

Tyler wasted no time getting his car stuff set up at RMH the moment we got there!

I was taking pics for a book our group is making for our friend who lost her son. He was the same age as Dawson. We all did a balloon release for him, but since my camera broke I wasn't able to until today.

Bouncy house! The people painting is the wall of the gym. Tyler wouldn't go in the bouncy house at all the first time he saw it. This time he decided to get brave. He watched from the step. He got a little bounce on the step and got to watch too.

Dawson loves it! He was participating with all the other kids! I was so excited. They were forming a circle, counting to 3 and then bouncing onto their butt. Right up Dawson's alley! He was even leading the count several times.

Tyler got a bit braver and decided to get just a little bit into the house. He stayed there for about 10 minutes, giggling when he got bounced more. He even got up on his knees and was flopping down when the kids were.

Then Tyler decided to go all out and get right in the middle. There were less kids in there by then. He was giggling so hard when Dawson was bouncing him.

It's a huge bouncy house!

Once the sun went down more, we played outside. Dawson comes over and says "cheese!" everytime he sees me with the camera.

The house in the courtyard area in the back. He loves going in there.

The playground out front. Dawson waits for Tyler so he'll run into him.

Dawson saw me with the camera again. That's a sticker on his lip. He often does that, it's a sensory thing.

It was so great watching them play together again. It's been a long time since Tyler has gotten outside. When I take just Dawson outside, he seems lost without having Tyler to play with.

I was so excited to see his foot in this picture! The Physical Therapist was worried about his ankles being weak. A couple weeks ago he couldn't lift up the front of his foot when he walked. Now he can. :)