A week later.

It has been a week since we were discharged from our last fever scare and we are still very, very thankful to be home. Unexpected hospital stays are a bit rough on our little family, so this week we have been trying to re-group, take some long walks, work in the yard, and catch up on sleep. I think that I am breathing a bit more normally now and am not quite the nervous wreck that I was last week at discharge. Maybe :)

Watts is doing great. His counts shot up on the neupogen this week so we discontinued the drug and are hoping that his counts are still hovering in a good range. We will officially check them on Monday and, if all looks well, will go to Brenner for a lumbar puncture and chemo on Tuesday. This will mark the officially beginning of Continuation II (aka maintenance).

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I wish I could figure out the right words to accurately describe this little guy. When he was first born, we thought for sure that he was our laid-back little one (especially compared to our firecracker, Piper) and he was as a newborn/young infant. It turns out we were wrong, though! As Watts has gotten older and has moved past the more intense part of his chemo treatment, his wild, hilarious personality is coming out more and more. This boy is a hoot! For example, as I ran a quick errand with the kids today, I happened to catch Watts' eye when I glanced at the rear-view mirror...without missing a beat, he tilted his head, stuck out his tongue, and made a goofy face back to me. And then continued to make crazy faces for the next ten minutes straight... of course egged on by Piper's and my laughter.

We have just loved getting to see Watts actually feeling a little better and getting to know his goofy, precious little self. 

Other newsy updates on Watts:

• These days, he is saying new words almost everyday. Today, he said "squirrel".
• He is eating better. Current favorites are bagels with cream cheese and scrambled eggs. We are dreading the start of his appetite-zapping chemo drug, 6-mp, but are enjoying his appetite while he has it!
• His hair is falling back out...for what will hopefully be the last time ever. 
• He is learning how to take his daily medications orally and is doing great with the transition. The very first time we gave him his meds by mouth, he threw them up; this morning, he took them without protest! 
•  He is very much a mama's/papa's boy and wants to be with one of us at all times. This seems to have gotten a bit worse after the last hospital stay, which is understandable, and makes for some trickier days at home. This could definitely simply be developmental, but also seems linked to hospital stays. Hopefully he'll work through this as we get further into maintenance.
• Watts' favorite toy right now is a plush monkey from the nurses and his favorite book is Dr Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas. We don't really know why, but he will sit through the whole entire book and ask for "moe [more], moe, moe!" as soon as we try to put it away. Funny boy.