We count only blue cars...

...skip the cracks in the street

and ask many questions

like children often do

-Dishwalla, Counting Blue Cars

One of Jay's favorite activities when we get home from work/daycare is to sit on our front stoop and survey the front yard. He'll say "Let's watch some cars go by," which is actually pretty amusing because we live on a dead-end street with only a couple houses beyond ours. So unless we're the first ones home from work (which we usually aren't) then there really aren't many cars going by for us to watch. But one of us will typically sit there for a few minutes with both boys since that allows the other one of us a good 15 minutes to get dinner started without little fingers who want to participate.

But we've found a great new spot here in the hospital to "watch some cars go by." There's a big glass window area between the CICU and CCU, and you can see all the downtown Philly traffic whizzing by the hospital. Yesterday, Derek and Jay even saw me whiz by on my way to the parking lot (though Derek didn't point it out as me just in case it was some other CRV going by!). But they have been pointing out the buses, taxis, ambulances and all different kinds of cars they see. Both yesterday and today they have been hanging out there when I arrived, and it's so reassuring to see him outside of his room. Good stuff.

It was another fantastic day in physical therapy - he WALKED all the way from our room to the PT exercise lab. It's probably 20-30 yards? I dunno - I'm a terrible judge of distance. But it's a good long way for someone who walked only a few steps yesterday and couldn't even bear any weight on his legs the day before. We retrieved his crocs from RMH, so he was pretty excited to get to wear his own shoes. (Given my love of all shoes, of course I'm going to attribute this new success to the new & improved footwear.)

(Seriously, could you stand on toothpicks like that for legs?! He's gonna hate me for that pic someday.)

His voice continues to get stronger, though it is still quite weak. He's tried to talk on the phone, but you just can't hear him on the other end. Not much improvement in the eating department, either. He's all about the thickened liquids, but he's having trouble swallowing anything thin and isn't much interested in eating anything else. Except broccoli. Seriously - what kid prefers broccoli to mac & cheese, ice cream, or hamburgers? A kid on coumadin who really shouldn't eat much broccoli - that's who! LaLa says he just needs some vienna sausages ... again, not sure what the cardiologists would say about that, but we gotta get some calories from somewhere if we're ever going to get this feeding tube out.

So, as you enjoy your Labor Day cookout burgers & dogs this weekend, think hungry thoughts for us and hope he starts getting back to the good eater we all know & love.