Monday

Getting Ian to drink plenty of fluids is difficult. I worked hard on this all day, pleading with him almost constantly to take another sip of drink. I thought I was doing a pretty good job, but by noon today it was obvious I was failing because Ian had not urinated since last night at 11:00 PM. He also had a mild fever (99.5) and I could see it in his drooping eyes. He said he felt well, and was awake all morning, but still I wondered if it was time to take him back to the hospital. Albert said to wait a little longer and if there was still no urine, we would take him back later this afternoon. I was frustrated because he was tired and I wanted him to take a nap, but if he was asleep, he would not be sipping any more fluids. I prayed the urine would come as I made him try to go to the bathroom before I laid him down for nap. Nothing. He went to sleep. I was really getting worried. The baby has been screaming and screaming at me all day (almost as if he's trying to punish me for leaving him and disrupting his schedule). When I'd go into the room with Ian, the baby would follow, screaming as loud as ever, yet Ian did not wake up or even stir. Finally I got the baby asleep and the house was quiet. About 1:30 Ian awoke suddenly and said he had to go to the bathroom! It was a good one and I was relieved! We have always jokingly called Ian our camel because the boy can save it up for a long time and has never wet the bed or had accidents since potty training. He went to the bathroom again before bed tonight.

I've been trying everything I can think of to get Ian to drink more fluids. I almost even put his drink in a sippy cup because he always thinks it's so fun to sneak drinks from the baby's cup, but then I decided letting my 6-year-old get attached to a sippy cup again was not a smart idea, so I didn't. I thought about putting water in a water gun because he loves to squirt water in his mouth from his water gun, but I always get after my kids for doing this and it doesn't seem very sanitary, so I didn't do that either. I did get one of his medicine syringes and fill it with water over and over until he had drank a whole glass-full and that seemed to work a little faster than him taking his micro-sips through the straw.

I was encouraged today because before dinner he told me he was sure hungry. He ate half a little bowl of cereal for breakfast, and for lunch only one little pinched off corner of bread that I made him eat. When I told him I was so glad he was hungry, he told me, "Of course I'm hungry! Didn't you see that I had almost nothing for lunch?!"

His head is so itchy that it's driving him crazy. It makes him restless and sometimes cry. I scratch it softly for him and he likes that. I tell him it is because his head's getting better and he tells me, "I already know that!" in his real annoyed voice.

He has seen himself in the mirror and told me that he looks kind-of scary. He asked me if his eyes are as open as they are going to get. I reassured him that more swelling will go away, his eyes will open more, the wounds will heal, and the itching will go away. I pray that I'm right.

My heart was touched this morning when it was his turn to say the prayer over breakfast and in his sweet little prayer he prayed for blessings on his grandparents, Albert's sick cousin, and even Albert's hand (which is a little sore because he jammed his finger last week). Though my thoughts were on blessing him, his thoughts were on blessing others.

Right now he is asleep and for the first time since the accident, he is not laying on his back. He is sleeping on his stomach. He is on plenty of pillows so it's soft, but I worry about him putting pressure on the sides of his head and forehead. I don't know if I should wake him up and try to roll him over onto his back (or how long he will even stay on his back anyway if I do), or just let him rest. The hospital said nothing about this.

It's the middle of the night and these little worries are keeping me from sleep. It is time for me to relax and remind myself that we are in the Lord's hands and He is blessing us.