TGIF

 Busy week!  On Tuesday, James went for his regular follow-up appointment with the surgeon.  (Weigh in at 23 lbs, 5 oz; okay but not great.)  The surgeon is fine with taking out the G-tube but wanted to wait until the cold & flu season is over, so that will probably happen in 3-4 months.  (Wow!)  We're also supposed to try to wean him off the Immodium, which he's been on twice a day.  Mike has already dropped it down to once a day with no apparent problems.  If that process goes well, they want to wean him off the cholystyremine next.  But he's staying on Prevacid and (alas) the special formula (Elecare) for now. 

James has actually been eating pretty well (by James standards) this week -- let's hope that continues!

We ended up keeping the boys home from preschool on Tuesday; they hadn't slept well at all on Monday night. (Matthew probably was bothered by the stitches -- he kept crying in his sleep and woke up for real twice.  There was no apparent reason for James deciding to get up at 3 AM!) They were being awful when we were trying to get them ready for school, so we figured they might just be too tired for it.  Grandma was here visiting, so they were happy to stay and play with her (and perked up amazingly well after we weren't trying to get them dressed!  Hmm....)

They missed school again on Thursday due to their doctor's appointments. Mattie had a follow-up to look at his incision.  I foolishly thought it would be quick, but no, we spent an hour waiting.  But as we expected, the doctor confirmed that it's healing up fine.  After the stitches are out, he'll have to wear sunscreen on the scar daily for a year!  (Or hats, etc.) 

Jamesie saw the ear doctor (he and Mike arrived just a few minutes before Mattie and I left), and he got some more gunk out of James's ears.  We're supposed to continue alternating ear drops and a powder medicine. 

Mike moved the boys' picnic table into the kitchen, and they have been quite delighted to play with play-doh on it instead of just getting play-doh in their high chairs.  Grandma also brought a bunch of cookie cutters for use with the play-doh, and those have been a big hit, too.