This Boot is Made for Walking

James got his long cast off today, and now has a "walking cast" -- a shorter cast that ends below his knee.  Progress!  He's not actually walking with it yet, though -- they told us his knee would be stiff for the first couple days, so it would take some time before he's really getting around.  So far, his knee doesn't seem to be bothering him much, but we've done at least three rounds of lotion for his itchy skin!

Apparently I didn't actually get a picture of the new cast, but he chose orange this time, on Matthew's request.  :)

Happy (Chinese) New Year

 One of our friends had a Chinese New Year potluck last night (with an amazing spread of food!)  The boys disappeared upstairs with a crowd of mostly older boys, and had a great time, while we enjoyed conversation downstairs.  (It turns out that James's ear doctor is neighbors with our friend -- quite a small world around here!)

Checkers

James has been very excited about playing checkers the past few days, and he's getting good at it -- he may even give Grandpa B a run for his money next time we see him!  James was also teaching Matthew how to play, which was very cute.

Gym Party

 One of the boys' kindergarten friends had a birthday party at the play gym today.  We weren't sure how that was going to go with James still in his cast, but he found plenty of ways to play!  It looked like all the kids were having a great time burning off some energy.  :)

It turned out that one of the other dads there is the head of the NICU at the children's hospital here.  And he knows some of the doctors that took care of Matthew and James!  Small world.  :)

My Snowy Valentines

 We've had about seven inches of snow so far today.  It was in the mid-20s, so we went out to shovel and play for a little bit before the arctic freeze hits and takes us down below zero again.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you have a great day!

(Making cards for the classmates is a big job when you're five -- that's a lot of names to write!)

Cold Day

 The guidelines for the boys' school district say that they cancel due to cold weather if the wind chill is going to be below -25.  They cancelled today.  (It was -4 when we woke up.)  Brrr!!  (And Sunday is suppose to be even colder!)

For the Space Snow

The boys' latest cardboard rocket has a snowplow on the front.

Entourage

James went in for an X-ray yesterday, and everything is still in the right position.  He has to go back in two weeks, and at that time they may be able to take off the long cast and give him a walking cast.  (This is a little different from what we were told when he first got the cast -- they said the cast might just come off by then -- but we'd be fine with anything that lets him get back to walking!)  He also got the green light to be allowed to scoot/crawl around on his bottom, so at least he can move around the playroom or their bedroom when he's playing with Matthew.

It was very sweet -- parents aren't allowed in the X-ray room, so when they were wheeling him back, he said, "I love you, Mama!"  (Everyone in the waiting room said, "Awww.")

The boys' school had a book fair and "guest reader" night yesterday as well.  We ran into one of the boys' friends right away, and at the first part of the evening (a reading and harp performance), James was surrounded by his kindergarten friends. :)  Later, his two best friends were very excited to get to push his wheelchair (for obvious reasons, they're not allowed to do that during regular school).

It's also very sweet that the last couple days James has come home with more drawings and get well cards from his friends.  The first batch was a class activity, but apparently some of the kids are still making him cards/pictures just in their free time.

Mike is hanging in there with his liquid diet -- he's much less cranky about it than I would be!

You Will Be Assimilated

The Western New York indoctrination continues: Matthew had his first floor hockey class this week.  He did pretty well considering the only time he'd ever played was once at a friend's house!  (I don't think it's a very good idea to give a bunch of kids sticks and have them run around whacking at things, but when in Rome...)

One of Mattie's friends from school is in the hockey class, too, and he was very excited to see Matthew.  In fact, even though they were on different teams for the scrimmage, J tried to pass the ball/puck to Matthew!  Very cute.

Snowity Snow

 According to the National Weather Service, Buffalo (including us) has 21 inches of snow on the ground, as measured at the airport.  That's the most since 2002.  (Although Matthew was more impressed by the huge roof icicles!)

Fun While It Lasted

 Some pictures of winter fun from before James broke his leg.