Hello everyone!! I am drinking Cafe Bustelo this morning, which isn’t too bad. It’s new to me and I am still finding the right balance in making it. I need the caffeine today; it has been a busy week!

Last weekend, Billy spent all day Saturday putting up shade for Wyatt and me around the deck. Wyatt loves to be out there – it is a great spot for him that was an unintended byproduct of the ramp building, but I am so thankful for it. It really is the perfect place for him to play outside. And he can go in and out all by himself, which makes him feel so much more independent. However, it was like being on the surface of the sun at times, with the complete lack of shade in our yard. So, Billy did what he does best and fixed the problem! Billy wanted to also make sure that we could wheel Wyatt out there after surgery and have it be a safe place for him to get out of the house and get some fresh air, and that required massive shade. Billy’s plan – he turned canvas dropcloth into curtains by adding grommets and hooks, and hung them on rods he had in the garage leftover from an old pop up gazebo thing. He also ordered an actual sun shade sail for the top, and now it is perfect! I can take Wyatt out there and move the curtains around as needed to keep him safe and not overheated (he doesn’t react to heat well, like a lot of people who have suffered brain injuries) and unburned. I do use an Australian sunscreen on him, Blue Lizard, because I believe Australians probably are the experts on it, but still, you know?

Sunday Billy got to use his new grill, which he got on sale over Memorial Day Weekend. We figured the deck area is going to be where we spend most of our time this year. Billy will be out of vacation time after taking time off for Wyatt’s surgery, so no little trips for us this year. And this is fine, we just want kiddo’s surgery and recovery to do well, and then we will be perfectly content spending our days and evenings in our little DIY oasis.

Then Wednesday, Wyatt and I headed to Motts Children’s Hospital, where he was all hooked up to some electrodes for a 24-48 hour EEG. It’s not necessarily a difficult procedure, just long. He needs to stay in the room the whole time, but he is allowed to play and move around and do whatever, as long as he is in the room. He does well for being stuck in a hospital room with all sorts of wires attached to him. He really is such a good kid guys, seriously. We watched The Wild Robot, read from his library book, drew, colored, and then he just played on his tablet. When Billy got there they played a game while I took a short walk around. And we had a surprise treat! My brother door dashed us delicious goodies from Tous Les Jours bakery! I talked about this place in a previous post, it is an Asian-French bakery and is so good! He sent us so many things, and I was grateful because I was starving!! Wyatt had eaten lunch and had snacks but I hadn’t, so when I grabbed the door dash and brought it up, I demolished the ham and cheese croissant. Lol. It was sooo good!

The next morning when the doctors came by, we had a good report!!! Wyatt had had no seizure activity captured, and the spike waves that he has near constantly at night (called DEE-SWASS) all originate in the same little spot in his brain. DEE-SWASS is continuous spike waves while you sleep, which can disrupt REM and can create issues with memory and also cognitive loss. If they are too frequent, doctors try to treat although DEE-SWASS still doesn’t have a lot known about it yet. However, the doctors felt that since Wyatt’s was located in just one area, that doesn’t cause the same issues and felt comfortable not being aggressive with it. So we were able to go home, and honestly, I was so relieved I could have cried about this report.

Last night, Wyatt got a reprieve from medical appointments! The foundation, A Kid Again, gifted us with tickets to the Detroit Zoo Dream Night! This is an evening for special needs families, where everything is open and free, even the carousel, movie theater, and the special Dragon Forest. They provided dinner and snacks, had zookeepers on hand for animal chats, a silent disco, and sensory friendly activities. The tickets are limited as well, so it is a quiet evening, without too many people. It is just a very special night for the kids and families. I know that my son had a blast. The smile never left his face!

We wandered the whole zoo, saw the wolves, and had to go through the Dragon Forest twice. Wyatt picked out a dragon toy, which he didn’t let go of the rest of the night, and ate chocolate chip cookies. Basically, we just had the best time and laughed so much and had fun. It was the perfect antidote to follow up his overnight stay at the hospital, and I am so grateful that we had that opportunity.

This weekend will be a little more low key, with tacos at my brother’s tonight, and a bowling birthday party tomorrow. Still fun but much more relaxed!

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile my friends!

Today I am linking up with Lisa, at Boondock Rambings, for her Saturday Afternoon Chats!