BABY STEPS

Keller continues to break new ground and reach personal milestones. This morning he opened his eye for the first time since the surgery. While he struggled to get a look at mom and dad, it was an Elmo DVD that coaxed him out of his darkened world. We're not jealous - he spent the next half hour sitting up, swiveling his head back and forth from mom to dad and clapping his hands in celebration of the fact that he's not completely blind. Needless to say this was overwelmingly touching for mom and dad, and we think we even caught a few tears from our nurse, Daria. He's only looking through a very small slit in his right eye, and the swelling will likely increase after they pull out his drainage tube to the point where he is again unable to see, but being able to catch glimpses of people he knows has helped to lessen Keller's frustration. He's almost back to his normal food intake and is really enjoying being held and rocked by mom. The attending let us know today that we'll likely spend another night in the intensive care unit, as there are still no open beds on the surgical recovery floor. Again, we love the extra attention of the PICU, so you won't hear us complaining. Still, moving to a different floor will mean less restrictive rules regarding visitors, which would be a welcome change for Nini, Baba, Nana and Papa. Only two or three of us are allowed to be in the room with Keller at one time, so everyone is spending a lot of time in the PICU waiting area. Nini and Nana are master Sudoku players by now and I think Baba and Papa have each gone through a book or two. For us, this blog has become our saving grace.