So, guess what everyone??

Rees went to school today!!  

Can you say WOO-HOO!!!  and HALLELUJAH!!!

But, let's back up just a couple days because I am a tad behind in updating.

On Saturday, we celebrated Rees' birthday since he was in the hospital on the actual day of.  

His dinner choice was homemade chicken pot pie ... excellent choice as agreed by all the family members!  His beverage choice was Sprite ... easy-peasy.  

And then he requested that his "Unfle" (uncle) Dave and Auntie JenJen come to celebrate with him.  He was glad that Unfle Dave was there to play 'thumb wars' with him.

Then he had a little goofy time on Baba's lap ... his mood is definitely improving!

And then we had birthday cake!!!

It wasn't anything too extravagant.  Good thing ... because by the end of the day he was one wiped out little guy!  

Yesterday was a REALLY LONG DAY with multiple appointments for both Jonah and Rees.  

Rees had surgery follow-up along with the removal of staples and the distractor pins.  Eek!!

 But first, Rees had the opportunity to have some fun-building time with Baba before we had to leave for the appointments.

The appointment went well!!  I mean, ... well, there wasn't any major catastrophe or twist of events as has frequently been the case.  The removal of the distractor pins, I thought, was going to be a horribly terrifying experience that was going to end in blood spill and screaming.  But nothing of the sort!!!  Rees didn't even flinch!  We kept him distracted with a game and Dr. Denny, using his trusty tools, popped the safety release on the pins (which we did not realize were even there) and out they came!!  

WOW!!  

The holes that were left (EEK!) were immediately cleaned and packed with antibiotic ointment.  Twenty-Four hours later and the openings have shrunk like shrinky dinks!  They are nearly closed off - AWESOME!

Of course, Rees was N-O-T at all happy about the removal of the staples, but this was expected.  I know that it hurts ... more in some areas, like right above the ear ... but we did our best to help him through it.  We were sure glad when that part was over.

The inside of Jonah's mouth was checked and we had some discussion about the next steps and if/when to take the next step.  We also had similar discussion regarding Rees.  

It's a long road we're on with these two, folks ... a long road.

After that first appointment, we celebrated with some ice cream.  We sure felt that at least one of us deserved it immensely, so ... of course, we ALL got some!

Ice cream makes a HAPPY FACE!!!

A little less external head-metal sure helps too!!!

So, this happy boy returned to school today!!

And that makes EVERYONE happy!!!