IT'S HANNAH MONTANA !!!!!!!

This was so funny. Hope got this Hannah Montana wig for her birthday. I asked Sonel if he wanted to put it on and he said "Yes". All the little girls were laughing at him like crazy. I took a picture of him and when I showed him, he had a shocked look on his face and threw the wig off as fast as he could! I laughed so hard! I talked my grandson into letting me take a picture of him in the wig too, so Sonel wouldn't be so embarrassed.

HOPE'S 10TH BIRTHDAY PARTY !!

These are the kids at Hope's party. (Hope is in the yellow shirt). This was probably the first time Sonel experienced anything like this. He can sing "Happy Birthday" pretty good. My birthday is in 2 weeks and then my Mom's birthday...then Sonel's birthday. He will be a pro at the birthday song by then. I plan on having a party for him too. I hope he's walking by his birthday (Aug 6th).

Here are a couple "COOL" pictures of Sonel. One "takin' it easy" in the pool, and the other picture of him on Papa's motorcycle.

Look at the change

Is it just me or can you see how much Sonel has changed since he's gotten here? Look at his picture at the left in the orange shirt. This was taken as he left Haiti. In all of my pictures, he looks like he's lost his "baby fat". He looks like such a big boy to me! He has hair too, which I love! It's little ringlets. It's adorable.

BORED!

I've been out of commission for a few days. I had about 10 different side effects to a pneumonia shot...it was horrible, but I'm doing better now. Sonel has 2 more weeks with no walking, then he gets to put his weight on his feet and try walking. That will be exciting! Here are a couple of pictures of Sonel trying to entertain himself, while at the 4H fair. Hope was clogging, and she had to stay and clog for 1 hour as part of her 4H project.

I can't resist putting in a picture of Hope clogging. She is the smallest girl in the photo. This is her first year and she got an award for being the "most improved" beginner. Yeah Hope!

GOING FOR A SWIM

Her are some pics of Sonel in a little pool. He loved it. LOOK AT THOSE BEAUTIFUL FEET!

A GOOD DAY!

Today was great. Sonel did not complain once about his legs aching. He never once asked for the heating pad, which was used several times a day. He had a bath first thing this morning. When I removed everything from his feet, he was a little worried. When I sat him in the tub, he tried to hold his feet and legs out of the water. I had to push them in the water and tell him "It's OK, the doctor said it was OK". After that he enjoyed himself. It was soooo hard getting the boots back on. Everything sticks to everything! Their is velcro everywhere. I had to figure out how to cover the velcro and pull the covers off after his foot was in the brace. I think it actually came with something to cover the velcro with, but it didn't get sent home with me. His feet have to be in the boots ALL day and ALL night for 3 weeks. He doesn't seem to mind. He's a pretty happy fellow.
Lori, I know I need to teach him English, but I love to speak in Creole with him. Hope can speak quite a bit of Creole. One thing Sonel has learned in English...he says "poop" now!

This picture is of Sonel opening the rest of his gifts from the SunShine Box. It certainly brought some happiness to his day.

Final "minor" Surgery

Sonel's suture and rod removal was really quick. He has walking boots now. He's not allowed to walk in them yet. He will wear them for 3 weeks, then he can put weight on his feet. He thinks he had a terrible surgery today, just like last time. He has cried a lot today because he thinks the doctor "hurt" his feet again. The boots are heavy, so he thinks he's in pain when he tries to move them, because it's harder than yesterday. Dr. DeHeer said all of the infection in his right heel has healed up. Tomorrow I can take everything off of his feet and put him in the bath tub! He will love it. He managed to give me a few good smiles today...

In case Hickory Grove Church is wondering what happened to the rest of Sonel's presents...we're saving them for a reward after he gets the pins out of his feet. I will take the gifts with us, so he can open them in the van.

Sonel is somewhat better. He doesn't cry with his foot, but he protects it at all times from being bumped. We go tomorrow to get his pins out and maybe he will get a shot of antibiotics to help him out. Here are some pictures of Sonel playing. The reason his foot is wrapped in saran wrap and masking tape...I was spraying the garage floor and him and Hope enjoyed getting splattered.

OUCH !

Sonel is having trouble with his right foot. He's on an antibiotic, but the hole where the rod came out is still draining pus. He is very protective of it. He did have "red shoes" this time, but I talked to the doctor today and he said it was OK for me to unwrap his foot and put peroxide and iodine on it. So now he has a red and blue foot. I'll post some pictures later today.

GOOD NEWS AT THE DOCTOR

This doctor visit was very rough for Sonel. He actually started crying about it, the day before. He knew we were going somewhere today and remembered it was time for a doctor visit. He cried a lot today...in preparation for the visit. I thought maybe if I unwrapped his feet, instead of the doctor, he wouldn't cry so much...not so. He bawled a lot. When the doctor came in, Sonel squalled so loud, Hope asked if she could go back out in the waiting room. When the doctor unwrapped the final gauze, I could see why he was dreading anyone touching his feet. When the final piece of bandage came off, pus poured out of his right heel. The steel rod had worked it's way upward under his skin and caused it to get infected. The same with the other foot, but it wasn't infected. Since the rods were loose, they were not doing their job, so the doctor pulled them both out. It wasn't painful for Sonel, but he was pretty terrified just by seeing it. The rods looked to be about 6-7 inches long! The "good news" is that next Tuesday Sonel will be put to sleep and the other rods will be removed, along with his sutures. THEN Sonel will be able to take a bath and get in a swimming pool!!! He will love that! He still won't be able to walk for 3 more weeks (which is 6 weeks sooner than the original plan). He will wear walking boots after the rod removals. I'm so excited to watch the progress in Sonel's recovery. Everyday is always better than the last. God is so GOOD!

Monday and Tuesday's gifts from the Sunshine Box

Sonel is getting spoiled rotten, if he's not already there. I make sure he sees that the gifts are getting less each day. I don't want him thinking that he automatically gets a gift every morning. But, he is loving it!

Sunday and Monday's gifts

He has been one happy camper!

Oops!

I forgot to show you his second gift and his Haiti picture.

VISITORS

This past Saturday, we had a visit from two lovely ladies, Pat and Pam, and Pats two grand daughters, Carrigan and Destiny. They came to see Sonel. Pat and Pam were at the Rescue Center where Sonel was, in Haiti, this past January and loved Sonel. When they found out he was close to them, they decided to come for a visit. They brought a "Sunshine Box" with them. It was a box filled with gifts, for Sonel, from people from their church. The object is to open one gift a day. Well, we cheated right off the bat. He opened two the first day! After I hid them in my bedroom and he wasn't looking at them, he was OK. The next morning, he pointed to my room and asked for a toy (smart boy!). I'm going to post his gifts each day. Thank you everyone from Hickory Grove Church, in Delphi, IN, for making Sonel a little more "spoiled" ! It's so fun to do. The last picture is Sonel holding a picture of himself that was taken by the Hickory Grove team, while in Haiti. Sonel has been doing so good. He has leg aches, at the top of his legs, but the only complaint about his feet is that they itch!

Lookin' good!

Here is Sonel with his new "BLUE SHOES". He wont' be near as hot with his feet wrapped like this. Before Sonel's feet were wrapped back up, I washed his legs and put lotion on them. He loved it. He still cried when he seen the doctor. He cries a lot when he first sees his feet. They are kind of scary looking. On the way back home, Sonel started saying "sins swy", over and over. I asked Hope if she had any idea what he was trying to say and she said he wants "french fries"! We're working on pronouncing that a little better. He also calls a cheeseburger a "shees bagay". Bagay is a Creole word meaning "thing". He has been so much fun. He is no longer on any Morphine, PRAISE GOD for that. He was like a little zombie and never wanted to eat, while taking it.

Our next doctor visit should be a good one. Dr. DeHeer's kids and his girlfriend's kids are wanting to meet Sonel, so they are going to try to be at his next appt. Dr. DeHeer has such a good heart. He was going to go to China and perform surgery on the earthquake victims, but the Chinese government said "NO". I pray that God will bless his life for all he is doing for others.

BEST DAY YET

Today was fantastic. Sonel was in such a good mood...all day...with NO morphine. He and Hope squirted each other most of the day with squirt guns. We even put garbage bags on his legs to keep them dry. We went to church this morning. He loves when I ask him if he wants to go to "legliz"(church), I always get a big "WI" ("yes"). I know he has a lot of memories of singing songs to Jesus from the Rescue Center. He has sang songs ever since he's gotten here. (Licia and Lori...he'll sing about going outside, it's so cute, he always adds a lot of "yo,yo, yo's" to the end. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.) He also laughed so much today. It was good to hear that again.
Brenda