Even though we had a rough night, and Judah was a little fussy this morning, he surprised me by calming down and actually being a little silly and giving me a smile. I was amazed. I haven’t seen him smile since Sunday.

One of the doctors just came by for a check up. He said that we can start monitoring the NG tube and see if Judah is able to start eating. Perhaps by tonight or tomorrow he can have the tube removed and start eating. That will be nice, since this morning he was actually asking for something to eat.

My goal for today is to get Judah up and out of bed for a walk. I keep telling him about the play room, so I think he’s anxious to see it.

Update: 10:00 a.m.

Judah went to the play room! Even though he said he wanted to go, he started getting fussy as we were getting him ready to go. I decided he was going anyway, so we persevered. Once he was all dressed and ready to go, we headed out the door. He has to have an entourage following him with his i.v. pole and all the tubes, but we were mobile. The play room is a very short walk away, but by the time we got there, Judah was ready to sit on one of the little chairs to rest. He found a truck that appealed to him, so we put it on the table and he looked at it. Then we found a bin of little toys and figures, and he enjoyed looking at those. “It’s Yoshi!”, he exclaimed.

After about two minutes Judah was exhausted. He started crying again and we packed up to go back to the room. Now he’s laying in bed again, with the blue truck from the play room next to him. I’m glad he got some exercise.

Next time we go, I’ll try to take the camera along so you can enjoy the sight of a little guy surrounded by toys.

Update: 2:00 pm

Judah hasn’t had the strength to go to the toy room again this afternoon. But he is staying awake longer during the day, so I’m encouraged that perhaps he is starting to feel enough better that he doesn’t need as much sleep during the day. He is also more cheerful than he has been. He even carried on a conversation with the cleaning lady when she came in. At first he was scowling at her; but when he realized she wasn’t going to poke or prod him or shove fluids into his i.v.’s, he brightened up and they chatted for quite a few minutes.

This morning the doctor gave permission for the NG tube to be disconnected from the vacuum for some hours this afternoon to see how Judah’s stomach is doing. In another hour or so we’ll have the first test to see if the stomach is working properly. If Judah passes these tests, then perhaps by tonight or tomorrow morning he’ll be allowed to start eating food and drinking water. As much as I wish I could be here to feed Judah the first food that he’s had this week, I will hand that over to Michael and gladly go home to rest before heading back to the hospital tomorrow night again. At least I can take joy in the fact that I got to take Judah on his first walk to the play room today. That was pretty special.

Update: 6:00 p.m.

Quite report:  Judah’s stomach report was good!  So if he continues to show good reports through the night, he’ll have a good argument to ask for the NG tube to come out.

Michael is on his way here with Miguel and Amelia.  Then I’ll take the two kiddos and head home.