Im loving our new "home"  I love looking around and seeing other cute little bald heads and seeing nurses dressed up in their chemo attire.  I never thought those things would ever give me joy, but its so much better than being in a place where its normal to have a kid in the bed next to you not make it and pretend to go about your normal business while you listen to mourning cries from the family.  Up here it feels more like a home now.  I know last time we were up here it was such a hard transition for me, but this time its different, I was so ready to be up here.  There is an actual bathroom in our room, an wait for it....a shower also!  Its so much more quiet and calm, and at night the nurses actually make it a priority to be as quiet as possible to let you sleep.
When we first got up here Skyler started crying because he wanted to go back to his old room.  This change was hard for him, he just got too used to being downstairs that this move to a different place made him scared.  It took him a little bit but eventually he started to like his new room.  Last night at about 2 in the morning he wanted to get up and sit on the side of the bed, he started talking and laughing with me like we used to.  For about twenty min. Skyler was back to his normal self.  It was amazing.  His speech was clear as day, he remembered things from a long time ago, and we talked about being in the hospital and why we are here and about Christmas and about how fun it will be when we get to go home.  We actually had a normal real conversation that I havent had with him since we got here.  I couldnt stop smiling the whole time I was talking to him so he probably thought I looked like a dork, but it was just such a little miracle.  I will always remember those twenty minutes!
Today has been a good day too.  We were able to take his NG tube out, which is a big tube that goes into his nose and down into his stomach.  It suctions out everything that goes into his tummy, but he has been doing so well that they decided to pull it today.   They also pulled an IV out that was in his hand, so he is now free from two more tubes.  He said "Ahh that feels alot better" when they took them out.  It was really cute.
He has been really talkative today and is making everybody laugh.  Most of the nurses have never heard him talk before either because he has been so sick or intubated, so it has been fun for everyone to hear his voice and see his personality.  Also, his counts were up high enough today so we were able to go out in the halls.  He loved it, he didnt want to go back into his room.  When we were out there he said "Hey this is the Children's Hostible (hospital)"  It was funny because he just realized where he was this whole time.  Last night he also asked me "So is this our new home?"  I like that he is so aware of things now.  Also when we got back to our room he said he wanted to stand up so he could look around at things.  He has never asked to stand up before because it hurts him so bad, so him asking to is a big deal for him.   I said yes, so I got him out of his chair and helped him try to stand.  Of course he couldnt bear any weight because he hasnt stood for 4 months now and has no muscle whats so ever in his little legs, and he cried in pain the whole time but the fact that he tried was incredible.  Way to go Sky! 

Here are some pictures of our adventure in the halls today....

                                     Skyler and Grandpa looking at the toys in the playroom. 

Out in the halls by our room.  Grandpa was being silly, he always knows how to make Sky laugh

Looking out at the world for the first time in a long time, he loved it!

One of the not so great things that happened today was that he threw up a TON of blood this morning.  It scared me to death!  We had the doc come in and check him and she said the most likely cause was that because he has been throwing up so much lately and because his platelets were so low, it caused a tear in his belly.  They gave him some medicine that would coat his tummy and the next time he threw up there wasnt blood in it, so it looks liked it worked.  Thank goodness.  I was thinking "Here we go again down to the PICU"  but we are still here and the rest of the day turned out great.