Impromptu Date

Friday, Uncle Dan reached out to invite Bennett to accompany him to a University of Alabama gymnastics meet against Missouri.  Of course she jumped at the opportunity to go with him!  Our children love some Alabama sports, and love hanging with their Uncle Dan who spoils them like crazy!  When I asked her what they talked about on the way down, she said "I don't know...he asked me about school and I talked for 15 minutes, then I asked him something and he talked for 5 minutes, and then he asked me another question and I talked until we got there.  I guess I talked a lot."

She had a blast watching the pros, and loved getting to meet and take pictures with many of the team members after the meet.  Walker and I were asleep when she got home, but I loved hearing about the fun she had the next day.  She got a ton of autographs, and one of the gymnasts even gave Bennett her flowers (which she quickly put in water).  She had a great time, and we thank Uncle Dan for the fond memories!

Update on Walker's Burns

July 5th - after shower, before bandage

After Walker got burned, he was given strict instructions to stay inside and keep his wounds clean.  The burn unit told us, if we could keep bandages on him for the first 10-14 days, that would be the best case scenario for minimizing infection and optimizing the healing.  We bribed him heavily, and he was thankfully very cooperative.  However, things needed to be adjusted.  He couldn't attend summer school anymore, he couldn't play outside or go swimming, and had to minimize his activity some so the bandages would actually stay on.  Walker did great until his follow-up appointment mid July.  I didn't work, and we just did puzzles, watched movies and colored....A LOT.

Thankfully they gave us the "all clear" at his follow up visit so we could still go on our Midwest road trip.  We just needed to minimize his time outside, and when he is outside, he needs to have SPF 50 on all wounds, and wear a baseball cap to protect his scalp.  Since he had lost all of his hair along his burn, it looked weird anyway, so he happily wore his cap.

July 13th - face healing nicely and still smiling

July 13th - no scab yet

About 4-6 weeks after his accident, the scars on his face were only visible after he got hot and flushed.  And 6 months later, I am happy to not see anymore redness or evidence of the burns on his face, chest and arm.  But sadly he still doesn't have hair growth on his scalp, in fact skin continues to come off when I brush his hair.  I am still hoping to see new hairs, but the doctors said it could take a full year for the healing process to be complete.  However, after speaking to several other doctors, I am not optimistic.  They don't think his hair will regenerate because they think the burn was just a little deeper than originally diagnosed, hence the lack of complete healing.

July 21st - still redness on face and scalp starting to scab

Aug 24th - occasionally bleeding and healing still

Jan 21st - still not 100% and no hair at crown

Whose Birthday Is It Anyway?

This year, Myra's birthday fell on the day of the national championship game (which Bama won).  Since Louis, Dan and Maria all attended the game - we postponed birthday celebrations until the following weekend.  On Sunday, Jan 14th we celebrated the lady in charge of the Mizeranys.  However, coming off Christmas and Walker's two birthday "parties," Walker was obsessed with opening her presents for her.  In fact, he knew exactly what he wanted to give his Mimi!

Sharpie Markers!

Metallic sharpies and the really fat one! 

He was thrilled to find the "flat sharpie markers," the metallic ones and the largest sharpie made that he has been talking about for months.  Walker was confident that Mimi would be so excited to receive them too. (Ha!)  When he got home, he and Steve wrapped them up.  Then as soon as we arrived at her house, he couldn't wait to "help" her open her present.  After dinner, Dan got out the cake and Walker was insistent on "helping" her blow out her candles too.

Though you might have thought it was yet another birthday celebration for Walker, it wasn't.  It was Mimi's 83rd birthday, and we all wish her the happiest birthday!