AWANA be a Big Boy!

At our church, on Wednesday nights, all the children participate in AWANA.   It stands for "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" from 2 Timothy 2:15.  Well this is Jude's first year to participate, and he is having a blast as a Cubby!

Last night, Lane shadowed him and we participated in his class where I learned two things.

1.  Jude is very accepted and loved by his peers.  None of his funny quirks and yelling seem to bother or scare them at all.  They seem to genuinely accept Jude as part of their group.  It's very, very sweet.

2.  Not only is Jude accepted by his peers, but dare I say he may actually be somewhat of a leader among them?  Every time Jude was acknowledged or praised, the children would copycat what he was doing.  For example, during story time, Jude became very excited and started clapping.  The story teller acknowledged him and told him good job.  Immediately, about 7 other children sitting next to him start clapping with him.  It was kinda cute.  

Jude is also getting better at his walking; taking steps on his own and going where he wants to with the assistance of hand holding.  So he walks from class to class.

sorry... these pictures were taken on my phone

Okay... on to some updates.

So remember the whole sleep apnea scare?  Well that day while we were at the hospital, the doctor ordered an xray to see if Jude's adenoids had grown back.  A couple weeks later, we received a call that they had and we needed to see our ENT.  When we got to the ENT, he informed us that it wasn't Jude's adenoids that they saw in the xray; it was his tonsils.  Apparently the tonsils aren't getting smaller, only bigger.  But he didn't want to make the call for them to come out.

So Monday, we saw our pulmonary specialist again and he said that it's time for the tonsils to come out.  In fact, he wants them out ASAP.  And he said he didn't even want Jude to have any other procedures until the tonsils were taken out.

Tonsils being removed is a big surgery for Jude.  The doctor said that he'd be in the hospital for 2-4 days at least and he couldn't go to school for 2 weeks.  He also said Jude would need to sleep in our room for those two weeks.  They told us to be prepared that Jude's eating would regress in the beginning, but ultimately be better in the long run. 

So we are waiting for the nurse to call us with a surgery date.

On the flip side, we got some good news.  Despite the increase in severity of sleep apnea, Jude NO LONGER HAS TO WEAR OXYGEN AT NIGHT!!!  The doctor said that since Jude pulled it off constantly, that he'd be more worried with him wearing it than not wearing it.  

So I had to ask:

Does this mean no more O2 tanks in the truck and only going on road trip vacations because we need to bring the oxygen concentrator?  

The doctor told me to leave that junk at home and go have a good time!

I have to admit, it was a little scary at first, but the doctor is über conservative and careful, so I know that he would have never told me to do this if it was too risky.

Well, that's it for now.  I hope y'all are all enjoying this fabulous early spring (guess the groundhog was wrong- again).  

Angel