The return home is in sight

We received news from Spaulding Rehabilitation hospital that they will have a bed for Bob on Wednesday or Thursday. So now the ball is passed over to the people in charge of arranging Bob's trip home. It is an organization that will provide his ambulance to the airport, the plane ticket and then his ride from Logan airport directly to Spaulding. It will take a lot of coordinating between the hospital in Rio, the transportation folks and Spaulding. And it all out of my mom's hands. This lack of control is stressful. She could leave as early as tomorrow night and have to tie up all the loose ends with not much notice. So now we are waiting to hear from the people in charge of the transportation. We are hoping they can book tickets on such short notice. Fingers crossed again.

Bob had a good day today. He stood next to the window and saw the outside world. He ate well and had good physical therapy sessions.

We used face-time early in the morning and the grandkids loved seeing vovô and vovó. Bob even gave us laughs, which I don't remember seeing or hearing before. I thought his lips looked normal when he smiled, not like what I had seen earlier when Bob's smile was turned up just on one side.

My mom said Bob said the word "No." Then she joked that "of course his first word would be 'No'!" Bob was in a playful mood today, rolling his eyes while Juliana and my mom were talking, poking fun at the two of them. He really likes it when Juliana visits. She will stay with him when my mom has to leave to get their luggage sometime this week.

Bob played tic-tac-toe on the ipad screen and won fair and square. My mom said she didn't have to explain the rules, he just remembered - and then beat her!

Bob practiced writing some short words today and did great. Here is a picture of the board he has been using to practice. Note how he wrote "Zoe" and "Shella" perfectly! The larger words were written by my mom.

That's all for now. I plan on writing this blog even after my parents return home. Bob's recovery will be a long journey that won't end with his homecoming. The blog has recently celebrated it's one thousandth page view and that's proof that it is doing its job at keeping friends and family informed. I want to continue fulfilling that mission. I don't know if I will be able to still write every night as I have been, especially as my delivery date gets near... But maybe by then I can turn the reigns over to someone else for a bit. Thanks for reading and keep the positive thoughts and prayers coming.