"Hakuna Matata... what a wonderful phrase..." And that was our theme song this week. In case you don't speak Swahili (or you missed Timon and Pumbaa's wonderful rendition in 1994), it means "no worries." As another cranio mom reflected in one of our prayer chain links - "Let go and let God." I have no control over the fact that Grayson is back in the hospital. I can't control how well his body responds to the medication, or even whether this will be the last time I have to write down which hands and feet were the last to have an IV so more can be put in. I can only control how we deal with it, and let God do the rest. I can make sure that Grayson smiles every single day. I can coax a chuckle out of him after he's gone through a painful IV flush or I can hold him close and sing to him until he goes to sleep. These are the things I can control.
A hospital is not a fun place for a baby. It's not a fun place for anyone, really, unless you're me during the last phases of pregnancy (Hey, I got to lie in bed and watch movies, order grilled cheese sandwiches and chocolate pudding from the cafeteria and send Josh on late-night excursions to the maternity pantry for free rice krispy treats). I digress. The hospital is not a fun place for a baby. They're bored, they learn that nurses = something bad is about to happen, and you can't explain things to them. I'd love to be able to say things like, "This is temporary, we'll be home soon." or "Don't worry, that blood pressure cuff is just going to give your arm a hug." But I can't. 
Thankfully, hospitals have playrooms! New and exciting toys to distract and occupy little minds. Grayson LOVED the trucks they had in the playroom. We even got to take some trains back to the room to play with later. We also did a ton of reading. I find myself reciting "Chugga Chugga Choo Choo" and "Barnyard Dance" in my sleep.
My mom, who has been an absolute miracle from Arizona for the last five weeks, also came to visit us all day. Grandmas are magic. They know all the tricks and can play peek-a-boo with the best of them. My mom also gets the Cinderella award for helping me with playtime, feedings, laundry, chores, you name it. She's an amazing woman.
Speaking of support. I saw two angels from work yesterday. They brought me coffee and breakfast from my favorite bakery, which was the best thing I had tasted in two days! A third coworker called and offered to bring me food from my favorite cheeseburger joint. A local cranio mom also brought us dinner and extra links for our prayer chain. I haven't really cried throughout this process, but those acts of kindness were enough to get me pretty choked up. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people take us into their lives. I told Josh we need to pay it forward big time! I see some volunteer work in our future :)
Well, all those prayers must have really worked because after two days in the hospital, we got the all-clear to go home. Josh and I were a bit nervous at first. We called Seattle Children's and spoke with the cranio team to make sure they were okay with him going off the IV meds. I don't mean to discount the hospital staff in Spokane whatsoever - we had the BEST care there, and truly we had the nicest nurses who went out of their way to make sure Grayson was comfortable and happy. It's just that Grayson is kind of a collaborative masterpiece. We want the surgeons who gave him his wonderful new head to be the ones calling the shots. Since we've been home, we've had a bit of trouble getting G-man to keep his medicine down, but Josh has been hiding it in yogurt and distracting him with puppet shows. We have a few follow-up appointments to make sure the infection is truly on the way out, but so far so good.
I'll never lie to Grayson. If he wants to know how he got his scar, I'll tell him all about cranio. If he wants to know why he has his scar, I'll tell him because God made him especially for us. He wanted him to grow up strong, compassionate, and good. He gave us all a test of our strength and our love for each other. He knew we would be helped along in our journey by our loved ones and the kindness of strangers, and that we would all come out okay at the end. Of course, I can't tell Grayson the story quite like that. I think I'll need a brave knight named G the Gallant, who rides his noble steed (Toby) into battle against a fire-breathing cranio dragon. But I'm sure he'll get the message.
