Almost one week ago...

Chase here. This time one week ago, Meagan and I had just drifted off to sleep in parent housing at Shriner's in Erie, PA. Elias was asleep in a pack-n-play beside the bed and oblivious to the life-changing event that would take place in less than 10 hours. I remember Meagan and I just staring at him while he slept... admiring his beautiful little face and laughing at the contorted position that he usually got himself into after drifting off. I remember thinking, we're finally here. All the preparation for the adoption, traveling to Africa and carrying my son out of an orphanage while he was sick and weak, long nights back at home trying to find a way to assure our new son that he was loved and that he could go to sleep, exploring surgical options for his leg and future prosthetic miracles... all coming down to this.

Now... we've weathered the storm. We've crossed over the impending mountains. We've passed through the gauntlet and lived to tell of it... and we came home with a stuffed Cookie Monster doll and some left over Slim Jim's - the booty of an epic adventure.

Elias continues to improve daily. Today, Nani (Meagan's mom) helped me perform a dressing change on Elias' incision and he hardly made a peep. I was able to touch his leg, test his range of motion, and generally inspect it without any problem. He even stood on his knees and put most of his weight on his amputated side! His pain is diminishing more and more, and he's starting to push the limits. He keeps doing things that make Meagan wince but I usually get a kick out of it. For example, Meagan was in the kitchen today putting away dishes and doing other various tasks at the kitchen sink. She heard Elias say something so she turned around naturally to see what he was up to. She heard his voice but couldn't see our little boy. As she looked down, she found that Elias had pushed the chairs under the kitchen table as they should be and then proceeded to climb into them and lay out over two of them (under the table) in some sort of hide-n-go seek kind of way that he thought was hilarious. I love that little boy.

We will continue to keep you all updated on the great Evil Kenevil of Ethiopia and his latest death-defying performances as they happen.

Chase