March 31, 2008

Things have been going great at the hospital for the last few days and Marius has been in a really good mood. Last week Marius' cousin, Alina, told him that he was accepted into the organization in America, and he was really excited. Later on that day Alina asked Marius if he wanted to go to America to get treatment or if he wanted to stay in Romania with his aunt, and he said he wanted to go to America. We were so happy to hear that :) Alina told us that Marius has been telling the moms in his room that he will go to America and that he will get a new nose and some new hands. All the nurses have been great too and have been telling him what a great opportunity it will be for him.

Since hearing the news he has seemed even more upbeat and he is joking with us more than ever. A few days ago we were playing
volleyball with him and he trapped the balloon against the wall with his arm. Then every time we tried to get it he would give us a little smack with his free arm. It was hilarious and he seemed to be pretty proud of himself when he managed to hold us off for a while. Also, we often play a game where he will hit the balloon at Jessica when she is turned away and when she turns back she will look all upset. Then he always says "Ashley a facut" or "Ashley did it!". Then I will hit her with it and I'll blame him. Jess is a good sport about it and Marius and I always get some good laughs :)

Last week we watched Aladdin II about ten times. He got really excited when he found out that we had it because he said that he had already seen it at home with his dad.

Marius is honestly the sweetest little boy. We bring the movies in for him, but he always makes sure that the other little kids in his room can watch them too. Lots of times he will ask Andrei (a 4 year old in the room) what he wants to watch, and he will ask me to put on whatever he says. Today he was a little sad because Alina, his cousin, left, but he was still up for a movie, so we watched Lion King I and II. Then we watched several episodes of Tom and Jerry of course. Tomorrow we're going to bring in some pizza and maybe play some more volleyball. We only have two and a half weeks left with him, so we're trying to make the most out of every minute. We are learning so much from him and feel really lucky that we get to spend a little piece of each day in his room.

Love,
Ash and Jess