Paczki

This is a photo of Lively that Pete took tonight.

I was introduced to paczki 6 Fat Tuesdays ago. We don't have them in Kentucky. For my friends not living in an area with a large population of people of Polish heritage, paczki (pronounced poonch-key) are delicious, fattening, sinful jelly or cream-filled doughnuts, only available around Fat Tuesday. Since becoming a Michigander, I have embraced Paczki Day whole-heartedly. Although Pete and I no longer look forward to a special delivery from Hamtramck, MI from our friend Jamie, I have had to look elsewhere -- thank goodness they're in every grocery store, coffee cart, deli, and bakery right now. As you can see, I got the big box.

In this photo, Lively is doing what he has done most of the day, which is to sleep soundly. He's so exhausted from the hospitalization, which involved many uncomfortable tests, and very little sleep. His medication is supposed to make him irritable, which he was when he was awake today. The good news: his seizures seem to have decreased today. I second-guess myself when I say that (do I see fewer spasms because I want to so badly? am I missing them because he's sleeping so much?) but Pete definitely agrees, and he has been the most sensitive in picking them up. The first 22 hours of the hospitalization, Lively was hooked up to a video EEG, and we were supposed to push a button when we noticed seizures so the neurologist could go back and look at those moments both on video and on the EEG. Oftentimes when Pete pushed the button, the neurologist could not see any noticeable seizures on the video, but when they looked on the EEG, Lively was having a seizure. On the day we left, Pete pointed out one of the subtler episodes to the attending neurologist; the doctor remarked, "Most parents wouldn't notice that. In fact, if you hadn't called that to my attention, I wouldn't have noticed that." So I guess if Pete feels sure there are fewer seizures, then it must be true.

Here's one of my favorite hospital photos of Lively, when he was hooked up to the EEG. I love how he's smiling. My mother says he reminds her of my grandfather (his namesake), who was always cheerful and optimistic in the face of adversity.