Yesterday the woman from the home came to assess Setsuo's father. For some reason, he had left his hearing aid at home - he usually never lets it out of his sight in fear of someone 'stealing' it - and no matter how much Setsuo searched for it, he couldn't find it. The hardest part was getting his father to stay in the office until she arrived at 10am. When she did arrive, he was very well behaved (albeit he couldn't hear a word she was saying) and now we have to take him to the Doctors to get a health check. I feel relieved that he may be going and our lives will be a lot easier without having to worry about him but at the same time I also feel guilty that we are even thinking of putting him in a home. I keep trying to tell myself that if he settles in the home, his life may actually improve because there will be people there trained to look after him and listen to all his stories with patience. At the moment, apart from going out shopping everyday, he really has no interests - he doesn't even watch TV. If I feel like this, I'm sure Setsuo feels it twice as much. Sadly the rest of the family don't seem to care one way or another - apart from maybe his sister who lives in the UK. If it doesn't work out, then we will bring him home and re-think.

Every year, on the kid's birthdays, we have drawn a line on one wall showing their height/age (we also have one for me and Setsuo and even one for Aya's friend who was there when we were added one) and this year will be the first time that my line isn't the highest. Although Keita still has 10 days to go before before his birthday, he is coming up for 180 cm (5'11"). (One of the doors between 2 rooms is 180cm high and his hair is now touching the top of the frame). He is also about 75kg (11.5 st) so no wimp!! Even though his weight is quite heavy, he is no longer plump but definitely solid. I think we'll probably take a note of all the lines on the wall and re-write them somewhere in the new house when we move. If I remember, I'll also take a photo of the lines to post here.