Catching Up

I have not had the opportunity to post anything for the past few days.  Here's what's been up at the white house...

1) Jeremy came limping through the door this evening, apparently having hurt his ankle.  When it comes to not feeling well you know how men can sometimes moan & groan and whine & complain and bitch and fuss and gripe and grumble?  Oh, you weren't aware of that?  Well.  That's what my sweet husband was doing.  I gave him his dinner, helped him hobble over in the recliner, placed an ice pack on his ankle and covered him with blankets.  At this point Graham asked, "why did Daddy sprain his ankle?"  I replied, "I'm not sure if he sprained it.  It's just hurting."  To which, Harrison commented, "maybe he got a pommel horse." 

If a pommel horse is a really bad case of milking.it.for.all.it's.worth then, yes son, that's exactly what your father got.

Of course I know he meant to say charlie horse.  I just love when they do those word switcheroos.

2) One day last week as Graham and I were driving back home from school he was telling me about his morning.  He explained that Teacher Mary said they were going on a sleigh ride with Santa.  I understood what he was saying - every year at the preschool Christmas party the kids hop onto a make-shift sled that is pulled behind an electric wheel chair and they cruise through the school hallways.  This year, though, Mary was telling the kids that they get to go on a REAL sleigh ride!  Outside!  With Santa!  Graham seemed excited about this but then he got very quiet.  The next thing he said was, "Mommy, I'm scared to go up in the sky."

Precious.

3) Last Friday Jeremy and I had our intake appointment at the STAR Center.  Basically, she asked questions about Harrison and then told us what they have to offer, how their processes work and gave us a tour of their facility.  It went well and we both feel like we are headed in the right direction and have confidence that our son (and our whole family as parent education is a major portion of what they do) will benefit immensely from the therapy they provide.

4) On Saturday morning we woke to discover our kitchen light decided to turn off for the night and never switch back on.  Not a problem, really, as I hated that builder-grade florescent fixture and had been longing to replace it for ages.  But when we removed the fixture to find the builder never installed a light box.  Rather, he hammered an unnecessarily generous hole in the ceiling and left the wiring hanging through the drywall.  Lovely.  Thus began the Light Fixture Project of 2012.  So, off to Home Depot we went in search of a light box, a couple drywall patches and a light fixture.  I will spare you the details other than to say this: the project is complete and we are still married.  BUT, Home Depot, if you're reading, I highly recommend staffing a full-time marriage counselor or mediator in each store.  Amen.

5) The boys left to spend the night at Meme & Papa's house Saturday afternoon.  God bless Meme & Papa!  I was able to get all the Christmas gifts wrapped and ready for Christmas morning.  That means every present is out of it's packaging, assembled, loaded with batteries, and all trash has already been hauled off.  There is nothing - not one thing - Jeremy and I need to do that morning.  The boys can wake up and play with their new stuff while we enjoy a hot cup of coffee without having to reheat it six times.  THAT's the best Christmas gift in the world!

6) The Ornament Casualty Count is up to five.  Fortunately, this most recent injury was minor.  He's already been sutured up and sent back to the front lines. 

7) I was so proud of Harrison this weekend!  He did a great job of identifying what was bothering him and actually using his words to tell us what was wrong.  Jeremy had music playing loudly while he was working on the Light Fixture Project of 2012.  Harrison was trying to search for Highlights Hidden Pictures and he was having trouble finding a slice of pie.  He said, "I just can't concentrate with all that music!" and then got up to turn the volume down.  Sure enough, he sat down and was able to find the slice of pie. 

We are learning that Harrison struggles with Auditory Processing.  (There's some really great information about that HERE).  So in that instance, the background noise was just too loud for him.  He wasn't able to focus on his task while the music was at that level. 

Other times, though, the Auditory component comes across differently.  For example, Harrison has always been able to hear the ice cream truck minutes before I could.  A couple weeks ago we were outside at a local winter-themed event.  We were waiting in line for a hay ride and Harrison said, "here comes the tractor."  He was able to hear that tractor well before I was able to.  And again tonight while we were playing at the neighbor's house there was considerable ambient noise - music was playing, my friend and I were chatting, Graham was flying a noisy helicopter, and the boy's little playmate was making screeching noises when Harrison said, "I hear a knock."  We all got quiet and, sure enough, they knocked louder and we all heard it the second time.

I am excited to learn more about this Auditory piece of Harrison's Sensory Puzzle.  We have scheduled an evaluation for him (the next step in the process at STAR) and part of that evaluation is an in-depth auditory assessment.  Mind you, this is not a hearing check.  This test concentrates on how well Harrison is able to focus or filter or perceive what he hears.  Again, I'm still learning.  But as I do I find it more and more fascinating!

I think that's it for tonight.  As my boys always say (when they are playing with walkie talkies)...

"two-four.  over and out"

Instead of ten-four.  Love those switcheroos.