Wordy Wednesday

I know it’s supposed to be Wordless Wednesday, but I have a lot to say today!

In reference to yesterday’s post, I found it annoying interesting that this was the topic of my weekly babycenter.com email that popped up in my inbox this morning:

Weird, huh? Although about 15 hours too late, BabyCenter! (Yes, I know, I should have just listened to my mother).

Anyway, today was an interesting day. Grayson woke up snotty and cranky, and got snottier and crankier as the day progressed. The last time G had a cold, it lasted 3 weeks. Fabulous.

His OT and his case manager both came early this morning to work on eating. I was hoping G would show off his love of sweet potatoes, but Mr. Cranky apparently wasn’t in the mood. When I put the food in his mouth he kind of looked at me like, Really? You want to do this now? And why are these women staring at me while I eat? Then he proceeded to throw a fit and fall asleep (falling asleep is his coping mechanism- I think he’s onto something). It wasn’t all horrible though- the therapists did comment several times on his improved head control (hooray!) and the fact that he would let me put a spoon in his mouth. Baby steps.

Since I am an expert scheduler and time manager for Grayson (ha), not 3 minutes after the therapists left (Grayson is still ‘coping’ at this point) the representative from the Division for Blind Services knocks on the door for her appointment. I answered the door and I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was, that she is blind. I’ll be honest, I didn’t quite know how to invite her in/give her directions how to get to our living room. She had a cane, but ended up going the wrong direction in our house-but we made it to the couch. She said she has a guide dog but forgot to mention it on the phone so she didn’t know if I’d be comfortable having a dog in our house (ha! ha! ha!). I told her about our four dogs and she thought it was so funny that they go to daycare most days. She promised to introduce Grayson to her dog, Cash, the next time she comes out. Sidenote to Brittany- I was laughing to myself when she said her dog’s name is Cash and kept picturing your Cash being a guide dog. Oh dear- ha!

I really liked this woman, and I really liked her braille computer (fascinating) but the visit was strange. I guess I thought it was going to be an evaluation of Grayson, but it was more of me signing release papers so he can get services through their agency. It’s a really great program- basically their goal is to equip blind and visually impaired kids to be independent and employable someday. They have all kinds of activities for kids like a blinking Easter egg hunt, horse therapy, summer camps, etc. I’m excited for Grayson to get involved when he gets older.  The strange part of the visit was when she started talking about payment. She said they bill families for their visits (I’ll get a bill for today) but they have no way of enforcing collection of the bills. So basically we can pay the bill if we want to, but we don’t have to, and she won’t know if we pay it or not (????). I asked her how much the bill was going to be. She said it depends on our income, but last week she sent a bill to a family for $14. I told her if we get a bill for $14 she can count on us paying it. Strange. Oh and the whole time she was talking, I was trying to figure out how she got to our house. When she left, I saw a man in a van pull into our driveway and pick her up. Then I felt bad that that man was sitting in his van for an hour- he could have come in. Oh well.

Grayson’s pediatrician called this afternoon with great news- they got him an appointment for next week with the neurologist! I need to get busy with a list of questions for him so we can hopefully get as many answers as we can when we see him.

Grayson also took a 3 1/2 hour nap this afternoon (on his tummy- aren’t you proud of me for just letting him be?), and he would have slept longer but I woke him up at 5:45. He was pissed. We went outside with the dogs for a little while to calm him down, but he just fell asleep on my shoulder. I wasn’t sure what to do then, so I just followed our routine and put him to bed at 6:45 and he went right back to sleep. I’ll take it!

This is a picture from Monday’s visit from G’s vision teacher. She did “sand painting” with him- his first art project! And yes, it is proudly displayed on our refrigerator. I just love being a mom!

6 Comments

  1. Adventures in Wonderland on April 7, 2011 at 2:40 am

    I love it! We're so much alike, it just makes me laugh. You sound just like me – totally involved in one thing, but thinking about thirty other incidentals. And Monsieur Grayson looks like quite the budding artist!

  2. basebell6 on April 7, 2011 at 2:42 am

    we call what you described as "defensive sleeping". blaine has the biggest trouble falling asleep but one day he fell asleep when a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old kept screaming, poking him, and trying to pull his arms out of their sockets. LOL. love the pic of grayson. i found it neat but funny at the same time that the lady was blind; it is super cool that they are employing her to do that job and she is doing it well.

  3. Peter Kline on April 7, 2011 at 2:43 am

    I LOVE this mysterious blind woman episode. Awesome.

  4. Michael and Erin on April 7, 2011 at 3:09 am

    Super cute art project, love it! I too would put on the fridge, be sure you date it, and put his age. And sand stuff keeps better if you "laminate" it, T's school uses packing tape, if that makes sense, bc seeing as it is his first one, you should keep forever, right? :o) Sounds like a neat day, good for you for seeking outside services, great idea. Whoo hoo about the appt next week, that is SO GREAT!!! Oh and I never commented on your last post, totally agree, once they can flip, let a sleeping baby sleep, so cute that he flips over and snuggles in.

  5. Megan DeWald Kline on April 8, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    Several things:1. Every time I read this blog, you inspire me. You are doing such a wonderful job as a mother, Elizabeth.2. I know you worry about G-man being "behind schedule," but look at what you first wrote! Homeboy is ahead of BabyCenter's email. Yesss.3. G takes after his aunt and uncle because Peter and I are both aggressively, hardcore "defensive sleepers." It's a wonder we get anything done in our lives.4. Yay for the string-pulling! I'm relieved G has an earlier appointment.5. I love that you describe Grayson as "pissed." Of course, as Hannah can surely attest, "pissed" means "drunk" in Brit-speak. So, the thought of a drunk baby made me chuckle.

  6. Megan again on April 8, 2011 at 3:10 pm

    CRAP! (There shouldn't be a comma between "aggressively" and "hardcore." Blasted punctuation errors!)

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