So, here we are with Snowbird. Luke was slightly terrified, but no tears. He talked to Snowbird and told him his name. And then asked to leave.
Then Luke found his buddy Tyler and was happy to play with him until the show started. Nice hat, huh? Luke found this in our closet. It was mine in high school. Luke insisted on wearing it to see snowbird and left it on the entire time. Charger pride! Please ignore the chair with ripped cushion in the background. Very classy.
The show was a little loud for Luke. Lots of applause and such. He so wanted to stay with his friend Tyler and was very sad to leave him, but ultimately couldn't handle the noise. Then all the way home he asked me where Tyler was. I kept reassuring him that Tyler stayed but it was okay that Luke left. After he asked for the 50th time I said, "Tyler's gone home and gone to bed." and that satisfied him. Bad, bad lying mother. But I bet Tyler had left by the time I told him that, or was just about to leave.
Luke was very excited to see a weatherman he recognized from TV. And he got this photo that he LOVES. He took it everywhere with him for a few days. His favorite is Dan Thomas, since he's named after his favorite train. But he's also a fan of Lisa Spencer, since she's named after a train too. He loves to spell Thomas and Spencer.
Anytime Channel 4 News is on now he gets so excited. He points to the anchor and says, "Who's that little boy?" (or girl, as the case may be). But he's a little alarmed their going to come back to church. This sweet lady was talking to him at church Wednesday night and out of the blue he said to her, "Are we all done with Channel 4 News?"
Speaking of trains, Luke is super excited about this new t-shirt. Isn't it tasteful and subtle? He firmly believes he should wear a Thomas shirt everyday. This is the first time he's had any preference for clothing. Pretty cool. I can usually convince him to wear something other than Thomas if I act like what he's wearing is really cool. The other day he got orange juice on his Thomas shirt of the day, so I was convincing him to wear a dinosaur shirt. I helped him put it on and said, "OK, go show Daddy. I bet he'll love it." Luke looked at my shirt (some Vandy employee shirt Lamar got years ago that I sleep in) and said, "Mommy, you show Daddy your star and I'll show Daddy my dinosaur."
Luke and his buddy Annie. Is it obvious how much he loves her? I asked Luke what we should get Annie for her upcoming birthday and he thought a long time and said, "How about big Toby?" Don't think she's that into trains, but a nice thought.
Last Saturday we took Luke to the Thomas play day at Toys R Us (which was very not cool. It was a table with a punch out cardboard hat kids could color, which none did that I saw, and some Thomas music playing). Well, the Thomas song just kept repeating and it freaked Luke out. He just froze and asked to leave, but did ask to take a train home with him first. Slick.
Then Sunday at church he was talking, talking, talking in church. I tried and tried to explain he had to be quiet, but he just kept getting louder. He had to go potty so while in the potty I threatened if he could not whisper quietly in church he would have to go the Children's Worship and stay by himself (He's been very afraid of being alone there in the past.) Not two minutes after we got back in church he announced he wanted to go to Children's Worship. So I took him, thinking I've ruined the rest of our morning at church. The kids go straight from Children's Worship to Bible class. We tried this one time and he fell apart. Oh well, so much for my brilliant plan. Well, after church I go check on him and he's sitting in Bible class having a great time. He says hi to me and goes back to playing.
So, I give up. Just when I think I have a handle on what prompts his anxiety and what doesn't, he surprises me. This boy keeps me on my toes, and surprises me all the time.
A couple of weeks ago we went to Vanderbilt for a follow up on the KidTalk study we completed several months ago. While there I ran into a therapist we worked with right around the time Luke turned 3, shortly after his diagnosis. She and I visited and then she asked if it was okay if she observed Luke for a minute. When she came out of the observation room she hugged me and said, "I cannot believe him. I just cried. He is in there having a conversation!" Then she reminded me of the video she has of Luke and me rolling a ball. He wouldn't stay focused. I had to redirect him multiple times and remove the ball from him mouth. Just keeping him engaged was exhausting.
I don't really have any video of that time in our lives. It was just so hard, and there was a lot I didn't want to remember. But now I wish I did. I do have the blog. But I've always tried so hard to be positive--it's been important to me to always emphasize his strengths--that I think even the blog doesn't accurately reflect the struggle of those first months. It's so easy to forget where we've been and take for granted how far he's come.
Recently I've tried to be a bit more transparent in my blogs, about both the positive and negative because I think both are such an important part of the journey. And today I can look at our struggles more optimistically, because he's proven that what's a struggle today may not be tomorrow. I'm so blessed to be this boy's mommy.
1 comments:
You'll have to tell me where you get all your Thomas shirts. Every once in a while I happen upon one. Hope you guys are having a great week!
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