Home of the Four Trans

I fell asleep on the leather couch last night.

I heard Nathan greet me with, “Good Morning, Mommy!,” from his room after having brushed his teeth, and gotten dressed.

Loi quickly shushes him, and tells him, “Mommy is sleeping.”

“It’s, OK,” he replies. “Good Morning, Mommy!” Then, he ran to my side and *hug*.
Awwww.

Then, he had a breakfast of Kashi Golden Honey Cereal and milk as he watched a Bob the Builder DVD.

It was time to go, so he had Loi pause it for him until he comes home from school…which would be 4 hours later. He packed the remainder of his cereal in a plastic zip lock bag To Go.

Loi and he were talking about cars and racetracks, and somehow managed to leave without giving me a goodbye hug :(.

I finally woke up. I mean, really woke up and got ready for the day.

This meant: cooking their lunches.

Just as the water began to boil, I hear a curt, croaky eh. Was that Justin?, I wondered.

Poured the seashell pasta into the pot, returned to cleaning I think a dish, then decided against it.

If that croaky eh was Justin, I want to be there to greet him morning.

I tiptoed across the living room and down the 6 foot hallway to our bedroom door.

Through the crack I found Justin in his crib turned toddler bed (sort of), on his belly, rubbing his eyes against his left forearm.

He lifted his head. Turned left towards the wall, then right towards Mommy’s bed, then blink, blink, blink.

*Smile* and a {heh heh} came from his sweet little mouth because he saw his Mommy.

“Good Morning to you,

Good Morning to you,

Good Morning dear Justin,

Good Morning to you.”

I sang to him our morning song.

What does he do, but roll. He loves to roll. Oh yeah, and kicked the side of his crib a couple of times because that’s what he finds amusing.

I scooped him up, gave him big hugs and kisses, then we walked and talked to the kitchen. My little helper signed “hot” when he saw the steam rising from the pot of seashell pastas. He even reached for the pot wanting to stir. I gently held his left wrist and allowed his hand to catch the steam instead.

He gave me a know-it-all smile in return, like he was happy he had gotten his way. Little do you know, child…

It was time for breakfast!

Into the high chair my little Justin went so that I could finish cooking the cheesy seashells, stir fried green bean, and packing the rest of lunch (fresh snap peas and carrots, juice boxes, utensils, bowls, bottles, sippy cups, hawaiian rolls, and napkins). Mommy had a special day planned for my little ones.

Justin nibbled on 10 olive oil seasoned seashells and I continued to cook and talk.

He pouted.

I gave him a boxed juiced because it was something he could manage without much assistance (he cannot hold his own bottle, due to a combination of the weight of the bottle/sippy cup and his lack of control of his right hand/arm).

He had been working on the drinking from the straw thing on and off for about a month, now. Today, he got it!

Physical therapy was canceled today because his therapist has some respiratory thing. But, we headed out for occupational therapy where my little JT showed off his straw drinking skills. Can you say, Proud Mama?We headed to the school to pick up Nathan. While waiting for Nathan’s dismissal, we, I mean I, chatted with the school’s administrator about Justin, her son, their heart issues, and our/their experiences with it. Her son is 18, born with Tetrology of Fallot. He’s studying radiology. Hope, I see hope.Finally, the door to Room 1 slowly opened. Somewhere in that line of kids, I knew, was Nathan. But, where was he?”Mommy!,” he bursted like a ray of sunshine on a gloomy day. A big hug, then he showed me his booklet about the anatomy of a plant. He made it himself, you know. Say, Proud Mama, again.Austin, his BFF from class, was there. His Mommy asked us if we wanted to join them at the park for lunch and short play date.Sure! Of course! Anything for my son to have some interaction with other boys his age!We had plans, but this was even better. Way better.This may sound bad, but Nathan doesn’t usually have interaction with other boys his age. Whenever we go to the park, the kids are either much older or younger, or girls. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just nice to see him interact with another kid who is at the same pace as he is…who thinks on the same wavelength as he does.They had burrrrping contests while eating lunch. It does not get more boy than that. And, what the heck? I don’t get it.

The ran, climbed, swung on the swings, slid down the slide, chased each other breathless.

A giant lawn mower drove through the grassy field, and they stopped in fascination. Boys.

I met another mom. Her one year old daughter has a congenital heart defect, too. She was diagnosed immediately after birth with an echo, as a result of respiratory distress. Her daughter possibly has a “small hole in her heart,” that I assume to be ASD? Since birth, she hasn’t been followed by cardiology because her mom has been skeptical of medical professionals and their sometimes misdiagnoses. I told her if she wanted a referral to a cardiologist, I’d be more than willing to help her. I told her an echo doesn’t physically hurt (although uncomfortable) if she’s willing to have her daughter have one. Before leaving, she asked me for the name of the office, my name, and Justin’s name. I hope she calls.

It was time to go home! Nathan had an infant stim appointment at home in 3 hours, and both the boys needed their rest!

Nathan watch the continuation of his Bob the Builder DVD where he had left off, as I attempted to put Justin to sleep.

Today was not a sleep day! After finishing his DVD, Nathan decided to play…and, out came the toys. Justin was just a squirmy wormy and wanted to be carried, and finally dozed off after a bout of rolling, grabbing Mommy’s hair, and laughing hysterically.

45 minutes later, Ms. Mei, the infant stim teacher, arrives.

“Sorry, Justin, I know you’re tired. But, your teacher is here, ” I whispered into his sweet ear. Rythmic breathing contiues.

“Justiiiin,” I crooned.

He squirmy wormy-ed and rubbed his eyes. A cry was about to escape his lips when I swooped him up onto my shoulder. He looked around, realized he was still in the bedroom, and went back to sleep on my shoulder.

I carried him to his alphabet play mat/area. Over my shoulder, I could see he was confused, opening and closing his eyes–not quite sure if he should go back to sleep or wake up to play.

So, tired! But, in true Justin style, he greeted his teacher with a smile, nonetheless, as she sang the “Hello” song to him.

Out came the toys from Ms. Mei’s bag of goodies. Then, came Nathan wanting to show off his hand eye coordination skills by playing with the toy meant for Justin.

Backup: Diane, my sister came. She kept Nathan entertained and took him to the toilet so that Justin could have his therapy session in peace.

The therapist notes that considering Justin’s medical history and health, she’s amazed by his cognitive skills and how active he is. I asked her for her assessment. She told me he does age appropriate activities, but his language seems to be slightly delayed as he should know about 10 words (verbal or by sign language) by now. His gross motor skills are obviously delayed (no crawling on all fours, cruising, or walking).

What he can do: sign hot and all done, say dadadada, bababababa, ma (for more), shake his head for no, and nod for yes, wave hi/bye, show that he’s one, combat crawl, sit, assisted standing, and taking steps.

It’s alright. One day at a time, and keep moving forward. Progress. I’m so proud of my little Wumpkin.

One hour was up!

We treated ourselves and Auntie Diane to a short walk and happy hour at Zovs. Yum!

Nathan all geared up to go!

Justin was being loud, so Auntie Diane put her index finger to her lips and shushed. Justin copied. Then, tossed his head back in laughter. Too awesome.

We ordered chicken sloppy joes, rice fritatas, shoestring fries, and chicken kababs.

Nathan is more of an adventurous eater, now. This means, he’s willing to try a new food item at least once before dismissing it. He’s retained the lesson we’ve taught him: “You need to try it before you say you don’t like it.” Simple.

He tried the chicken of the sloppy joe and started panting.

“It’s sour,” he said through squinty eyes.

Nathan complained of an “owie tummy” for much of the meal (which I believed), but it healed in time for frozen yogurt.

Auntie Diane needed to head back to school so there was no time for eating in the store. Nathan was pushed by Auntie Diane in the little red buggy that Justin came in (so that he could enjoy his little treat), while I carried Justin in one arm, and Nathan’s scooter in the other. Man, did those deltoids burn.

Justin helped Mama out with a little scooting on the scooter. He balanced with one foot, and held the bar with his left hand, while I pressed his right hand against the bar.

Thirty minutes after we got home, Papa came home. He had our leftovers…there was lots of it, and yummy, too!

Time for bed time routine. Justin bath, chase Nathan around for bath, Nathan takes bath, Justin plays with Papa, Papa reads to boys, then….

Nathan and Mommy head to Ong Ba (Grandpa, Grandma) house…at 8:45PM…because Nathan wants to build his race track with Ong…second night in a row….only to break it down, again.

9:30PM…we headed back, Nathan brushes his teeth, and Papa put him to sleep.

Mommy picked up a few pillows, tidied up the living room that was littered with legos, cars, and other.

I walked into our bedroom to gather the laundry (that Nathan had scattered to the ground) needed to be folded, but was distracted by the sleeping Justin.

Couldn’t resist…walked over to kiss the inside of his sweet wrist…then, his cheek…once, twice. I was tempted to stay there as I was, with my forehead pressed against his, gazing at his sweet face, and listening (sweet joy!) to his rhythmic breathing. Kissed his cheek a third time, and told him that I loved him.

Had to peel myself away from the room because there is still so much cleaning to do.

Such sweet moments happened throughout the day. I just want to savor it for as long as I can.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 3:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.