We've had a good week and a pretty good weekend. Cole got home on Saturday afternoon, following a successful and fun stay at the respite house. He was so excited when I picked him up and he talked up a storm on the way home. He told me how he went to the mall with his red t-shirt on and how he likes to swing "quickly". We arrived home to a yard full of boys, five to be exact. Connor enjoyed having the neighborhood boys over one of spring's beautiful days. The kids were having fun playing with our toys, jumping on the trampoline and trading Pokeman cards in the sun. Cole got home and jumped right in! He greeted the boys and chose to play with them at times. Better yet, he didn't get upset and want Connor all to himself.... this has been a big struggle in years past. It was a fun day. Pat even got his new fish finder installed on the boat!! It was funny, Cole kept saying.... "Daddy's giving the boat a tune-up!"
Cole slept pretty well, only getting up once. We are hoping the new medication is helping but the verdict is still out. Shannon was up with Cole four times one night this past week.
We were outside early today. Cole got Connor to come outside, even though Connor was running a low temp. Cole doesn't understand when Connor doesn't feel well. Taking no for an answer is not in the cards, especially since he hasn't seen much of his best buddy in the past week. There was play time to make up for. So we headed outside and played. Cole LOVES to be outside. His favorite thing right now is to play in the dirt, which is no longer frozen he tells us. He also loves to push the endless stream of water that runs along the curb in front of our house. He uses the squeegee to push it fast and make big waves and splashes. Oh what fun!! He even got to help Daddy gas up the tractor and start it up for the first time this year. This lasted until about 3pm, when the witching hour set in. This usually happens on weekend days when we don't have a PCA to work with Cole. I think he gets a little stir crazy after 8-10 hours at home, no matter how busy he's been all day.
We had plans today to drop off the boys at my parent's house, so Pat and I could go to our Godchild's All-Star hockey game. I kept telling Cole that in a little while, we would go bye-bye and then to Grandpa's house. For those of you who don't know, Cole loves his grandparent's houses. Typically he'll go there without any resistance. Today was different. Cole wanted to go to Southdale instead. We tried for over an hour to try to convince him to do other things and then go to Grandpa's. It didn't work, no matter how enticing we thought our offers were. Cole wanted Pat (and only Pat) to take him and Connor to Rosedale. Mom wasn't allowed. So Pat graciously took the boys to Rosedale while I went to Breyden's hockey game. Pat tells me the trip to Rosedale went well. They rode the elevator several times and took three trips to the book store. Cole came home in a much better mood and now we're almost through the rough part of the day.
I had a fun time at Brey's hockey game. It was fun to see him skate. I can still remember the day he was born. To see him skating aggressively and understanding the game of hockey is amazing. Pat would have been proud of him.
It was also a little hard to be at the game. I couldn't help but notice all of the "normal" families. Parents with their children, kids running around the arena with toys and treats. The kids who formed a hockey cheer gang of sorts. Parents chatting with one another and cheering on their loved ones. It saddened me to know this might never be possible for our family. Right now we have to sneak out of the house to get Connor to gymnastics each week and we already have a PCA hired for the Friday nights he'll be playing baseball this spring. What is going to happen when Connor's extra-curricular activities become more demanding of our time and energy? I just don't know how we'll handle it with Cole. I am hoping Cole will make enough progress to go to Connor's games, etc. but I have to be realistic. It might not be in the cards for us, and that is hard... really hard. Again, it's the little things that people may take for granted. Playing sports, going to birthday parties and other fun activities are not things every family has the privilege of doing. Cherish those times with your children and cheer them on with pride and appreciation.
That said, we did sign Cole up for his second season of Miracle League baseball. We are lucky to have this league in Blaine. The league is for children of all disabilities and the field is designed to accommodate our kids. Cole played last year and seemed to enjoy it. He has been talking about it this year already. Although he has plans for Connor to be his baseball buddy, instead of a PCA. We'll have to see how it goes. I think Connor might be one heck of a helper!
*Cole just read 100 sight word flash cards like they were old news. And it was the first time I had shown them to him. :-) WAY TO GO COLE, you're a smart young man.
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