All better

Cash is all better, no more fever. He went to school today and he's back to rascal-ing around the house. He chatted with his father last night. He lost another tooth over the weekend, so now he is missing both front teeth. He looks hilariously cute - it looks like he has little fangs.

Too hot to handle

Cash was sick all weekend. Fever. He stayed home from school today and we took him to the doctor this morning, who of course said he seems to have a virus. I could've bet $100 that the doctor would say that, but I had to take him anyway.

And he does seem better this evening. Again, I could've bet $100 on that - take him to the doctor and he will get better.

He skyped with his Gran and Pop today and was happy to see them despite still being a little under the weather.

Update

We started a new tactical offensive on potty training over the weekend, only to be thwarted by Cash getting a GI bug, including diarrhea. Operation aborted, hopefully to be relaunched next weekend.

He's fine now.

Cash's PT and speech therapist say they have seen alot of improvement over the last 6 weeks since we have been home. He is walking better, and he is adjusting quickly to his new leg braces. Plus he is opening doors now, and he has the best eye contact I have ever seen from him. He has also added the signs for "friend" and for "apple" this week. He is really quite amazing.

True

Today at church, the pastor said, "do not waste your life." The whole sermon, which was on following Jesus, was interesting, but that one phrase struck me. I believe the best, and maybe the only way not to waste your life is to love. To love, to give, to forgive, to show kindness and understanding to others. To shoulder your burdens with grace and humor and to show sympathy for others' burdens. Not to be perfect, but to strive. Not to be holier-than-thou, but to be real and honest. I have believed for quite a while that our lives are short and often hard, and that there is no way to make a real difference in the world, not even with great amounts of money, except to show love and kindness. That is the way we make a difference in the world - by brightening the lives of those around us. I don't always succeed, that's for sure, but I try, and I only want to try harder and succeed more.

I have a terrible memory for my own childhood, but about a month ago I remembered a little knick-knack from my Granny's home. I can picture a small red square on her kitchen window sill, with the words "God is Love" spelled out in alphabet letters by my father's hand when he was a child. As I have struggled to find my way back to God since Cash's birth, trying to figure out what I believe and what I don't, this is the one thing I know to be true: God is love. 

Mi amigo

Cash signed "friend" for the first time today. He is sparkly and engaged. Right now he is sitting on the couch with Gramma and me eating cookies and drinking milk before bedtime.

I am struggling a bit right now with things, but I am going to push on through. Cash is a nice bright spot.

Yikes

Cash woke up this morning with a crusty eye and a bloody nose. It is a sign of my love for him that I still found him cute. He also has a cold with a stuffy nose which means that he isn't sleeping well (and of course that means I don't sleep well). But he remains cheerful and charming. He really is talking and responding alot these days. It's sort of remarkable, actually. I think this will sound weird, but it is like he is becoming more and more of a person with whom you can interact somewhat normally. Not all the way there, of course, but getting there, getting there.

Sweet but stubborn

Cash has made potty training into a battle of wills, and believe me, he has a will of steel. I have decided to retreat from the battle, but not to concede. We are going to stop trying to potty train for a week, and then come back all guns blazing.

Similarly, I am pondering how to discipline Cash. He is old enough to need to be stopped from doing things sometimes. So far, we have mostly just removed him from situations when he was acting inappropriately. He knows the word no, but he really mostly ignores it. In fact, he seems to think it is funny to do things that he knows he is not allowed to do. Speaking firmly to him has little effect, withdrawing approval has none, and I just can't see using any kind of physical punishment (he has a high pain threshold and I think it would be confusing to him). And I don't think timeouts would a) make any sense to him, and b) be upsetting even if he did understand them. So. I am getting ready to do some research on discipline methods for special needs kids. I have to figure out SOME way to modify his inappropriate behavior when necessary.

Cash got new braces from Shriner's today. It will take awhile til he is comfortable in them.

Looking at last week's posts, all I write about any more is potty training. Sheesh. How boring.

Moving right along

Update on the potty training - yesterday, for Super Bowl Sunday, we decided to let Cash go pantless for a while so we could better track when he starts to pee. We took off his diaper at 10am. We took him to the toilet multiple times over the course of the rest of the day. He did NOT GO. He just held it. And held it. And held it. Clearly this is fun for him. But we are determined to outlast him.

Meanwhile, he is doing a couple of other new things: better self-feeding, opening doors by turning the knobs, and signing "Gramma" and "Aunt Dianne". "Gramma" is a tug on the ear, and "Aunt Dianne" is a D, which looks like the number one.

We went out for thai food for dinner tonight. Cash and I split pad thai - I ordered a 7 on the spicy scale, then got worried it would be too hot for him. Nope. He loved it. Ate a freakish amount. At one point, when I offered him chicken instead of the noodles, he whined and cried until I understood he wanted the noodles. He is a funny little kid.  

Tooth #2

Whew, it is Friday. This has been a very long week, really very long. Cash is thriving, but the rest of us are a bit worn out. We are worried about a dear family member who is in crisis - it is a terrible situation and it is taking a toll on all of us.

Plus I continue to have job interview stress and still lots of activity at school. This week I had 1 clinic (with Jodi in Spartanburg), 1 case (ablation of refractory A Fib at AnMed), 10 labs, and 1 test on heart failure. I love it all, but I admit I'm hoping a job comes along soon.

Cash lost his top left tooth yesterday. Tonight the Tooth Fairy is coming.

New stem cell study

Thank you to Debi for sharing this with me!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/01/23/145636849/stem-cells-show-promise-as-blindness-treatment-in-early-study?sc=fb&cc=fp