I almost called them simpler times and I still think they were but they did involve a lot of physical therapy and speech therapy and occupational therapy and researching Optic Nerve Hypoplasia ...
But then I think of how far he's come.
What I love best about these photos is that they are so normal. My sighted kids spilled plenty in their early days of independence, too.
He loves to be a helper. Poor PopPop. It's hard to get any work done when you're followed around by the 3 year old. "What are you doing? Can I touch it? Can I walk here? What is that? What are you doing? Is that the paint? Can I touch it? Why are you doing that? What are you doing? Where are you going? What are you doing?" Over and over and over again. My father had extreme patience but HopeAnne and I both had to chuckle when, after 3 days, his answer to the, "What are you doing?" question (once again) was, "Would it surprise you if I said I was painting?" Dead serious.
His memory amazes me. He talks about the sound of the ocean - from last summer. This morning, out of the blue, as we were driving to pretty school, he yelled "Oooooooooooooooo, I remember when Jesse got me baptized. He took me in the bathroom and he sprayed water on me even though I had my clothes on. That was so fun." That was last Easter, the day Hope was baptized. Jesse was trying to placate a troubled preschooler who was frustrated that he couldn't be baptized. Up front. Right at that moment. But Victor remembers.
His TSS finally started just after Christmas. She's with him every day in the classroom. Having someone with him one-on-one has almost eliminated accidents at pretty school. At the end of each day he has to take me into the office and tell me about his day. If it's a good day (good = no trips to the office for negative behavior), then we get a treat on the way home. The first day with this new plan, he told me that he had been to the office 3 times. Okay, no treat. The second day, he proudly told me that he had been to the office 0 times. Okay, a treat. The third day, he told me that he had been to the office 0 times, while Ms. Rebecca stood in the background shaking her head and holding up 2 fingers. Sorry, smartie pants. You may have figured out the system but we're on to you. We've consistently had 1 - 2 treat days a week. That is progress.
And he can be so sweet. When he wants to be. He brought a brailled paper home from pretty school today. He has been learning to use the Brailler with his TVI and loves to push the keys, similar to a child scribbling on paper and telling you that it says something. I asked him what it said. He felt the dots a bit and then said, "It says, 'I love you forever.'"
He sure knows how to melt my heart.
Love this!
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