A Good Day

Amanda comes to work with me most every morning during the summer.  It's a practice that started some years ago and one that doesn't look likely to change anytime soon.  Especially now that she helps so much.

Every morning she helps me straighten my office up from the day before because I don't bother doing it before I leave because I know we'll handle it in the A.M..  Then she helps my mother and sister sort the mail.  Then she helps either accounting or order entry/reception.  That is, unless she wants to sit in with her BFF Heather and just gossip.

Today was an interesting day because after she helped me with my office she realized my mother and sister weren't coming in and Heather wasn't here.  So she simply helped take papers back in forth between order entry and the receptionist.  A few minutes before it was time to leave for lunch I went down stairs and heard her talking to a freight salesmen.  Amanda walked up to him and explained that she worked at JCM, gave him her business card and talked about the convention we just returned from.  The receptionist asked Amanda where the convention is going to be next year and Amanda accurately informed her that it would be in Denver.

The thing that I loved about this three minute exchange was Amanda prompted it all and said things in a way that was more mature than just a few weeks ago.  The interaction she gets with the adults in my office is the best therapy she could have and I know I am blessed to be in such a situation to provide it for her.

The school year ended more than a month ago and all I can say about Amanda's 7th grade year was she got her money's worth.  She matured so much in the new environment that it is nearly impossible to list all of her new abilities so I won't really try.  What I will say is this, she has become the most delightful person I have ever been around in my life.  She is considerate and animated.  She is loving and animated.  She has become quite the conversationalist and did I mention ANIMATED?

By animated I mean this little person is aware of what she is doing and is going for maximum effect.

Like today, she told somebody at my office, "Texas Rangers won last night."  He replied, "No they didn't, they lost in extra innings."  Amanda threw her arms in the air and said, "You asked the wrong person."  He said, "I didn't ask you, you just told me."  Her final reply, "Don't even start it."

Last week in the pool I had the fountain turned on for the first time.  It's a basically a sprinkler that throws an arc of water.  It can be adjusted so that it shoots high across the pool and and rains down.  Our entire time in the pool I had it on a low setting and Amanda simply stayed under the falling water for thirty minutes or so.  When it was time to get out of the pool I set the fountain on the higher setting so it would cool the water that will otherwise boil.  Amanda sees the water raining down and yells, "Hold on a minute!!!"  She then swims out to the middle of the pool and floats on her back for about five minutes and says, "Oh Yeah!!!  That's the stuff!"

And finally, Monday night we had three kids over while their parents went out for the evening.  The six year old girl is precious but the two year old is well, well she is two so she is pretty much like a badger with rabies.  The three are in Amanda's room with the door closed and they are laughing and playing.  The kids parents show up and I'm talking to the dad and now the sound from Amanda's room is akin to the monkey cage at feeding time.  The six year old comes out and tells her daddy that the two year is about to tell on her but she only did what she did because the little badger was being mean to Amanda.  The daddy tells the two year old to come out of Amanda's room.  As the child leaves you hear Amanda exclaim, "OH THANK GOD!!!"

And that is what I say too.  Amanda has surpassed what I have ever dared thought possible and she is only fourteen.  These next few years are going to be awesome.

Bedtime

We went through a fairly long period of time where Amanda had a hard time falling asleep at night. She simply would not relax and lay down. So finally we tried an old remedy that I had forgotten worked as well as it did. I started reading her bedtime stories.

When she was younger we read Dr Suess and other funny stories. She loved when Tina would read ARE YOU MY MOTHER?

But with the modern age, we got away from that. She would watch movies on her TV or iPad. Night after night taking longer to fall asleep. Needless to say, it got to be a dreadful time.

But about two months ago I grabbed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone off the shelf. It took two months but we finished last week. Some nights I would read ten pages while other nights only a couple of paragraphs. She reaches over, closes the book and tells me to leave so she can sleep.

We started The Chamber of Secrets a few days ago and are still on chapter two. At the rate we're going I have bedtime figured out until she is about 30

The Latest

There isn't enough space on the Internet to detail all of the changes that have gone on with me and mine since the last post, so I'll explain the most significant accomplishments.

At Thanksgiving Amanda sat through her first movie in a theater. It was the new Muppet Movie. She LOVED it. We quickly downloaded a number of other Muppet movies to her iPad and she spent the next month in love with them.

Then Christmas rolled around and we went and saw The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. She feels about this movie and the two other Chipmunk movies like I feel about the Lord of the Rings trilogy. She even went back the next week to see it again with just Tina.

Then I made the mistake of downloading the soundtracks to the Chipmunk movies. Did you know, there ain't no party like a chipmunk party because a chipmunk party don't stop? Tina and I are very aware.

Tuesday we asked her to please turn it down, it was driving us crazy. Amanda's answer was. "Don't talk about my Chipmunks like that, you don't understand." Okay, she is a teenager.

We tried to throw her off a little by taking her to see A Joyful Noise. She liked it and has the soundtrack to it as well. She sings Man in the Mirror from it rather well. But my baby girl needs to dance, and that means CHIPMUNKS!!!

And just so you understand where all this music is coming from, Amanda has an iPhone 4 synced to a Jawbone Jambox. 85 decibels of ALVIN!!!

Speaking of her iPhone. I like to FaceTime call her from work after school. The problem with this is she is so near sighted that she holds the phone right up to her eye to see me. It's like I'm talking to Salron from Mordor.

No need for sunscreen

Something new is happening at our house and I can't say it is a real good thing. Amanda is waking up at 4 AM more often than not, and then staying up.

We're taking turns dealing with her for the two hours before daylight and we're handling it without too much difficulty. The thing is, she is being so darned sweet about it. She fixes my coffee and lays out her clothes for the day. We visit about a variety of subjects because she has developed an opinion on EVERYTHING.

School starts next week. Our hope is that the new school will wear her down so she will sleep a little longer. Who knew that 6 AM would be sleeping in.

If she doesn't start sleeping a little later I will have to give her to a dairy farmer. I know they wake up early.

A summary

She isn't different, she is unique and that is what makes her beautiful.

When Amanda walks it is more of a toddle with clinched fists. She is neither fast nor agile but she gets where she is going and it always makes me smile.

Waiting for her to walk "any day now" was the hardest thing I ever had to do as a parent, but she gets it done now.

A therapist asked me years ago, "What is your dream for Amanda?"

I replied, "I would just like to have a conversation with her."

Well, now she has a lot to say. The words may not always be in the right order and she can't pronounce the letter R, but wow, this young lady has a lot on her mind.

She is truly a teenager, because as my wife said today at lunch, "Sometimes she looks right through me like she thinks I'm an idiot."

We still have to help her with a great many things that a five year old can actually do themselves, but she is progressing. Will she plateau? I can't answer that. When I see her doing complex tasks at home and at my office that I never thought she could do, it gives me hope. As a parent of a special child, hope is something that is embraced and cherished. It is more valuable than money or prestige. It is the one thing that we all fight to gain because hope generates strength which is what we all need.

A nice trip

We took a trip to Washington DC recently. I had a convention to attend and it seemed like the perfect time to take Tina and Amanda out of town.

Amanda flies well. Her small build actually allows her to be comfortable in coach while us normal sized human beings wonder how many of the Seven Dwarves work for Boeing.

American Airlines does a great job with Amanda's wheelchair. We board right after the pilot and get settled in and then watch the other 140 passengers try to store their 280 carry ons on an oversold flight.

We stayed at a Homewood Suites. Tina and I had the bedroom with the kingsize bed and Amanda used the sofa pull out. We had enough supplies with us to survive Amanda getting food poisoning and cholera but she showed her maturity and had five perfect nights.

Our first full day we went from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial. Everybody asked me how Amanda did. She did great, her feet never touched the ground and she didn't have to climb any stairs. My legs hurt for two days.

While I was working the convention, Amanda and Tina went to museums and the zoo. Tina discovered the entire national zoo was an uphill experience.

The dinners were nice. We ate with one of my salesmen who had brought his wife and two daughters, for three nights in a row. The kids really bonded with one another and I thought it was special. Amanda all but overdosed on chocolate cake.

The main reason she wanted to go to DC was to see Dorthy's shoes at the Smithsonian. Amanda watches the Wizard Of Oz at least twice a week. So she all but burst when she saw them.

One of the upsides to trips like this, other than the enjoyment we have at the time, is how much Amanda matures. She is forced out of her comfort zone and has to try harder and the great thing about Amanda is, once she does something the first time, she will do it again.

We're through traveling for the summer, but she is counting down the days until our trip to Disney this fall. She says she doesn't want anyone to tell her about it because she wants to see it herself.