We had an interesting afternoon that I wanted to jot down really quickly. We headed over to the church so we could practice in Dakin's power chair (large gym with a nice perfectly level surface, unlike our street!!). We met our Physical Therapist there, and Dakin got to zooming around. It's amazing how much easier it is for him to use the head control in the gym.
Our PT made arrangements for our new power chair company rep to meet us there, and get his take on whether or not Dakin should switch from a head control to a joystick.
Dakin was having none of that.
He tilted his little golden-haired head to the side head control, made the wheelchair turn around 180 degrees, and went the other way. He ran away from him!
It was hilarious. I am so glad Dakin gets to do stuff like that.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Circumlocution
Many of you don't know this, but I was a language education major in college. No, really. It would have just been French, but I wanted to eat and have a place to live, so I chose French Teaching.
If you are a language person at all, you are probably familiar with the term 'circumlocution.' Most definitions have it as some type of unnecessary roundabout verbosity--for example, saying "the great round shining orb on high" instead of "the sun." Now, while that particular definition is somewhat laughable, the language teacher's definition is more postive: circumlocution as a means of expressing oneself when one doesn't have the proper words to do so. The language teacher in me was thrilled to see Dakin use this the other morning:
Me (walking in his room in the morning): Hi.
Dakin: Double bass. (he loves instruments)
Me: Double bass.
Dakin: Trumpet.
Me: Trumpet.
Dakin: sahfkshkf.
Me: What?
Dakin: shoisahlifwo.
Me: Huh?
Dakin: (putting his wrists together and clapping them): Crash! Crash!
Me: Oh! Cymbals!!
Sigh. My little circumlocutor. **Smiles**
If you are a language person at all, you are probably familiar with the term 'circumlocution.' Most definitions have it as some type of unnecessary roundabout verbosity--for example, saying "the great round shining orb on high" instead of "the sun." Now, while that particular definition is somewhat laughable, the language teacher's definition is more postive: circumlocution as a means of expressing oneself when one doesn't have the proper words to do so. The language teacher in me was thrilled to see Dakin use this the other morning:
Me (walking in his room in the morning): Hi.
Dakin: Double bass. (he loves instruments)
Me: Double bass.
Dakin: Trumpet.
Me: Trumpet.
Dakin: sahfkshkf.
Me: What?
Dakin: shoisahlifwo.
Me: Huh?
Dakin: (putting his wrists together and clapping them): Crash! Crash!
Me: Oh! Cymbals!!
Sigh. My little circumlocutor. **Smiles**
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Big Jet and Junior!
If you aren't familiar with Little Einsteins (and really, who isn't nowadays, right? Joke.) you might not know who Big Jet is. He is the nemesis of the show, always trying to mess with the Little Einsteins and Rocket.
Dakin loves him. I mean loves him. He will go on and on about "Three booster Big Jet" and "Big Jet take animal snacks. Far far away. Poor baby animals. Tummy hungry" and on and on...and on...and on. You get the picture. Anyway, here he is for real. He's the big jet in the picture (*wink*).
And here is Dakin's rendition of him. In this portrayal Big Jet has his three boosters out (that's the little spiral right below the plane).
Anyway, though you might enjoy some of Dakin's art. And speaking of art, go check out Junior's blog. He is a finalist in an art contest out of over 400 entries!! His art is amazing! Go Junior!
Dakin loves him. I mean loves him. He will go on and on about "Three booster Big Jet" and "Big Jet take animal snacks. Far far away. Poor baby animals. Tummy hungry" and on and on...and on...and on. You get the picture. Anyway, here he is for real. He's the big jet in the picture (*wink*).
And here is Dakin's rendition of him. In this portrayal Big Jet has his three boosters out (that's the little spiral right below the plane).Anyway, though you might enjoy some of Dakin's art. And speaking of art, go check out Junior's blog. He is a finalist in an art contest out of over 400 entries!! His art is amazing! Go Junior!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Conversations With Dakin: Cracker Edition
(Scene: Dakin lying on floor, munching on a cracker with his small bucket of animals next to him. Day nurse in chair, keeping an eye on things. Mommy at the gym)
Dakin: Cracker! Cracker!
Jane: Where's your cracker?
Dakin: Animal bucket.
Jane: Well, fish it out of there.
(Dakin fishes cracker out and continues to munch)
(A few minutes later)
Dakin: Cracker! Cracker!
Jane: Where's your cracker now?
Dakin: Animal bucket.
Jane: Well, get it out. Crackers don't belong in the animal bucket.
(Dakin gets cracker out again and munches...again)
(A few minutes later)
Dakin: Cracker! Cracker!
Jane: Where is it now?
Dakin: Far far away.
(He had thrown it down near his feet.)
Dakin: Cracker! Cracker!
Jane: Where's your cracker?
Dakin: Animal bucket.
Jane: Well, fish it out of there.
(Dakin fishes cracker out and continues to munch)
(A few minutes later)
Dakin: Cracker! Cracker!
Jane: Where's your cracker now?
Dakin: Animal bucket.
Jane: Well, get it out. Crackers don't belong in the animal bucket.
(Dakin gets cracker out again and munches...again)
(A few minutes later)
Dakin: Cracker! Cracker!
Jane: Where is it now?
Dakin: Far far away.
(He had thrown it down near his feet.)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Imagination Movers Concert--AMAZING!
So today was the big day! We got up at the crack of dawn (actually, it was before that) and made the almost 4 hour drive to Houston. Evidently 59 is not as exciting as 1-20--there weren't as many big trucks for Dakin to look at, but with a little help from Little Einsteins, we made it there in an excellent mood.
Since we had a little extra time, we popped into the Hard Rock Cafe for some lunch. Dakin was pretty pumped about this--he kept saying 'sit table! sit table!'. The Cafe was full of children all headed for the same show we were!
After we ate, we went next door to the concert and avoided the long line (wheelchair=membership has its benefits). The wonderful theater manager, who made everything so easy for us by working with us on handicapped seats, gave us our special tickets and we got in line to sign in for the Meet and Greet. And then, on strict mandate from Nana, who bankrolled this whole trip and therefore must be obeyed, we bought everything in sight. 2 shirts, a scribble stick, wobble goggles...the whole shebang.
We got into our seats and got settled. They had seated us in front of a GIANT speaker, so I was a little apprehensive as to how Dakin would take it. I was expecting a DEFCON 1 meltdown, but he actually took the noise of the concert well!
The opening act was Choo Choo Soul. They were great!
And then the Movers! See how close we were? Big Dakin was sitting right next to those stairs. The Movers spent the whole concert going up and down them. Dave was closest to us, and saw Dakin from the stage. He came over to the stairs and played his bass for a minute right in front of Dakin, and then a minute later came down and interact with him. Nina and Scott also made a point to stop and touch Dakin on the arm and interact too!
YAY! Warehouse Mouse, Dakin's favorite!
The only Mover I got a good shot of was Dave, probably because he was like 15 feet from us.
Dakin was SO excited by Eddie the Monster showing up!!!
The concert was GREAT! Their music is so infectiously fun...we really enjoyed it. You can see in the lower right the small-child mosh pit that had begun to form...glad we were away from that!! And right after the concert, Dave did something very sweet--we were headed to the Meet and Greet when he comes back out and hops down on the floor right in front of us to give a tiny girl some stickers, telling her mom he saw her holding her hands over her ears the entire concert. I guess he felt bad and wanted to make it up to her with stickers. It was very sweet. 
After the concert, we had tickets to the Meet and Greet. This was the most stressful thing for Dakin--there were lots of kids in close proximity yelling. That didn't go well, but he got over it. The Movers came in and sang two songs. This pic is Dave showing Rich his guitar pick that he had lost.
After the songs we had the photo op. It was so great to meet these guys and Nina--they were wonderful with Dakin. I think Dakin was a little overwhelmed by everything, but he did manage to answer with a 'yeah' when Dave asked him if he had had fun. He also gave Scott kisses, which I didn't see but Daddy did. Rich told Daddy that Dakin is special and kept saying how beautiful he is (to which I should have replied 'of course he is. He's my kid.' :) )
Since we had a little extra time, we popped into the Hard Rock Cafe for some lunch. Dakin was pretty pumped about this--he kept saying 'sit table! sit table!'. The Cafe was full of children all headed for the same show we were!
After we ate, we went next door to the concert and avoided the long line (wheelchair=membership has its benefits). The wonderful theater manager, who made everything so easy for us by working with us on handicapped seats, gave us our special tickets and we got in line to sign in for the Meet and Greet. And then, on strict mandate from Nana, who bankrolled this whole trip and therefore must be obeyed, we bought everything in sight. 2 shirts, a scribble stick, wobble goggles...the whole shebang.
We got into our seats and got settled. They had seated us in front of a GIANT speaker, so I was a little apprehensive as to how Dakin would take it. I was expecting a DEFCON 1 meltdown, but he actually took the noise of the concert well!
The opening act was Choo Choo Soul. They were great!
And then the Movers! See how close we were? Big Dakin was sitting right next to those stairs. The Movers spent the whole concert going up and down them. Dave was closest to us, and saw Dakin from the stage. He came over to the stairs and played his bass for a minute right in front of Dakin, and then a minute later came down and interact with him. Nina and Scott also made a point to stop and touch Dakin on the arm and interact too!YAY! Warehouse Mouse, Dakin's favorite!
The only Mover I got a good shot of was Dave, probably because he was like 15 feet from us.
Dakin was SO excited by Eddie the Monster showing up!!!
The concert was GREAT! Their music is so infectiously fun...we really enjoyed it. You can see in the lower right the small-child mosh pit that had begun to form...glad we were away from that!! And right after the concert, Dave did something very sweet--we were headed to the Meet and Greet when he comes back out and hops down on the floor right in front of us to give a tiny girl some stickers, telling her mom he saw her holding her hands over her ears the entire concert. I guess he felt bad and wanted to make it up to her with stickers. It was very sweet. 
After the concert, we had tickets to the Meet and Greet. This was the most stressful thing for Dakin--there were lots of kids in close proximity yelling. That didn't go well, but he got over it. The Movers came in and sang two songs. This pic is Dave showing Rich his guitar pick that he had lost.
After the songs we had the photo op. It was so great to meet these guys and Nina--they were wonderful with Dakin. I think Dakin was a little overwhelmed by everything, but he did manage to answer with a 'yeah' when Dave asked him if he had had fun. He also gave Scott kisses, which I didn't see but Daddy did. Rich told Daddy that Dakin is special and kept saying how beautiful he is (to which I should have replied 'of course he is. He's my kid.' :) ) And then we headed home. It took 5.5 hours because we managed somehow to go the wrong way and then we got a flat tire. Thankfully Daddy is a stud and took care of it in a jiffy.
Dakin did amazingly well with this whole thing. He ate (which he NEVER does when we go on big car trips), he handled the noise well and he was in just a great mood the whole day--well, until the flat tire, when he started with 'Go home. Go bed.' He hadn't had a nap, though, so that' understandable. :) FIFTEEN hours he was awake!!
We have waited three months for this concert, and it was so worth it. If you aren't familiar with the Imagination Movers, check them out. Their music is delightful--I absolutely love it. And we learned today that not only are they seriously musically talented, they are wonderful people too. I don't think I will ever forget them coming down the stairs to interact with Dakin. It will be a very sweet memory for us. A truly perfect day.
The pics from the Meet and Greet aren't up yet, but we will post them when they are!!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
More For Me
This is another one of those 'more for me than anyone else' posts. Just some of Dakin's cutenesses.
1. He has been on a tyrant kick lately, being three and all, and he has been telling people "no laughing." The other night we were in his room playing and he commanded his night nurse to stop laughing, so I told him, "What if I said no laughing to Dakin? No laughing Dakin!" To which he replied, "ha ha ha." (Of course we busted up and he got really mad, but that's another story)
2. That same night he was playing with his plastic giraffe and I had his anklyosaur in my hand. He got their muzzles close together and made kissing noises. I don't know where he gets this stuff!!
3. Yesterday morning I went in to wake him up and he told me, "Go away, Mommy."
4. This afternoon I was trying to wake him up from his nap by snuggling him on the couch (it was wonderful!!!). I told him to open up his eyes, and he told me "leeping eye"--translation: sleeping eyes.
OK. Glad I got that all recorded.
1. He has been on a tyrant kick lately, being three and all, and he has been telling people "no laughing." The other night we were in his room playing and he commanded his night nurse to stop laughing, so I told him, "What if I said no laughing to Dakin? No laughing Dakin!" To which he replied, "ha ha ha." (Of course we busted up and he got really mad, but that's another story)
2. That same night he was playing with his plastic giraffe and I had his anklyosaur in my hand. He got their muzzles close together and made kissing noises. I don't know where he gets this stuff!!
3. Yesterday morning I went in to wake him up and he told me, "Go away, Mommy."
4. This afternoon I was trying to wake him up from his nap by snuggling him on the couch (it was wonderful!!!). I told him to open up his eyes, and he told me "leeping eye"--translation: sleeping eyes.
OK. Glad I got that all recorded.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Think Again
When Dakin was diagnosed with SMARD I had given up the thought of instruments for him.
He found something anyway.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Heart Melting
Tonight when I got home from the gym I walked into Dakin's room to say goodnight. He giggled and smiled and rambled off a whole paragraph about something that I didn't quite get. I told him good night and that I loved him and he said "Iveeboo"--Dakinese for "I love you." I started walking out of the room and he said, "Mommy!" I came back in and he gave me kisses.
Made my whole day.
:)
Made my whole day.
:)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Conversations with Dakin--'No Go Night' Edition
After having gotten up at 7:15 this morning, Dakin should have taken a good long nap. He seemed tired, so we laid him down about 1:00.
He laid there for two hours, talking to himself and anyone he thought might be listening. "Mommy! Mommy! Va(Jane, our day nurse)! Wake up Dakin!" He babbled on and on about this and that, and even resorted to asking for yogurt as a way to end naptime. He never did go to sleep.
So it's an early night for the big D. As a last attempt to get him to eat a little before bedtime, I put on Little Einsteins and he started drinking his Carnation. He took 6.5 ounces of it and absolutely refused to have more. By that point it was about 7:30 and definitely time for bed, and so I asked our night nurse to start taking Dakin's stuff in his room. He knows this is an indication that bedtime is imminent, so he started in with "No go night, no go night!"
And, after the flat out refusal to take more milk, he launched his last attempt to get out of going to bed: "More milk!" I'm not sure if the self-sacrifice was worth the 3 extra minutes he got of his show, but we ended up with another 1.5 oz, so it worked out well for me!
Hilarious. Of course, when we all started laughing, he told us "no laughing."
He laid there for two hours, talking to himself and anyone he thought might be listening. "Mommy! Mommy! Va(Jane, our day nurse)! Wake up Dakin!" He babbled on and on about this and that, and even resorted to asking for yogurt as a way to end naptime. He never did go to sleep.
So it's an early night for the big D. As a last attempt to get him to eat a little before bedtime, I put on Little Einsteins and he started drinking his Carnation. He took 6.5 ounces of it and absolutely refused to have more. By that point it was about 7:30 and definitely time for bed, and so I asked our night nurse to start taking Dakin's stuff in his room. He knows this is an indication that bedtime is imminent, so he started in with "No go night, no go night!"
And, after the flat out refusal to take more milk, he launched his last attempt to get out of going to bed: "More milk!" I'm not sure if the self-sacrifice was worth the 3 extra minutes he got of his show, but we ended up with another 1.5 oz, so it worked out well for me!
Hilarious. Of course, when we all started laughing, he told us "no laughing."
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