GRANDMA, GRANDMA. I FARTED!

Written 4/25/10

I wish I had a dime for every time he announced this in his loudest "outside" voice. Walking through the automatic door at the fruit market--going in. On an airplane waiting for take-off. Meijer Butterfly Gardens when he exited the restroom. And always, always in a restaurant. He also has to announce I GOTTA PEE, OR POOP BUT WAIT RIGHT THERE UNTIL I TELL YOU YOU CAN WIPE MY BUTT BECAUSE I NEED PRIVACY. He will also announce other peoples bodily functions in the same voice. And there is nothing more charming than when he is introduced to someone and he tells them I CAN BURP MY ABC'S. WANNA HEAR ME? He doesn't even recite his ABC's in English yet let alone in Burpish.

SLEEP IS OVER RATED ANYWAY--ISNT IT?

Holden is having an EEG tomorrow due to an incident that happened just before Christmas.  It's just one of those things that a kid can do and say I dont want to freak you out but......  The orders are to keep him awake until 11:00 and let him sleep until 3:00 (thats am of course) and then keep him awake until the test at 9:00.  Anyone who has read anything I have ever written about our lives over the past 7 years will know that was close to a normal night for him.  Except, recently, we have found the right combination of medications, and he has fallen asleep by 9:00; gotten up, gone to the bathroom, come in, woke us up, gotten escorted back to his room maybe only once or twice a night, where he then stays until roughly 5:00 or 6:00.  He slept once until 7:00 and we both got up and held a mirror under his nose to check for respiration.  Tonight we will only give him some of his sleeping toddy, not all of it and we wait to see what happens........

When they called to preregister him I was referred back to the technician, who ask a few questions about why we were doing this test and about why he was on the meds he is on.  She explained to me that the reason they want him sleep deprived is because they need him to be perfectly still and calm during the test.  Well, thats not going to happen.  The more tired  Holden is, the more active he is.  When we had the overnight sleep study done,  he only slept the last 1/2 hr. before we were to be discharged, and he took a shower, rode 1 1/2 hrs. home at 7 am and had us drop him off at school for the day.  Can you imagine how much the cardio/pulmonary lab is looking forward to this?  I can assure you, they are not.  But, we have to try their way first.

So, tomorrow at 9:00 am, Holden will be carrying on a non-stop dialogue with the nurses and techs about everything from the stickers that are pasted to his head to the rooms he has created in Mind Craft.  Along with the movements of his mouth, there will be movements in his hands, his feet and everything in between.   I, on the other hand, will have my head on his cot, my eyes closed and.......... zzzzzzzzzzzzz's