Isaac had a good weekend at home, and now has begun to settle into a routine with us. Now that he is home at night, we get his studies from the Middle School he started before the accident. They are supposed to have his work ready on Friday, but since we enrolled him that day it would have been difficult on the teachers to have the work ready for me to pick up that afternoon. Instead, I picked it up on Monday afternoon after work.
For us to get him to the clinic, and mom to get adequate time in at work, we have had to work out a few kinks in the morning schedule. The day starts off around 0445 with the parents waking up and dad going for a run. Isaac and sister starts coming in about 0515, usually before dad is out the door. By the time dad gets back at 0615 they are leaving or all out the door (sister, too, if she has morning practice). This morning (Thursday) I saw mom and Isaac coming down our block on their way to work and clinic. (We don't say school, because school will be totally different when he is ready for that) They stopped and said hi/bye to me at the corner.
Tuesday night was family night at Rosa's. Upon finding out we were going, Isaac asked if we could "get some through the Drive Through" instead. I asked him why he didn't want to go in and he responded, "because it is too loud in there."
While I can understand his issue with the noise, because it does get loud in the restaurant, I said, "We have to learn how to deal with loud places. Daddy doesn't like loud places either, but we like the food. Sometimes we get there and it isn't as loud, so we take the good over the bad and go. If it happens to be loud, we focus real hard on our own conversation and eat a little more quickly so we can leave."
As it would turn out, the hoards of teenagers meeting for a cheap meal were there at the same time we sat down. Isaac did well for about 15 minutes, then about halfway through his taco started getting frustrated. Mom and I both saw it, so I turned to him and said, "Go ahead and put your phone on the table. Play one of your games so you can focus away, but keep eating your taco." Normally phones are not allowed while eating, unless we are looking up something to share with everyone. (I love iPhones. It's the only Mac I ever want, but it is good! ....remember, tech dad here!) About 10 minutes after his episode, the rowdy crowd left. I leaned over and said, "Hey! Guess what?"
"What?"
"They're GOOOOOONE!" (motioning to the empty tables)
As soon as I said it, one of the kids opened the back door and yelled something like, "Hey Johnnie! Come on!"
Isaac looked at me with raised eyebrows.
I gave him a funny face and said, "Straggler!"
We both laughed.
Isaac has been working on the Wii, much more on his tablet and phone, with games and skill tests. Last night he received quite a few pieces of mail. We decided to go get some birthday arrangements for a friend who came to the hospital for a surprise. He read the cards that he received, with sister and brother helping, during our drive.
One of the cards had us curious, since the front return was from a U.S. Federal Court, and was hand addressed to Isaac. Not realizing the possibilities of its origin, I opened it to make sure it was correct. Smiling, I put it back in the envelope and let him open it. That was the neatest card I have seen in awhile. Thank you, Sir. (The judge is a classmate of my father-in-law, who is following Isaac's progress)
We then took our birthday stuff home to drop off mom and sister, and dad took them to work to put up the decorations for the surprise the next day. Isaac was funny trying to blow up a balloon, while dad and brother tried not to break their necks hanging the banner and streamers. Then it was back home for bedtime. He still has to sleep about 9 hours in order to be ready for the next day. His brain has to process more than normal at night, so giving him that time is very beneficial.
He likes his room. It has stayed simple, with clothes and bed things. We got the mattress for the day bed, and put it in Brea's room. We moved her futon, that I brought back from Iowa, into the boys room for Jesse. He seems to like it as well.
His processing speed is much more apparent, as is his vocal ability, now that he is at the house. It is still a process, but we take it a day at a time.
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