Wrapping Up 2022

On this Friday morning, the last Friday of the year, it's quiet in the house, which is really rare since we got the new dog. Myers hasn't fully warmed up to him, and I totally understand why. Bewley is ALL puppy. He is wild and has sharp teeth and wants to play. Myers is spending most of his time these days, at the bar. I said that out loud the other day and laughed, then quickly added, our kitchen bar. We have high stools and Myers is safe there. When he wakes and comes downstairs, he goes straight to the bar. When he comes home from clinic, he climbs up on his stool and sits there. He has some of his favorite things there. Food, of course, but also his new crayon color sorter, Play-Doh, etc. PS-If you have a child that likes colors and organizing, get this set. Myers had seen it on Youtube on Genevieve's Playhouse, and my sister got it for him for Christmas. Definitely a great toy.

When Bewley is out for a walk with his dad, Myers will get down from his high stool and play. Myers has also learned to say "potty" or "hungry" 4 thousand times a day to escape Bewley's terror. There are moments, and they are so sweet, when Myers will walk up to a calm Bewley and say "good dog" or "pet the puppy" and he'll gently pet Bewley on the head or back. They will love each other. I know.

We had a scare with Bewley this week actually. On Tuesday, he collapsed in the yard after a long nap on the couch. I was home alone. I called my cousin, a veterinary guru, and she walked me few a couple of things before I raced him to the emergency vet. He was taken to triage and they kept him over night. It was terrifying and brought back memories of Jake, our lab, collapsing last December. Jake didn't make it of course, but thank God, Bewley did. We aren't sure what caused the scare; there were many different ideas...it could have been THC, it could have been rat poison, it could have been a plant, it could have been the new bag of food. They did a drug test and the results came back negative, and all his bloodwork was good, so again, we are just grateful that he's home and well. 

That kind of takes me back to the title...wrapping up 2022. With the diagnosis this summer, we kept pretty calm. We weren't totally shocked, we weren't upset, or scared. We were glad to have some more info that would help us best help our baby boy. This year has been about learning, for sure, for all of us. Myers amazes me daily. As one little example, Thursday morning, we woke REALLY early. It was 2:45 when he started talking to me, and 3:30 when we came downstairs. Even though Bewley was still asleep upstairs with Chance, Myers went to the bar. He played a few minutes with his Play-Doh, then he started scripting one of his favorite shows, Numberblocks. He said "Where's Four gone?" When Myers scripts something, I always talk to him about it. I try to make it part of a "normal" conversation. My response was something like, "I don't know where Four has gone. Let's look for him." So then I pulled out Myers' magnet numbers. I put 2, 6, and 8 on the fridge. I asked Myers, "Where is Four?" and he pulled it out and climbed down from his chair to put the four in the missing spot. Then I ran with it, because my boy loves numbers, and is smart. I said, "Myers, what comes next?" and did another pattern. He quickly got the number that came next. Then, the moment of true genius...I asked one more time, "What comes next?" and I put up 3 and 6. Myers answered "9" and put it up. It didn't stop there of course. I said, "Then what comes next?" and Myers said, in perfect rhythm as he found each number, "12," "15," "18," and went all the way to 30. We didn't have enough numbers from this particular set, so I raced to get his other magnet numbers from his toy basket, and we continued the pattern. When he finished his handiwork, he sang a song I have heard him listen to on Youtube. It numbers the 3's from 3 to 30 and when you get to 30, you sing "30 we're all done." I know Myers can go higher, but we ran out of the numbers and that's where the song stopped, so we stopped too. I was sitting on the floor in my pjs, it was maybe 4:15 am at the time, and I smiled so big and hugged my smart boy. I thought, "I am truly lucky." I don't know how or why it struck me that moment, but it did. A friend later that day made a comment about something else entirely, but I think I felt that same way early Thursday morning. She essentially said that there are some days when it is hard, but there are some days when all your child needs is you. That morning, Myers and I were completely and purely happy in our kitchen, sitting on the floor, doing numbers and just being together. 

If you haven't picked up on it yet, I'm kind of fond of my kid. Myers is the sweetest. He is the smartest. He is the cutest. Ok, I'm partial on these, but truly. These past two weeks of Christmas Break, I've gotten lots of positive messages from his ABA clinic. "Myers helped a friend who was feeling sad by inviting him to play on the slide," or "Myers told a friend to be careful when she was playing." I've seen and heard him using his manners really nicely too, "No thank you" when he's offered vegetables (Lord how I wish he'd say yes to those) or "Bless you Momma" when I sneeze. His language has improved, his social skills have improved, he's FINALLY GOING PEE PEE ON THE POTTY. I mean, there are so many gains we've made this year. For all the new (new diagnosis, new diet, new school), we have done really well. This has been an amazing year. I know we will have our challenges, but I truly look forward to what lies ahead. May God continue to bless us, and may you all have a blessed New Year!!