I can’t believe it is 2009! Micah got to meet his great grandmother on New Year’s Day to celebrate her birthday and spend some time with her. Elliot and I made a birthday cake for her (truth be told, Elliot baked the cake and made the icing, and I decorated the cake). Seeing my Grammy with Micah was really wonderful – she kept saying how beautiful he was. I’m not sure if she knew who he was all the time, but she seemed happy to have him there. For someone with dementia, you just have to focus on the moments.
I’m finally feeling better (I’m a bit worried about Micah, though – he keeps sneezing!) and we’ve gotten Micah to sleep for 5 hour stretches 3 nights in a row so far! We tried the secure sleeper, and that really does seem to help a lot. He has really been fairly awake today – we played a bit, and we chatted, too. Of course, now I’m wondering what exactly to DO with him when he is awake. I sing, but that has to hurt his ears!! I’m not sure what toys he should play with or how best to stimulate him. We tried the playmat again today – he got upset after about 5 minutes on it. I gave him a funky rattle/plastic loopy thing (I think it is called a winkle?) and he seemed to like that . . . for a few minutes. He got cranky the last time he was awake, so I put him in the swing and he zonked back out again. We’ve played music and I’ve chatted with him and read him a book. I guess I’m just not sure if I’m doing this “right.” I’ve never been so unsure of so many things in my life!
All my friends with kids have had the same concerns. My theory (albeit recall that I am without child) is that a LOTs of people raise kids. The same people that I wonder how they find their way home at night. Therefore, these kid things must be fairly idiot proof, and we all know that you are far from that – ergo he is bound to turn out great 🙂 — just don’t over think it.