Day 380 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Today Grayson started his day more alert than most. He moved faster and was more responsive than usual all day.

At the clinic he sorted four objects into categories for a while, but his ability to focus took over after a few minutes. Certain levels of physical activity help keep Grayson focused. There are small letters on the walls of the long hallway at the clinic. One of his tasks today was to walk along the walls and find specific letters. He was also tasked to find letters on a keyboard and in a magazine. These exercises are focused on building attention span. In PT today he walked on the treadmill for 10 minutes, climbed a ladder, and helped set up an activity by putting tape on the ground in specific places.

On the way home, Regina and Grayson sang songs and whistled (on pitch!) together. What a nice day!

Pax!

Brant

Day 379 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

After four days away from the clinic, Grayson was back today. He had a full afternoon of therapy. Today, among other things, he helped clean up the lunch area, worked on three syllable words for intelligibility, followed 3 step commands with 50% accuracy, identified coins, caught tennis balls, found objects in a popcorn bucket, walked the hallways forward and backwards while wearing a 30lb backpack and played "basketball".

When we arrived home from the clinic, he got out of the front of the car with his lunch box. I got out of the car, and he opened the back door of the car. I asked him what he was doing. He replied, "Planner." He had left his day planner in the back seat and he remembered it!

Tonight we once again dined on left-over turkey. (I sure am enjoying the easy meal prep!!) After dinner, Grayson wanted to watch Band of Brothers. This was one of his favorite shows before his incident. Tonight, he was clearly uncomfortable while watching some of the scenes. When asked if he wanted to watch more, he said no. I stopped the show and switched to a comedy until bedtime.

It was a good day!

Pax!

Brant

Day 378 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Sunday morning – up and off to church for the first service of the new church year – the season of Advent!

After church we made a quick dash home to grab a quick sandwich and pick up Lauren then head up the movie theater where we met up with Austin and Xixi to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I. What fun!

We returned home after the movie and Austin and Xixi joined us for dinner. We still had enough leftovers to have roast turkey, dressing, green beans, gravy and turkey, noodle and vegetable soup. Toss in a little Wii time, and our evening was just as fun as our day!

Grayson had some spontaneous speaking today. Several times he rattled off multi-word sentences without prompting, and if you were listening close enough, you could make out what he was trying to tell you. Pretty good stuff, as we had not seen any improvement in this area recently!

The long weekend is over and what a wonderful one it was!

Pax!

Brant

Day 377 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Today was another family day!

The first order of business after breakfast was to strain all of the solids out of the stock that had been cooking down for 18 hours. That accomplished, Grayson and I did some precision-strike Christmas shopping, then hit the grocery store for the veggies and noodles required to turn the stock into soup. We also picked out a surprise for Regina – a beautiful poinsettia plant. Advent starts tomorrow!

I turned about ⅔ of the turkey stock into soup and baked fresh bread for dinner. Day three of a house filled with wonderful aromas! I still have about 3 to 4 pounds of turkey left. Tonight I'll freeze some for use later!

At half time of the game-that-shall-not-be-mentioned, Grayson and I went into the exercise room to work out for a bit. He hit the treadmill for about 10 minutes (about all he is capable of handling), while I did some of my exercise routine. We returned at the beginning of the third quarter to our soup and fresh bread.

With the exception of the game, it was a good day!

Pax!

Brant

Day 376 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

Today was the day after Thanksgiving – a day where we get sleep in a bit and take a generally more relaxed pace. Our morning was marked by returning the kitchen to its shiny appearance after working it hard yesterday. As soon as that was accomplished, I started into the next tradition – making stock from the leftover turkey carcass. The stock cooked down all afternoon and evening, filling the house with another day of mouth-watering aromas.

Grayson enjoyed some television while we tidied the kitchen. After I cleaned up my mess from preparing the stock, Grayson and I went for a walk. When we returned we did some chores around the house, and ran a few errands.

Grayson and I finished the day watching Iron Man 2 while we had dinner of (you guessed it) leftover turkey, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes au gratin and green beans with water chestnuts and prosciutto. It was just as good today as yesterday!

Pax!

Brant

Day 375 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

The whole family, along with Xixi and Jason, was here to celebrate Thanksgiving today.

Regina and I were reminded that we really have a child living with us again. This afternoon, we noticed a fingerprint in one of the pumpkin pies and that point was brought home. Grayson is a sweet kid and that is great, but he is a kid again.

While today was spent busily tooling around in the kitchen making family favorites and new twists on traditional favorites, I was struck by how different things are from last Thanksgiving (which we celebrated in the lounge of a hospital), and how different again we were from Thanksgiving 2008 when we last prepared a normal holiday meal. Going back is not an option, and I never want to go back to where we were last Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for this year, and I am grateful for the opportunity to spend another holiday with a loving family living in the warm embrace of God's love.

Pax!

Brant

Day 374 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends,

While we baked pies, chopped vegetables, and prepared the Thanksgiving table tonight Brant, Grayson and I watched the 1970 Christmas classic movie Scrooge. This is a musical rendition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It is one of our all-time top movies and our favorite among the many adaptations of the classic tale.

Brant and I are both confessed emotional saps but each of us was particularly affected while watching this movie tonight and easily shared a box of Kleenex. Perhaps it is because no matter what character we saw, we could identify with their weakness or long to be more like them.

There is miserly Scrooge who feels bitter and guilty because he let so many precious moments slip by in the busy-ness of life ("You"). The business owner and family man who has the gift of making Christmas Eve in his warehouse the happiest place on earth not only by sharing generously of his money but with laughter and dancing ("December the 25^th"). The family who greets the Christmas holiday with gratitude for the simple elements of their meager holiday feast and the gift of each other ("On This Beautiful Christmas Morning"). The nephew who never stops inviting his miserly uncle to his Christmas gathering in spite of the grouchy rebuffs each year. The townspeople who are overwhelmed by the complete forgiveness of their debts ("Thank You Very Much"). We couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the precocious little boy who sings like an angel and faces the prospect of illness and death with sweet innocence. And, of course, by the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge himself who vows to put his selfish life behind him and live whatever days he has left with love in his heart, kindness on his lips, and generosity from his hands ("I am not the man I was").

We have so much to be thankful for this year. For family and friends who have held us up throughout this challenging year. For our three children who each bring their own gifts and joy to our family. And for our Savior and Lord whose love and grace never fails.

May your Thanksgiving Day tomorrow be marked by recognition of your own blessings. We love you all.

Grace and peace,

Regina