A Boy and his Screw

Our marathon of doctor's appointments is almost over! So we have been relaxing a little, I have so much to update on, but I wanted to put in a fun post today. Babies and kids often have comfort objects, things they have to have with them at all times, or when they are scared. When Tucker was a baby in the NICU, he had the stuffed hands that "held" him when we couldn't be there. He had his Rainforest mobile and Rainforest landscape/music toy, and his pacifier that all soothed him. For awhile, when Tucker was 2, we went through a succession of Bears. Chris bought Tuck a little brown bear at Cabela's, and after that they were inseparable. Once the bear got way too dirty, I washed and dried it, and it came out so ugly! We called it "crispy bear," because the dryer scorched the fur. We went and bought several "extra" bears to replace it, but Tucker would only accept Crispy bear! Tucker has had some odd comfort objects in the past, including suctioning kits, diapers, and my Coach purse (really, the kid loves that purse, and only that purse!). Lately Tucker has become very interested in anything tool-related. He follows Chris around (as always!) and likes to "help" him when he does small repairs around the house. He sometimes goes into Chris's tool drawer, takes the screwdriver, and tries to open all of the battery compartments of his toys. He has not been successful, but he really tries! Chris usually comes home with pockets full of screws or other things like that, and Tucker would love looking at them. He would leave them on the ground, and later I would step on them-ouch! So I banned the little screws. Tucker walked around "srew, srew, srew" looking for his screws. You can imagine the jokes the teenagers make about Tucker and his affinity for "screws." Chris got the idea to give him a very big screw, that way I would see it and not step on it. He got out one of the big screws that used to hold the crib together. Tucker's face lit up and he screamed, "srew!!" He held onto that one for several days, which really freaked out Mrs. Mia (Chris's mom) because it was kind of pointy. So my dad gave Tucker a rather large screw that was totally safe (how odd that I am going into this much detail!), and Tucker loves it! Last Saturday we lost it, so I called Mom, asking for more "back-up" screws. She found several in the shed, so now we have a large supply. Even with the large supply, Tucker loses them quickly and then demands more. This morning he wanted to rock with his screw. I looked everywhere and could not find one...bad news....In my head, I thought, "a screw, a screw, my kingdom for a screw," then thought, SERIOUSLY?? This has gone a little too far! I offered him Mr. Potato Head as a subsitute, and low and behold, two of the large screws were rattling around inside Mr. Potato Head's body:) So I thought I would record this tidbit of our lives, to remind myself of the day-to-day craziness of raising this sweet child. I am still very proud of Tucker, because any time I say, "we can't bring the screw to...(school, therapy, climbing on the playground)" he hands it right over without question. This is a completely different child from the diaper-obsessed kiddo we started the school year with. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to ask all of our readers to please say some prayers for a few families, or just keep them in your thoughts. I am usually reluctant to share others' stories, because they are not mine to tell. However, there are two families who have really touched my heart lately, the Knights and the Wheats. Cooper Knight is a strong little boy who has had a very hard road. He recently underwent a small bowel and colon transplant in an effort to help him get off of TPN; despite early success he is now in rejection of the new organs. His mommy is a friend-of-a-friend, and I know they provide so much inspiration in the "sick kid world" (as Missy has named it so well). You can read about him at www.cotaforcooperk.com The Wheat family are also friends of friends...they are related to Jackie, our good friend. They just welcomed their first child into the world, Tristin was born at 1 pound, 8 oz, at 26 weeks. His family has a long road ahead to get him well and home with them. I know that literally hundreds of people whom we have never met have been touched by Tucker's story and have prayed for us during our darkest times. It has made a world of difference to us, and I hope prayers and love make a great difference for these two families.