Back at 100%...or maybe 110%

Tucker started feeling better Wednesday, and by Thursday he was feeling great! He is cracking me up, and has been since he got his little personality back. He has taken out every toy, even ones that he hasn't played with in months. My house was so uncluttered for a few days, but it was only because Tucker slept for that time. Now that he is back up and around, stuff is everywhere! Not that I'm blaming all of the mess on him, but now I have to chase after him and keep him busy, so I don't have any time or desire to clean up....which is fine with me:) He cries when I take his toys away at bedtime and naptime. Tucker has slept in the "big bed" with Chris and me off and on since last November when he got his trach out. I finally got him into a good bedtime routine starting last Sunday night....but maybe it only worked because he was tired and sick. The last few nights he has really fought bedtime, but I think it is because he is trying to make up for lost playtime. Last night he had about 30 toys in his daybed. He wouldn't let me get rid of even one; So I let him keep them in the top bunk of the daybed, since he sleeps in the trundle. That lasted about an hour, when I went in there and found every single toy in his trundle bed, with no room left for him! I had to take every toy out except for Mike his turtle. Five minutes after that, he fell asleep. It is very obvious that he is bored and so ready for some interaction. He has been carrying around two toys, his potato head and plastic dog. He bosses them around, it is hilarious! On Wednesday he was telling Potato Head, "sit up, tay-toe head" over and over, so I peeked into the room. He had his dog set up on a pillow to watch TV with him, and he wanted Potato Head to sit there, too. Well Potato Head is round, so he kept flopping over, and Tucker got SO mad! I couldn't decide if it was cute that Tucker had an imagination, and thought that Potato Head had the ability to obey him...or a little worried that Tucker expected a plastic toy to do what he said. I went in and explained to Tucker that Potato Head is round, so he can not sit up by himself. A few minutes later I heard Potato Head hit the floor, as Tucker screamed "sit up Tay-to Head!" So Potato Head was removed from the room until his shoes could be located... Tucker's temper is getting him in trouble already, mainly because he is trying to do too much too soon. He is not happy anytime that I make him stop to rest. He is also getting mad at himself for not being able to do things as easily or as quickly...I keep telling him to SLOW DOWN....he is getting way too frustrated. Tucker has missed 7 1/2 days of school, and school is cancelled Friday due to Parent/Teacher Conferences, so Tucker will go back on Monday. For the first few days of sickness, Tucker stared out the window asking to "ride the bus", and he carried around his booklet with the pictures of all of his classmates. Then he got more sick and just slept, and I was starting to wonder if he forgot all about school. Thursday afternoon Mrs. Joy came back to our house for Speech Therapy; she hadn't been to our house in quite a while because of some insurance hold-up. I told Tucker that Mrs. Joy was coming over, and he ran over to the window, saying "Joy, Joy" waiting for her car to come in the driveway. I told him we had to wait for a long time, because we still had 45 minutes until his appointment. When she pulled up in the driveway Tucker was so excited, he said "Joy in the dribeway." He took her hand and brought her right to his work table to get started. Mrs. Joy said she could tell that Tucker had been out of school for awhile, he was desperate for attention, haha! It is pretty boring staying home with me for 10 days. For the first few minutes she had to be firm with him, then he fell back into the routine and she was pretty impressed. I love that Mrs. Joy has known Tucker since before he was 2...and back then he was such a mess! Of course, he still is;) But their therapy sessions used to be an hour of screaming and fighting...once Chris was home on a Thursday and almost went in and stopped a session, he couldn't take it. Now Tucker is so happy to see Mrs. Joy and he works very hard. We still only understand maybe 50% of what Tucker says. This leads to a lot of repeating and frustration. We have noticed that lately Tucker's problem is more with pronunciation, not vocabulary, which is a huge improvement. He seems to have the words, he just needs a lot of work to get them out of his mouth so that other people can understand him. Sometimes we will think he's saying something, only to realize he is saying something more complex or longer-something we had no idea he knew...so this is great. He also communicates to get his needs met, not to really have a conversation. Every once in a while he will point out random sights, like "beeg truck" (big truck) so for now that is what we count as a big conversation. This weekend I have plans for a Spa Day with Lauren on Friday, and a girls' day with the Galatas/Christian ladies on Saturday-we will shop, eat lunch, see a movie, and have a sleepover:) We haven't done this in years, haha! And I have never been to a spa. So I'm looking forward to it, and I know that Tucker will love having "Boys' Weekend" with Chris. They will go to Cabela's, play outside, and probably spend Saturday night at Mrs. Mia's. All in all, Tucker will be very happy to feel better and be out of the house. Me, too!