We went to a friend's birthday party and Harrison, as usual, found one sucker to hold him on her lap all night while he happily watched everyone enjoying themselves around the house. He was a little annoyed when it was time to leave, but he did give out a lot of good waves goodbye.
He also got to go on a date with his babysitter and 4 of her friends, all med students and all fascinated by this medically complex child who immediately had them wrapped around his finger! They had all sorts of questions for her, about his condition, his feeding, his seizures, his development...and he is more than happy to be a teaching tool if he is going to get this much attention, especially from the guy who discovered Harrison's love of spinning in circles! His babysitter had asked me if I would like to "take the day off" so she could take Harrison apple picking and out to lunch and, gosh, I was so excited I couldn't wait for her to pick him up! Of course he had a wonderful time and was completely pooped by the time he came home SEVEN hours later!!!
Last weekend we went to a community production of Alice in Wonderland to see some of our friends in the show. They did an amazing job, and Harrison cooed and clapped his hands throughout the whole first act until he passed out. He loved the singing and dancing and he applauded at all the right times. Harrison absolutely loves live music...he was completely taken with our neighbor who brought out his guitar at our block party, and he is in love with his new music therapist who comes to the house once a month. So I know he will enjoy the next show we are going to see, Beauty and the Beast at the high school, starring our good friend in 3rd grade as Chip!
Harry still loves riding his horse Karina, too, and he sits up straighter and taller each week. With progress in development comes more toddler-like behaviors, which I just can't seem to complain about. He is a stinker, for sure...last week his regular instructor, who he adores, was running late, so the other instructor, who has worked with him a handful of times, took over. Also, a different volunteer took over to lead the horse. Well, he was just not interested in this. He cried and cried, even once he was up in the saddle, and when he finally calmed down and was smiling he actually refused to sit up!
Medically, Harrison has been very healthy except for a little cold in the beginning of the school year...until now. He has had a terrible cough/cold/fever all week, and unfortunately he will miss the Halloween festivities. Which means Mom and Dad won't have to help him eat all his candy. Bummer for us! He will put on his costume for pictures when he is feeling better, and I will post them of course.
His seizures have also gotten a little worse, and we are again contemplating changing his diet. We have an appointment with a new doctor next month...we'll see what that brings.
We hope all of our friends and family and their friends and family are safe and did not suffer too much damage from Hurricane Sandy. We feel extremely lucky, and I think about this every time I watch the news. We recently got a generator, and to our relief discovered that it works! Very lucky, since Harrison was just starting to get sick and, let's just say he has needed a lot of attention requiring electrical outlets. We also did not have any damage here, but for a few trees down in front of some houses on our street. I am still in disbelief of all the incredible flooding along the east coast and the snow in the mountains, and I am thankful that we were not effected. My heart goes out to everyone who has been.
