Beach day (shhhh!)

So, when left to our own devices, and the weather heats up to a balmy 75 degrees, what do two boys and a mum do? They go to the beach!

We were actually all dressed for church, but that last minute indecision hit and I'm a little ashamed to say I don't regret changing course! The boys and I haven't had too many unrestricted spaces to relax and enjoy each other in, without having something else to do or somewhere else to go. In fact, we enjoyed ourselves so much that we also missed our afternoon engagement at the swimming club, sad only because it was the last one before the summer holidays. But again, who wants to be swimming inside on the "hottest day of the year"? (not really, but the media like to claim it)

The beach was packed but we found a nice spot and settled down, near the river sheltered from the wind by dunes. This spot is our fave because the water is slightly warmer and there is no danger of getting doused by a wave. The boys played in the water for a while and then Adam started to play a new game. I don't know who started it, but he had this little rhythm of taking off his clothes (yes, all of them!), walking through the river a bit, then coming back to me and putting them back on. Then he would do the whole thing again. After a while we dropped the nappy and just had the shorts and shirt. Then after another while we spiced things up with a zip-up jacket over the shirt! Adam loved it, so much that he did it for an hour. Each round took about 90 seconds, so if you are the calculating kind of person you'll see that's about 40 times of clothes on/clothes off. But hey, he was happy, we were interacting, and the sun was shining, so it was very good.

I know I said I would post an update about the gluten free diet, and I haven't only because I don't trust myself to be reading in to things too much. I'm the first to admit I'm not exactly unbiased. But I really, honestly feel that Adam is more "there" now than he was 6 days ago. He has been much more verbal this week, much more switched on and cooperative (most of the time!), and much more settled, again not 100% of the time, but more than usual. Today's game was a new thing we had never done, and after he was (finally!) tired we laid down on the towel just looking in each other's eyes and pretending to sleep. "Eeep", Adam said, and pushed my head gently down onto the towel when I had looked up. Has he ever done that before? Heck, no!! That requires imagination and the ability to pretend, which Adam has never demonstrated having before now. Do I think not eating wheat for a week has made this happen? Can't say. But again, it's the subtle change in his whole demeanour that I can't put my finger exactly on but I can claim is there. It makes me excited--I will eat gluten free, dairy free muffins for the rest of my life if need be! (they are not good, at least not the ones I made. But Adam likes them, sweet boy!)

Anyway, two tired boys went to bed and now for the tired momma. So much for the filing!

Proof of why you shouldn't take tests

We had Adam's hospital appointment today for his hearing test under anaesthetic, which went pretty smoothly overall. The totally disappointing fact is that we know absolutely no more now than we did 12 hours ago before he was doped up and gassed out.

Despite being without a hubby this week, everything went well this morning getting to the hospital. Caleb was dropped to a friend to play with her daughter before going to nursery, and Adam and I had our pick of parking places at the hospital (not a common occurrence!) and pitched up at the desk at 8am exactly. By 9:10am he had the eye drops and pre-med, which left him as dopey as if he'd been smoking something very wacky. Dopey, but cooperative. I didn't stay for the "going under", since that's not really my favourite part of the whole event. One hour later the doctor was at Adam's bedside to explain what they had found.

To summarise the details, both ears had lots of wax which was cleaned. Both ears were free of "glue" or liquid behind the eardrum which clouds hearing, and because of this the tubes were removed from both of Adam's ears. The right eardrum has a small hole in it (why? I never found out either) but it shouldn't cause any problems. Thus, the final result: both ears clean and dry, no tubes.

Then for the hearing test result, and this is the kicker (am I watching too much World Cup?): He had no response in his brain to anything up until 100 decibels. Adam can obviously hear to even the most casual observer, but his hearing tests show him to be profoundly deaf. Having quickly researched it, 100 dcb is equivalent to a snowmobile or a motorcycle. The doctor trying to explain this to me was as baffled by it as I am. What does this mean?

What it means, he surmises, is that Adam's brain must have developed pathways for sound to travel that are different from that of a normal person's brain, and therefore do not show up on their tests. In other words, and as he was kind to admit: They don't know how Adam hears. I guess now that I think about it, we are farther along from this morning. We now know to look at Adam and go by what he is doing rather than what the tests and experts determine. Hmph. Should have known that all along.

We were home by 1pm, and met up with brother for a quick lunch. Then, because it was one of those rare beautiful and warm days, we headed for the beach. We spent all afternoon on the sand and at the playground, had an ice cream cone, and came home to drop two tired boys in the bath and in bed. Sigh, job well done (or at least done)!

I do have to say that Adam, despite having been gassed out just a few hours before, put on the most stellar show at the beach that I've ever seen. He managed to strip off all his clothes and out run me down to the water, nearly diving in head-first! This is the north sea, after all, sun or no sun. To be honest, I think he may have had the edge because I was laughing so hard! :)

What a day!

Let me recap a glorious day for you.

The day began bright and warm, with blue skies and sunshine galore...this week has been much of the same, in fact: a true Aberdonian dream. We set off for another round of Run, Jump and Throw at the local Grammar school. Adam settles right in for his hour of mischief, and Caleb and I set off for "fruities", his term for anything that is soft and chewy and tastes like fruit. We found the local Co-op food store, he found a pack of yogurt covered fruit pieces. On the way back we scoped out a shop called "Hamish Munro"...the clothes and shoes were a delight to look at and feel. I found the dress of my dreams. Too bad my wallet is not dreaming: £275!!! Oh well...back to the school.

After Adam's hour we set off along country roads for his Bowen therapy. We've gone several times now, but this session was by far Adam's best. He let Jan do her work for the most part, only hiding under the therapy table for a minute or two. He is responding well to the treatment, coming on in leaps and bounds. Full of leaps and bounds, as a matter of fact, as he seems to be climbing, leaping, jumping, running and bouncing all the time lately! After 30 minutes we were back in the car, home to get Dad.

After a quick lunch we set out for the beach: where else would you go in Aberdeen to enjoy the sun and get some homemade ice cream from the Washington?? One big tide pool, several huge rocks, two pairs of soaking, sandy trousers, and four scoops of ice cream later we were heading home. I caught more than a few pairs of amused eyes at our two lovely blonde boys trotting around in shirt, socks, shoes and grins--no trousers for either and absolutely no shame!! Caleb in fact was parading in his red Mr Men undies without a hitch--rode his bike like a champ for Dad, too. Only three "falls", but he gets a high-five for each so no tears!

Back home, it was a lazy evening feeding and bathing, finished off by a curry and Lost for mom and dad. Now all that is left is the Last Episode...which we will watch sometime next week...it's going to be a crazy one, but such is life.