Bean Play

Things are getting better. I decided I had to put up another post just to get that last depressing post off the top of the page. This week really is better though. My niece came to town and watched Bruce a few nights while Scott and I went out. She did fun things too: we went to the North End, made Indian food, rubbed John Harvard's toe, and took an official MIT campus tour (until Bruce completely melted down from boredom).

I had to go in for a blood test. I keep thinking, "Isn't this over yet?" Not yet I guess. I hate needles, blood, etc. Once I kicked a nurse. I didn't remember the experience, but my shocked mother did. She always said I'd be a terrible druggie because I hate needles, IVs, and swallowing pills. I never swallowed a pill until my senior year of high school when I had a running injury that required an anti-inflammatory pill. There was no liquid version, so I had to suck it up. Literally. Anyway, I look like a druggie this week. My arms are bruised with red holes where I've been jabbed. My eyes are a little baggy from getting up early and forcing myself to run a bit more.

Scott looks much better than I do. He has had a decent week. He had a very successful experiment in the lab and read through the last Harry Potter book. It is now sitting on the shelf waiting for me. All I need is time to read it...

Bruce is followed by a research team that studies premature infants and their development and we went in this week for a checkup. They see him for about 2 hours every 6 months. They have him do all kinds of tests and ask me lots of questions. One of the tests they did was to have him put small items in a narrow cup. They said his attention span was a bit short and his fingers weren't grabbing properly.

He had a 45-minute nap instead of a 2-hour nap that day. Not to mention he gets a little hyper when he has an audience. So I thought I'd test him at home. I gave him a bunch of uncooked black beans and two cups and let him go at it. I watched his fingers. They looked fine. He put beans in the cups and dumped them for an hour and a half. What was that about attention span? My attention span wasn't that long. I was bored with the beans after an hour but when I tried to take them away he wigged out. All in all, I think he's doing just fine.