The Other Shoe

After Cameron had MRSA, I always felt like there were going to be other things that came up with him. It was almost like I waited for them. Then he was diagnosed with the torticollis and low-tone. We made it through that but I still felt like something else would eventually pop up. I could never put my finger on it but I once told his doctor that I felt like I was just always waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. Don't get me wrong, I have made sure to enjoy him in my time of wait, but in the back of my mind I always wondered. Today, I no longer wonder.

About a month ago I took him for his 15-month well-check. I had some developmental concerns that I had noticed and I brought them up to the doctor. She was concerned as well and referred us to Early Intervention. EI is a federal program that is available to all children from Birth to 3 years. It has different names in every county but does, essentially, the same thing, which is to offer services to children with special needs at little or no cost to the family. Ours is called Early ACCESS. I was put in touch with a lovely woman there and we set up a time for her come to our house and evaluate him. ("They're going to valuate my baby brother?!?!" Owen asked me.) That's right, not only are their services free but they do everything in the most comfortable environment for the child, which is usually the home.

Jill came to our house today and, I'm happy to report, things went really well. Yes, there are still things to be concerned with, but overall I am very pleased with how it all went. She scored Cameron in different areas and said that she would have to calculate his score at her office and get back to me, but that she was pretty sure he would qualify for services. (You have to have a 25% delay in any area to qualify. Although, she said that being premature automatically qualifies him.) I asked her if we were just looking at a delay or if it could be something more serious, i.e. autism. She said he does have one red flag that could suggest autism (He used to say "uh-oh" but no longer says it. Loss of a skill or language is a red flag.) but that he is so young and has so many other promising things that she thinks it is more of a delay than anything else. She kind of feels like I do in that Cameron is just one of those kids that does things on his own time. His doctor and I have both said that about him. I mean, he came into this world on his own time (Lord knows I was not prepared for a baby on December 21st!) and that's the way he has been ever since. He just likes to do things when he is ready and he hates when you tell him otherwise! So, Jill said she would get back to me as far as where to go from here but it looks like we will be setting up some in-home therapies for him where they will also teach me different things that I can do with him.

I have been so worried/stressed out/concerned about this for the last month and today I can finally say that I am at peace with it all. The bottom line is that regardless of what is going on with him, it is a proven fact that early intervention can only help him. Not intervening when a problem exists, can definitely hurt him. So I am completely confident with the path that we have chosen for our sweet little guy. And no matter what happens, I will pick up that other shoe, put it on, and walk this journey with him proudly and happily, just as he has taught me to do over and over again for the last 16 months.

He Don't Need No Stinking Wife!

Throughout our nearly 8 years of marriage I have on many an occassion asked Cody how he ever managed to live without a wife to take care of him. Of course, he says that he does not need me to take care of him and could get along perfectly fine without me (though he would never want to, of course). Maybe we'll let the masses (or at least the 12 people who still read this blog) decide....

Upon returning home from a nearly 2-week visit in Murphysboro, Cody and I had this conversation:

"Cody, where are all your underwear?"

"You know, I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Me? You were going to ask me where your underwear are? I don't wear your underwear, as I have my own, so why would I know where they are?"

"Well, you do the laundry."

"Yes, dear, but I have been gone for almost 2 weeks and have not done any in that time."

He walks off, underwear still somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, as I contemplate a call to a PI to locate said underwear.

A few hours later, "Seriously!!!! WHERE ARE MY UNDERWEAR?!?!"

Apparently, he felt that the only logical reason behind the missing underwear would be that I was hiding them from him. Nevermind the fact that he WEARS THEM EVERYDAY and might know where they are. No, it's way more believeable that I went around collecting them all just to torture him.

So, maybe he doesn't need a wife, but his underwear does stay out of the Bermuda Triangle when he has one around.

**In case you're wondering, the drawers were located. By the wife, of course.

Historic Day for Newton, Slight Disappointment for the Muhs Crew

For those of you not in the know, Barack Obama visited Newton yesterday. I really thought this was a huge event for our little town and felt that it was important for my boys and I to be a part of it. I mean, after all, how often is it that the President of the United States visits your town, just a couple of miles away from your house?! Alas, his visit wasn't open to the public. Since it was a nice day out, I decided we would head to the park instead. As we were getting ready we heard a helicopter flying over our house. Owen and I ran out to the deck to see it. He said, "Welcome to Newton, Iowa, Barack Obama!!!" He was so excited. We got loaded up and I figured since I knew where he was landing I might as well just drive in that general direction and see what was going on. I turned onto the road where the plant is that he was going to and this is what I saw:

Naturally, you could not drive up and down this road. However, it just so happened that there was a park right there near the plant! As we were getting out of the car FIVE more helicopters flew right over our heads. I felt compelled to instill in my young son just how momentous this was in his life. Even if we didn't see him, the fact that we saw his helicopter and knew that he was yards away from us was still a big deal to me. I was moved.

"Owen! It's the President! This is such a special day for our town. Not everyone has the President come to their town. This is a historic day for Newton and for us."

"Yeah, cool! I'm going to go on the slide now!!!"

Apparently, though moved, he wasn't nearly as moved as I. Cameron was even more oblivious to the whole ordeal but stayed happy as long as he was shaded and well-stocked with Cheerios:

There was a decent amount of people up the road hanging out on the opposite side of the street hoping to catch a glimpse. I didn't think they'd see much and opted out of the short walk up there. Instead Owen played on the slides and took time out to be cute and entertain his brother:

We did that for a bit until we saw the caravan of cars transporting the POTUS from his helicopter to the entrance to the plant. As people walked back to the park parking lot, I talked to a few of them. I asked one woman if she got to see anything and she told me they could see him waving in the car and she got a great picture of him! Of course, I was bummed that I didn't walk up there so I lured Owen away from the park by telling him that we could go look at these:

We walked around the area for a bit and people were still hanging out waiting for him to come out. Hoping to get a blurry picture of him waving at us through his tinted window, I decided to stick around as well. We walked up and down the road checking stuff out. Like all the news crews in the parking lot:

A nice man was even handing out little flags and gave Owen one. I let him accept it, even though I feared it may be used as a weapon against his brother at some point in the afternoon.

We stood across the street from the plant waiting...and waiting....and waiting. We stared at the entrance checking for any signs of him but mostly saw policemen, drivers, and possibly some Secret Service.

An hour and a half and 3 lbs. of Cheerios, crackers, fruit snacks, and Goldfish crackers later, we were told to stand behind a certain squad car because he would be coming out soon. The obligatory first helicopter took off, which someone in the crowd joked was carrying the First Dog. About 20 minutes later the caravan started making it's way out of the entrance. This was it. This was what I had put off my childrens' lunch and nap for. They were hot, hungry, and tired but, dammit, they were going to see the President of the United States!!! My small moment of history was finally going to happen. I was going to have a cute picture of him to post here and show everyone....

And that was my historical moment. I'm certain he was in one of these two cars, though which one exactly I cannot be sure. Hell, he could have been driving one of them and I wouldn't have been able to see. They zoomed by us so fast and my two children looked up at me like, "That's it? That's what you made us stand here for? Some cars driving by? WHERE IS THE FREAKING PRESIDENT YOU PROMISED US?!?!" Ok, maybe those weren't the exact thoughts on their faces, but I assure you it's close.

We were then told we couldn't move until the helicopters took off.

Not exactly the outcome I had hoped for but we still had a good time. And it was actually pretty interesting to see how everything played out. Oh yeah, and we got to get Burger King on the way home.