Gray

It's a quarter past cookie time, and I have turned my nose up at a trashy movie in favor of doing a little writing this morning while Erik settles down into his nap. I treasure mornings when I have some time to myself, but this morning I can't seem to find satisfaction in anything. Erik and I had our breakfast together, and afterwards I strapped on some ankle weights and did a 30-minute aerobics video. Erik rolls around on the love seat while I sweat, and his hair stands straight up from the static he generates. Sometimes he will exercise with me, standing in front of the TV screen, rocking back and forth on his feet, and counting, "One, two, one, two." Eventually he lost interest and wandered off into his room, trying the front door to see if it was unlocked on his way by. After I finished and had a shower, we moved on to blocks. He doesn't understand the concept of blocks quite yet and refuses to stack them. I tried building things myself and letting him demo them instead. He brought me some books, and when I turned the page in one about construction equipment, he said, "Backhoe." Sure enough, there was a backhoe. Color me surprised.

I believe I have a parent group hangover from yesterday morning. Truthfully, if the roads had been better, I would have driven out to the mall instead. It was icy, though, and I opted for sitting with a cup of hot coffee in my favorite rocking chair in parent group. I was a little on edge yesterday morning for some reason, so I tried to keep as quiet and superficial as possible. It went fine, but I don't feel any better for attending. I still have a bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing. I'm tired of talking in that setting.

Erik has learned to activate the drum machine feature on his new keyboard. When it begins its jaunty little beat, he taps his chest and says, "ERRWWIK!" as if he is going to launch into a spirited rap song. I believe he would if he had the words to use. Apparently, Brian has been rapping for him (hugely hilarious in itself), and Erik has obtained a little of his own flavor. Brian steadfastly claims he did not teach Erik the chest tapping thing. Scary. However, this week Erik sang, "We will, we will, ROCK YOU! BOOM BOOM." Is he going to be the next LL Cool J or Ted Nugent? Only time will tell. I call him DJ Skooby Skoob, especially when he has his truck on its side and is spinning the wheels like records. He has made great progress in language skills in a period of one week and is now using the words "gone," "goes," and "comes." He says things like, "Daddy gone." If a ball rolls away from him, he will simply say, "Goes." I kept his orthotics off this morning, but noticed that he walked on his toes. I attributed this to (1) the floor being as cold as a mountain glacier and (2) his muscles and tendons being painfully tight first thing in the morning. I'll put him in them first thing from now on and let him have the evenings unshackled.

Erik had the pleasure of meeting our local symphony conductor's mother recently. She brought him a wonderfully soft ABC throw pillow and a little truck. He apparently repeatedly said, "Neat!" and "Wow!" upon receiving these kind gifts. She left my mother's house with a copy of The Strangest Song and was quite taken in by Erik's charm. My mother also told me that the symphony conductor himself plans on reading this book. How lucky am I? What better resources to have in my arsenal for Erik's experiences in the world of music? I hope to bounce some ideas off of him in the future in terms of getting Erik music lessons and finding a suitable instructor for whatever he decides to play or sing. After finishing The Strangest Song, I believe wholeheartedly that music lessons are a must and will be as important as any of the therapy sessions we have used to strengthen his body and mind, whether he has a talent for it or not. Music seems to almost feed these children. One of Erik's most used words is the word "music" itself. It actually comes out as almost a demand.

The photo I am attaching to this post is the view out my office window at this very moment. The vegetation looks as if it has been dipped in powdered sugar, as we have had temperatures in the 20s and fog. I really miss seeing the mountains when I open the blinds in the morning. Seeing something so gigantic is missing is a bit unnerving and makes me feel a little off balance, as if I have lost an anchor.