A Plant Among The Weeds

This year has been insane for us. Hard, hard, hard. And yet good. If you've followed the saga at all, you probably know a little. Blah, blah, blah...lots of stuff...and then June rolled around. I was finally making peace with the fact that I was no longer in Young Women's. The weather was weird. Cold and wet, wet, wet. I got called as YW Camp Director and had to plan for camp fast. Between the weather and my new calling, my beloved gardening plans were put on hold. By the time camp was over, the endless testing for Preston had begun. I felt like I lived at doctor offices, seeing specialist after specialist and wondering what insurance would cover and whether or not we would get anywhere with a diagnosis still. By this point, it seemed too late and rather pointless to plant a garden. I was sad, but I decided to get over it. There was just too much going on this year. A garden was not at the top of my list. But as friends and family members with gardens began harvesting vegetables, I felt a loss. I love gardening. And to make matters worse, I lost all three of my fruit trees this year. Grrr... A couple weeks ago, I went out to clean up some toys and glanced over at the weed pit that once was a garden. I did a double-take and quickly ran over to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. Sure enough, there was a squash plant growing in the middle of this poor, neglected piece of earth. I can't describe the feeling that came over me. I was overwhelmed! It was like a dim light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. The slightly more mature and pensive side of me reflected over and over at the significance of this little plant. Symbolic. Seeds planted ages ago, long forgotten and recently neglected, were growing. The fruits of my labor (though not recent labor) could be seen amidst the chaos. I was overflowing emotionally.

Preston's multitude of tests this summer qualified him for the school district's special ed preschool class. It took awhile to feel good about it, but I knew he needed extra help. With a diagnosis (or a few) and much research and follow-through on my part, we decided to start therapy with Preston. Expensive. Overwhelming. But we felt it was necessary to do what we could and prayed it would help. He began occupational therapy for his sensory processing issues. I read about nutrition, added supplements, and have tried removing as many processed foods from our diet as possible. And he began a program called, "The Listening Program," essentially classical music that has been researched to help develop the brain in stages. Anyway, it's incredible. I almost don't dare talk about it for fear I'm wrong or it will change or go away or I will wake up from this dream...but...something is working. Preston's sensory issues are much more minimal than they were a couple months ago. Things like being thrown in the air and spinning around don't scare him the way they used to. He used to have a death grip on Marcos at even the idea at being thrown in the air. Now I watch as he giggles being thrown high in the air. He now tolerates slight spinning on the tire swing as well, something I never would have dreamt happening for my little man. And his vocabulary has increased tremendously. Today I took the kids to the Aquarium. A couple months ago we went with Marcos and he would barely put his hand in the water. Today he touched all the sea creatures on display, as well as the sting ray. The moving, swimming, live, slimy sting ray. I couldn't believe my eyes. But it happened. He is more alive. He is excited. He asks questions. He answers questions. He plays with Dylan and friends all the time now. He even fights with him differently. Does it mean our trials with Preston are over? I doubt it. But I have to say that my garden reminded me a great deal of the struggles we have had for over four years with our little man. A lot of weeds. A big mess. Sadness. Fear. But it was all followed by this miraculous, unexpected little growth. Growth that came from a seed we planted. It came later and at a very unexpected time, but there it was. For once in my life I am speechless. Gratitude. Humility. Love. Awe.

Prestonisms

Here are a few of Preston's good ones from the past six months or so. He used to say or do something funny just here and there, but has become quite a jabber box, saying the most hilarious things all day long. Sometimes I wish I could just push record and remember it all, but it's impossible. There's no way to keep up with all the little things he says. But the few I managed to remember and write down are below.

• At the zoo, Preston asked me "What do the rhinos eat? What do the giraffes eat?..." The answer to most of the questions was hay, grass or trees. I said, "Most of them eat hay or leaves. But the tigers eat meat, don't they? Do you know what snakes eat?" He thought for a long time and said, "Um, um...pineapple."
• Marcos listens to talk radio a lot and many of the talk show hosts say, "The Reverend Jesse Jackson" in a very unique, deep voice. Marcos gets a kick out of having Dylan and Preston imitate the phrase. So out of nowhere, Preston says, "Jessie, the cowgirl, Jackson" referring to Jessie on Toy Story.
• I was wrapping his finger with new gauze one night and put some Neosporin on it. He said, "Is that cream, Mom? Are you putting cream on my finger?" I replied, "Yes, bud, I'm putting cream on your finger." "You're putting cream on my finger? Is it Krispy Kreme?"
• Out of the blue, Preston says, "Should we go to the dentist and get a bag of toothpaste-es?"
• Anthony was saying, "Preston's on the case." It's a phrase off of Max and Ruby that he and Dylan use as some silly game. Preston responds, "Anthony's on the loose."
• Dylan found a leftover firecracker in the road and picked it up. I told him to leave it there. "That's dangerous. Leave it there. It's a firecracker. It's called a grenade." We dropped Dylan off and as we drove away, Preston says, "That's a firecracker. It's a green egg." He paused and then proceeded to say, "It's a blue egg. It's a yellow egg. It's an orange egg."
• Preston was terrified at the firecrackers this year. I had to sit with him in the car, in the house and once hold him on my lap covering his ears. Poor thing! I asked him afterward if he liked the firecrackers and he said, "Yeah." Then he paused while he thought and said, "No, I don't like the firecrackers." I said, "Are they too noisy?" He replied, "No, they're too popping."
• I stopped to get some Scentsy flavors from my sister, Melissa. She let Preston smell one that we liked to see what he would do. He said, "Yum...that smells like good." She picked one that was too flowery and not our favorite to see what he would say to that. He sniffed the wax and said, "Ah... ah... ah chew."
• He was jumping on the couch one day and Marcos was trying to sleep so I told him to go play on the LoveSac instead. Dylan said, "Come here, Preston. You can roughhouse with me. He didn't know what roughhouse meant so he started barking like a dog, "ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff."
• He got a candy bracelet from his teacher at Primary. He was licking it instead of biting off the individual pieces. Then he would ask everyone he saw, "Hey, you want to try? You want to share my bracelet wis (with) me?"
• Preston was wigging out one day and talking about a snake being in his mouth. I looked several times and couldn't figure out what was going on. I finally looked again and saw a hair in his mouth. I guess it was a fairly good description after all.
• We were doing a science project from Dylan's "Big Bag of Science." We were using pipettes to mix colors. Preston was putting water from the pippette into a test tube. Before long, he started saying, "Look, I'm an elephant. Look at my trunk. I'm squirting my water."
• We were making food from Africa during our Africa unit. The picture on the cover of the cookbook we checked out from the library had a picture of several children on it, one who was a little black boy. He said, "Look, it's Anthony. He's with his friends. He's cooking. He's wearing a chef's hat."
• I gave Preston some veggie straws to eat. He loves them and refers to them as "edgy straws."
• Preston had a white towel wrapped around him and a baseball hat with a bumblebee on it. He jumped down the stairs and said, "Buzz bee to the rescue."
• After quiet time, he had the same white towel wrapped around him and said, "Look I'm a chicken. I'm a chicken" flapping his wings.
• I turned on some Primary music for the kids during lunch one day. After the song, Preston said, "Mommy, can we go to church now? Pa-lease?"
• Dylan was giving Preston a piggyback ride and started spinning him around and around. Preston started yelling, "I don't like it. I don't like it." After some teasing from Dylan (of course) Dylan finally put Preston down. Preston was really dizzy and didn't know what to do when Dylan set set him down. He yelled out, "Hey, Dylan, don't spin the house!"
• We were talking about moving for awhile and Dylan was pretty concerned wondering what we would be able to take with us to a new house. He would say, "Can my stuffed animals come with us? Can my bed come with us?" One day he said, "Can the door come?" I said, "No all the doors will stay." For weeks after, Preston would randomly say, "Can the doors come?" and bust up laughing. I would have to think a minute to figure out what he was talking about since it was completely out of context when he said it.
• Preston said in his prayer, "Please bless 'nee-vo-tion-nal' (devotional)..."
• He calls Joseph Smith, Joseph "Sniff."
• We were walking up the stairs and Preston said, "I'm cold." I said, "Well, let's go get in the tub then." He said, "You're hot" and I replied, "I am?" Then he randomly replied, "Marissa smells cheeto-ee."
• We were at Sam's Club and Preston was eating a churro. He looks over at me and says, "Thanks, Mom. You're the best!"
• Out of nowhere in the car on the way to music class he starts singing, "We wish you a berry Christmas. Happy you year." I had no idea he even knew that song.
• Preston is obsessed with Toy Story. He will randomly say, "I want to buy slinky dog" or "I want to buy Mr. Potatohead." One day he said, "I want to buy the evil Dr. 'poke chalk'."

Dylanisms

I have not been the best at documenting anything the past year. I guess three kids put me over the edge. ;) I did manage to jot down a few funny things Dylan said the past 6 months or so though. Gotta love this kid!

• Dylan was a bit frustrated with his chores one morning and said, "Mom, we need to have a new goal not to use as many dishes anymore." Of course, this coming from the child whose chore is emptying the dishwasher. Too funny!
• Anthony was trying to remember Dylan's middle name. He just couldn't seem to get it right. Dylan finally said, "Alberto. Like Albertosaurus, you know, the dinosaur. It's like pretty much the coolest middle name ever!"
• Dylan calls Cardiac Canyon at Cherry Hill, "karate-ak canyon" and calls sparklers "spark-cu-lers."
• I had to take Marissa out in the hall during stake conference. Marcos stayed on the bench with Dylan, Anthony and Preston (we were tending Anthony at the time). Dylan came out after it was over and seemed really excited it see me. He said, "Mom, during that last prayer I felt so good. It felt like Jesus was sitting right next to me."
• We were at Sam's Club and I spent more money than usual that trip. Dylan looked at me and said, "How much was it, Mom?" I told him and he said, "Phew, that's a lot of money. I think you should make it your goal to be more careful with our money." I smiled and said, "Dylan, that's been my goal for over ten years." He seemed surprised and said, "Oh, it has? Well, maybe you need another goal then."
• It was really hot in the house one day. Dylan came up to me and said, "Phew, it's hot in here. How much gra-dees (degrees) is it today?"
• Dylan had a few hard days in a row and lost the privilege to go to the zoo with the family. He was asking if there was anything he could do to earn it back. Marcos and I said, "Maybe, but you need to have a perfect night and a really good day tomorrow for us to even consider it." He got all serious and with a pensive look on his face said, "Okay, I will do it. I'll show you what a man can do."
• Dylan was asking me questions about how the printer prints paper. I told him that the computer tells it what to do and then it prints. He said, "Oh, well, it's kind of like the computer and the printer are friends. They have a symbiotic relationship."
• Dylan had put his swimsuit on to go outside with the hose in the backyard. I told him he couldn't because it was only about 50 degrees outside. In the meantime, Preston had gotten his swimsuit on and soaked himself with the hose. I told Dylan he was responsible for getting Preston dressed again since Dylan had broken the rules and was setting a bad example for his brother. I turned around and could hear Dylan as frustrated as could be with Preston putting the wrong foot in his underwear and pants, not paying attention at all. I said, "It's kind of frustrating getting him dressed, isn't it." He said, "Yeah, it really is." I said, "I know. I feel your pain, bud." He looked at me with a surprised look on is face. "Do you really feel my pain, Mom?"
• During devotional we were reading about Amlici and Alma and how Alma prayed that he would be able to save his people and God granted him power to kill Amlici. Dylan said, "Wow, God can do anything. Hey, I know something He could do. He could touch His finger to this room and it would be totally clean." I just smiled and said, "Yes, He could do that, buddy, but he's not going to so we need to get to work."
• Dylan said, "Mom, if I was a plant, do you know which one I would be?" I replied, "No, which one?" "A tumbleweed."
• Dylan was playing with his little sharks on the stairs. It was when we were studying about oceans. He said, "This top stair is the sunny zone. The second stair is the Twilight Zone. The next stair is the Midnight Zone. Then the Abyss and then the Trench."
• He was looking up sea creatures in a book we had checked out from the library. He said, "Mom, I know a lot about lots of different whales, but I don't know much about the Right Whale. Can we study about the Right Whale?"
• I put Dylan to bed and went back to check on him a few minutes later and found him looking at his scriptures intently. He saw me peeking in and he said, "I'm reading scriptures, Mom. There's something I'm trying to look up."
• The day Grandma Betty died, Dylan asked me if I could teach him an angel song so he could play at her funeral. I said, "Just a minute, bud. I will teach you after I make dinner." Slightly annoyed, he walked away and said, "Never mind. I'll just go see if I can make one up myself." He went into the living room and got his violin out and a few minutes later I heard him playing softly on the A string and singing "Angels, please take care of GG. Angels, please take care of GG."
• Dylan also made a paper with glitter and foam stickers that said GG on it that he said was to bring to her funeral.
• He also kept saying to me, "I just can't believe GG passed away. I really miss her." He's such a sweet soul. It was really hard for him to lose his great grandma.