the eric update - day 604: The ( Impending ) Great Escape.

we've been battening down the hatches for quite some time and today is the day we need to take it to the next level, since today odin finally mastered the complicated act of opening any unlocked door. and i think he's only weeks away from not being foiled by door knob covers.

so he now has the means to commence with his Great Escape that we're fairly certain that he's been planning.

now he just needs a motive and the opportunity.

thankfully, people occasionally take pictures of me and odin together.

the downside of being the designated Family Photographer is that i don't get as many photos of me and odin together as i might like ( although i must admit that i don't care to be photographed thank you very much ).

but i love this photo taken by odin's grandfather, eric the second.

we're wrestling, which is almost as much fun as eating pudding.

the eric update - day 600: Pudding Boy, Pudding Boy!

when presented with the communication opportunity to choose between chocolate pudding and yogurt, we all know that yogurt never really has a chance of being chosen. but it's fun to give him a chance to choose and hear him excitedly exclaim, "pud'in". and because eating pudding is so much fun it just seems natural to want to sing, so while serving the delicacy, it has become mandatory to sing the chorus to pony boy substituting pony with pudding.

but one must not, under any circumstances, appear to be taking away the pudding before it's completely consumed, or one will be eyed with suspicion.

the eric update - day 598: learning wants and needs.

whose bright idea was it to take odin to toys r us anyways?

we went looking for a decoy toy phone which we really do need so he can feel free to be as chatty with his imaginary friends as he wants to be without mucking up our real phone or inadvertently speed dialing 911.

of course, he only cares about what he wants which given his love of trucks and yellow school busses is probably not surprising.

but we just can't do it. we can't bring ourselves to buy him a big, yellow hummer. i mean, i know it's just a toy and it's not like we'll admit publically to ever posting photos to fuh2 ( warning, don't follow that link if looking at hundreds of photos of people flipping the bird or -the official Hummer H2 salute - is something you find offensive ).

but you really have to draw the line somewhere, right?

then again, if it was radio controlled and hit a top speed of around 40 miles per hour and had aftermarket paintball weaponry, then i'd be all over it.

the eric update - day 596: a little privacy, eh!

well, i guess i should take a hint. during his baths, odin now insists on keeping the shower door shut and playing with his bath toys all by himself. harrummph.

he will, though, occasionally humor me by banging on the door and yelling, "knock! knock!"

the eric update - day 596: odin studies up on the gyroscopic effect, fearing of an imminent pop quiz.

since kris finally fixed the ancient top that i initially agreed to fix for great grandma snowdeal but never really got around to actually fixing ( as if that's a new story ), odin was able to learn about the finer points of the gryoscopic effect. which is a very fun effect, indeed. and much easier to teach than, say, ficticious forces.

maybe that's why tops are one of the oldest recognizable toys found on archaeological sites. at least according to the Always Authoritative ( read: sarcasm ) wikipedia. i have no idea how old this top is, but it's ooooooooooooooold ( read: humor directed at one of odin's grandparents who likely played with the top as a youngster ). probably circa the late 1950's? or early '60's?

the eric update - day 595: odin's epicurean adventures! chocolate covered dried cherries.

cause, you know, even though odin is relatively big for a micropreemie ( he's about 25 pounds, or around the 60th percentile on very low birth weigh growth charts ), he can still benefit from us sneaking in a few extra calories here and there :-)

Ingredients

2 cups dried cherries
16 ounces bittersweet chocolate, tempered

directions

it's easy! temper the chocolate so that after it has been melted, it retains its gloss and hardens again without becoming chalky and white. how do you temper? chop it into small pieces and then put it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so on high power until most of the chocolate is melted ( repeat if necessary ). use a blender or whisk or whatnot to break up the remaining lumps which will eventually melt. hopefully.

put a bit of chocolate on wax paper and check that it hardens with an even gloss to make sure it's tempered properly.

don't stand around admiring your tempering skillz because the chocolate will soon be too cool to easily coat the dried cherries. so snap to it and spread the cherries on a baking sheet and cover them with chocolate. roll them around a bit to ensure all sides are coated.

allow the chocolate to cool completely before you start gobbling them up.

the eric update - day 594: it's not a skinner box. but it is therapy.

no, we're not creating our version of a skinner box ( b.f. skinner's daughter swears she was never actually a lab rat either, longstanding rumors nothwithstanding ), but a regularly climbing in and out of boxes is part of odin's new therapeutic regime to address The Vision ( Motor ) Thing.

the full set of activities are meant to address issues above and beyond the specific edge detection/depth perception issues that may or may not be "real"; we've been taking him all over trying all sorts of stairs, little steps transitions and for the most part, he does great. sometimes he trips and sometimes he doesn't want to walk up stairs but i'm guessing all kids do that :-)

and, of course, this week at the preemie play group he aced all the things he "failed" last week, surprising the staff. or maybe he just really good at compensating. ).

in any case, even if he doesn't have any any edge detection deficits, he still has to work on his sense of proprioception which is often underdeveloped in micropreemies and can lead to poor body awareness, standing balance, bilateral coordination and motor control.

we don't notice it so much anymore, but The Experts still think he walks like a drunken sailor, albeit one who is extremely good at compensating for his inebriation.

for those that are interested in these sorts of things, the abridged list of activities are:

"1. walk on various gradients, terrains and uneven surfaces.
2. walk up and down inclines and declines. be sure to do these activities in all types of weather: sunny, cloudy, windy, wet surfaces.
3. holding eric's [sic] hand, encourage him to walk on raised surfaces such as a curb, cement divider, cracks, railroad ties or embankments.
4. encourage eric [ sic ] to participate in climbing activities that involve getting in and out of boxes, laundry baskets, stepping onto and off telephone books. these activities will improve his perception of making judgements that involve distance and depth.
5. using a full length mirror have him face you and encourage him to imitate various body motions such as: reaching for the ceiling, swaying from side to side, shaking your head, bending to touch your toes, marching in place, making arm circles, lifting one foot off the ground.
6. place a ladder or dishpans on the ground and have eric [ sic ] stepin and out of each section or rungs in the ladder.
7. place a long piece of masking tape on the ground and encourage eric [sic ] to follow the tape with his eyes as he "walks the line".
8. when putting pants on, have eric [sic] stand up and holdonto your shoulders as he lifts one foot up to put his foot into the hole of the pant leg. this is a great activity to estimate depth and improve balance and motor control at the same time."

as always, feel free to share your suggestions :-)

the eric update - day 591: lounging in the library.

a picture is worth a thousand words, no?

been busier than usual of late, so more photos and less words :-)

you can click on each image for a brief description.

the eric update - day 588: making the mundane A Really Big Adventure.

or, how to turn a half hour grocery shopping trip into a two hour learning opportunity :-)

you can click on each image for a brief description.

the eric update - day 587: sledding!

can you believe odin has never been sledding before today?

you can click on each image for a brief description.

the games one plays while the barney-er is barney-ing.

while odin was doing the barney thing, i wondered how accurately i could center the camera lens in the pupil of my eye.

the official rules state that no tripod can be used and bonus points are awarded for almost completely filling the pupil with the reflection of the camera lens.

i declared myself the winner of this round with myself.

the eric update - day 583: The Vision ( Motor ) Thing.

today, while at odin's preemie play group we learned a bit more about his eyesight.

first, he had his eyes re-examined with a handheld diagnostic tool, which is really only meant to screen for eye problems and not give a definitive number. but regardless, the number it did return was -3.8 for each eye, which is slightly better than his -5.0 diagnosis, but my guess is they're probably both wrong given the limits of how the measuring is being done and his "real" diopter is probably somewhere between the two values. keep in mind that a diopter of -4.0 translates to about 20/280, meaning that what a person with 20/20 vision can see at 280 feet ( 85 m ), he could only see at 20 feet.

to further complicate matters, we received the written report from his previous assessment and it's possible that something we initially dismissed as inconsequential, may be of consequence.

you may recall that the woman who performed his functional visual consultation noted that he seemed to be having trouble walking on unfamiliar territory, but we didn't think too much of it, because he so quickly conquered new terrain. he was so adept that it didn't really occur to us that he might just be really good at compensating for other issues.

from the written report [ emphasis added ]:

"Qualitative differences were noted in his ability to maintain his balance, equilibriium responses and reactions to overall stability. These skills may be impacted by his visual acuity and newness in having had limited opportunities and experiences to respond and react to distance and depth decisions.

Eric's overall visual motor development would benefit from increased opportunities that would promote body awareness, challenge standing balance, promote bilateral coordinate and motor control skills."

note the use of the word "may", which loosely translated means that odin has some visual motor development deficits that may or may not be caused by his vision loss. and i must say it caught me by surprise to see just how much compensating he's been doing. during our time at play group when tasked with new, new activities specifically meant to challenge specific aspects of his visual motor integration ( such as edge detection and depth perception while moving ), it was a little shocking to see how poorly he'd do.

at this point it's a too early to say anything definitive. odin might just need a little extra help with visual motor integration. or he might need a lot. at the very least, we already know he's astonishingly quick at compensating for whatever might be going on, which is better than not.

instead of freaking out while wondering if he'll have to live his life unable to detect edges while moving, we'll focus on our long list of new activities meant to stimulate his rapidly developing visual motor system.

if anyone has any suggestions for an adjustable ramp/stair system, i'd love to hear them; we'd like to be able to adjust the "rise over run" of the steps because he seems to be able to "learn" to climb stairs quickly, but it's not really apparent whether or not he can actually visually detect the edge of the steps and we'd like to constantly challenge his assumptions about what makes a step a step.

the eric update - day 582: Becoming a Barney-er.

notice the slight head tilt?

it means, "alright pops, you can take my picture. again. but you better not get in the way of barney on the tee vee."

and yes, i officially have to eat my comments made elsewhere. despite our best efforts, odin has made it known that he likes to watch barney and friends. and since it's on right around dinner making time then, well, it's too easy to be accommodating :-)

i hereby declare that there shall be no barney plush toys in the house, though! ( which, of course, means that the homestead will be filled with barney swag in the coming weeks. )

the eric update - day 581: two signs the elimination communication training is going well.

while i don't think an official communiqué from odin's throne is necessary, it's probably about time for an update on our progress with elimination communication as it's been thirty days since we decided to give "potty training" a go [ ahem ].

while i'd be lying if i said there weren't days when we wondered why we were trying to "potty train" odin so early, for the most part he and we have been making great progress. he's consistently mostly "accident" free during the day ( we still use diapers when he's sleeping ); as an added sine of progress, rather than needing to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes, he's "holding it" for several hours. and we're really proud that he's even figured out The Feeling - meaning that more often than not before he soils himself he runs over and says "oooh! oooh!", which is his way of letting us know that we'd better get him to the toilet, stat!

for the first couple of weeks, if he drank any liquids, then it was pointless of have him in pants since it was tough to get them off before an accident. but no more!

so while we didn't achieve fully effective elimination communication in a month, we do think it's quite a milestone to be comfortable enough to let him run around fully clothed with the beverage of his choice :-)

the eric update - day 577: at the playground on the warmest day of the warmest winter in, like, 235 years.

you can click on each image for a brief description.