I'm thankful for . . .

1. My family. Not everyone has a great family. I'm lucky I do.
2. My kids.
3. Ben's therapists and teachers. He is getting more here than he ever has and I don't take that for granted.
4. The Air Force. In a time of high unemployment, I don't have to worry about Rob losing his job.
5. Food. I never have to worry about having enough to eat.
6. Books. I never have to worry about being bored. New ones are always coming out.
7. The library. I don't have worry about running out of #6.
8. Yarn. I have a lot of it. I love it. It makes me happy.
9. That I have a wonderful husband who cooks me breakfast on Thanksgiving.
10. My house. It may be mouse-infested and drafty, but I'm not out in the cold.

I could go on a lot longer, but you get the idea.

Fox Video . . . again!

I finally have Ben's filter and air pump all set up and he's thoroughly enjoying his fish tank. His fish even have a new glittering treasure chest decoration enhancing the tank's underwater atmosphere. Have an interesting fish tank is one of the easiest things we can do for Ben. He enjoys it so much and visits it throughout the day. Sometimes these visits are accompanied by flapping and yelling, but sometimes, like this morning, he just pulls up a stool and sits there, watching them. I thought about getting him a more elaborate tropical fish tank set up but once I looked at the main goal - to keep the tank visually stimulating - I decided that simple gold fish were the way to go. 13 cent comets from Petco are amazingly hard to kill. And so, Ben is happy. For now.

Verbal Gains and Crazy Sleep Habits

Ben was awake when I went to sleep last night and awake when I woke up this morning. I have no evidence that he slept. I must assume he did, as he always does, but I can't know for sure. I've given him just a little bit of the Yeast-Aid, (less than 1/4 tsp) for the past few days, and boy, that stuff is potent! His doctor wants him to have 1/4 tsp twice a day, but that is something we're definitely going to have to work up to. He is making a great amount of progress in his language, and I'm dearly hoping it sticks. He's trying so hard to make sounds and words, it's sweet to see him being so earnest. His teachers and therapists have noticed it, and I think the Yeast-aid has helped increase his concentration, for all the of the other negative side effects it has. PROMPT speech therapy has been a big help too. I don't think we'd have seen this progress without it. His speech therapist really wants him to have OT privately as well, but I've had difficulty securing that. Tricare wants me to travel 30 miles each way every week in Washington DC traffic. I'm not going to do that, I'm afraid. So I'm looking into other ideas.