Tonight I had to make a run to Walmart. Bob actually requested Poptarts and finally got it across that he wanted more of those banana muffins I had found on discount. Probably just makes us fat, but we don't eat them all day, and it really perked him up. We usually eat something like that when he gets up in the middle of the night. Then we don't have to worry about breakfast when the meals on wheels come so very early, around 10:45am with lunch! Also saw a box of Whoppers as I was leaving, and turned back to pay for them - one of his old favorites. Gave him a handful when I got home, he felt great to see something he always loved - and not enough to add that many calories. He needed just a little poking on his calories anyway.

I got him some multiplication flashcards. They said his math was not affected, but I thought it good to check it, and also KEEP it where it is automatic. They got a little harder as it went on with problems on both sides of the cards. Only one did I need to give him a paper and pencil to work out, as he had trouble doing it in his head. Most were automatic from childhood learning.

Found a set of 4 puzzles that are 25 pieces (remember, he has vision problems too) Most were Barbie and such, but I was delighted to see one with a train coming around a mountain, Unites States map, wild animals & sea animals.

We have been trying to practice read from an old fashioned 2nd grade reader that I have from my childhood. I decided to see if there were any Little Golden Books he might be able to read, and found 3. 2 of them say DC Super Friends and seem to have a mix of different super heroes in them, and one is the Amazing Spiderman. I hope he can read them, but maybe not. He may be in the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish stage. Time will tell.

I have a phonectics workshop with many many worksheets from my sons childhood, that I found in our attic when there a couple of weeks ago. The first part is dealing with rhyming words. It has a double function for us, since he is practicing what the pictures names are as he tries to figure out if they rhyme. He really, really doesn't get rhyming at all. I read him some simple poems last night to try to give his ear a listen to how rhyming makes a difference. We also talked about songs with rhyming words, he didn't grasp it. I tried singing, Oh Baby Love, my Baby Love, You are the ONE I'm dreaming of , then sang it like baby love, baby love.....I want to see you. Don't think he could tell the difference. ANYWAY, I looked for something else that I now wish I hadn't given away while moving, thinking I'd never need them again. Magnetic plastic alphabet letters. I finally found them with help at Walmart, I had given up when a girl walked thru and knew where to look. So today I asked him what rhymed with cat, and he said cat. I then put down the word and kept switching the first letter - bat, fat, gnat, mat, vat, sat, pat - he came up with BRAT! I think this is going to be helpful in helping see that the END of the word stays the same (or at least sounds the same) to make a rhyme.

I usually change his depends when he goes down for a nap. About 2 weeks ago, I bought the male urinal and when I took off the old ones and cleaned him up, I'd hold it in front of him. He asked me why. I said to retrain his bladder control so that one day, when he could walk and stand in front of the toilet, he'd be ready to do it himself. He is successful in producing urine about half the time. I can't say he has CONTROL of his bowels, but we are usually at home and in the TV room it is just a few steps to the bathroom right off there, and if we are in the bedroom, I have a commode right there. So, he can tell he is going to, and we get in there and have not have any accidents happen since the first couple of weeks he came home in April.

NOW FOR ME!!! I have been wearing the same clothes so long, that my husband used to call them my uniforms! Fact is, I am terribly easy on they last forever. The ones that have had a problem, I wear for dirty work. ANYWAY, while at Walmart I grabbed 3 pairs of capri pants and 4 tops. It does seem to me that I've been wearing a lot of my sons old golf shirts because I can't seem to find any of my own. I can't even remember what they looked like so don't know if I didn't have enough, or just shoved them somewhere in all this and have forgotten where they are. Anyway, new tops and pants are here! They were cheap & pretty! Also got 2 Genie Bras and for the first time in my life, my left strap is not hanging down and my nips aren't preventing me from wearing something lightweight!