September 12, 2010

Daddy got up early again this morning. I changed him and made his breakfast. He sat at the bar and read the paper and I got to lay back down. It was a beautiful day and he spent some time outside on his swing, looking at the paper. After lunch I needed to get him in the shower. I had him go to his bathroom and try to pee and he did a little. Then I had him follow me to my bathroom. I ask him to undress, piece at a time. When we got down to his depend, I asked him to take it off and just as he did, he started peeing. I told him to pull it up and step in to the bathtub. He did and that helped because then I had him in the tub. He finished peeing down the drain and I told him we needed to wash it down. I started the water and then turned on the shower. At first he said, "Ohhhhhhhh", but then he got use to it and he was okay with it. I have to tell him to wash all his parts. I wash his hair, which he doesn't like, but I just keep telling him what I need him to do and we get it done. Daddy's really funny about his feet. He hates to have his socks off and he hates to walk on bare feet. When I'm dressing him, the last thing we put on is his socks and shoes. I have him sit on the toilet seat. He will step from mat to mat and not let his feet touch the floor. It's hilarious. After he brushed his hair and shaved, I had him sit at the bar. Starting in July, Simon and I have had Dad sign his name, draw a man for us, spell words, and work some math problems. Dad usually draws a man with his body facing front, but his head turned in a profile. The last two times, the face has been facing forward. I have to prompt him to draw a body, hands and feet. He often draws shoes that look like a heeled boot. Today I had him spell fourteen words and he spelled thirteen correct: rock, North Carolina, school, Rutherfordton, newspaper, television, chemistry, pediatrician, Mississippi, motorcycle, hospital, aspirin, and orange. He spelled academic, acidemic. He correctly did 5/8 addition problems, 5/5 multiplication problems and 5/5 subtraction problems. He seems to enjoy doing tasks like that. Betsy kept Dad tonight while Van and I went with his family to take his mom out for her birthday. We had a great time. We just got home and I'll be getting Dad in bed soon. Dad's 88th birthday is Thursday, so we'll be celebrating that!! Susie