Reality checks

I have noticed lately that Aimee is getting to be more of my companion and friend. Obviously at 3 she is hardly in the baby stage at all anymore, but there were still times when I would look at her and see that little baby face and go all the way back to when I first met her in the delivery room. She can now carry on full conversations with me, ask intelligent questions and even goes through her own frustrations about life. I have noticed lately though that she doesn't always respond when I call her name or ask her a question. Sometimes the answers I get are from left field. At first I was going to have her hearing checked to see if there was a buildup of fluid in there from one of the million colds we seem to have dragged into the house this winter. But in talking with her daycare teacher it seems as though the problem isn't with her hearing, it is actually with her auditory processing. Seems like big words don't they? Apparently she hears things and then the response to those hearings are not always what we would deem as appropriate. The solution is supposedly in a speech pathologist. So I have phone calls into a therapy place that was recommended to me and I know we will await the insurance coverage phone conversation before we can even begin to try and solve this problem.

All in all though, it's pretty minor; she's healthy (relatively right now with her runny nose and cough), she's one of the happiest children I have met and she is also one of the most caring. She can definately test my nerves but now I am wondering if it isn't so much as she isn't listening to me as she isn't processing me. Makes a difference, that is for sure.

In other news, we are on week 3 of no Nana and Papa next door. It's killing me that is for sure. I love having my parents next door to us. There is no one to share my 12 roll papertowel score at Target or my buy one get one free at the Pepperidge Farm store on the raisin swirl bread. Sure I have a loaf in the freezer because who can pass up one of those, but still. It's been a little sad not having them right next door as a diversion and the added company on random supermarket outings. Of course I still talk to my mother at least 3 times a day, my dad maybe twice a week because he isn't quite of the phone talking variety. We call each other for the silly little things like how she found the cutest bathing suit/beach cover up for Nicole and would a 2T be too big? Or about how she is waiting for a check to arrive from her insurance company and when it arrives I have intricate details about where I deposit and distribute the money. They also don't forward all of their mail so I get the task of having to mail it out in bulk once a week. I know they love getting their packages so I try to include some good tidbit in there for them. Last week it was a copy of the local paper so that they can keep up to date on the happenings on the south shore of Boston. Six more weeks and they will be home with us. I looked online for some airfare but it's still pretty expensive to fly the three of us (again no budging on getting Gary to agree to it) down there but I still look from time to time in case something comes up that looks good.

And lastly, Saturday night is the big night. Gary turned 40 last week and I was sick with the "can't go too far from the ladies' room" variety bug so we didn't get to offically celebrate this milestone. But, this Saturday is his party. I have reserved an area of the bar at Joe's Bar and Grill in Hanover and 30 of his closest friends and relatives will be there to celebrate his 40th. I know he didn't quite ring it in as fun as he could have with me in my sweats and on the couch and all so hopefully this will make up for it.