Goggles and patient cousins

We’re trying to get Cam to wear goggles when he swims, because he likes to put his head right under sometimes, and we don’t want him losing his contact lenses in the pool!

Meagie and Craig slept over last night, and I played them an ABC sing-along DVD. I explained that it’s easier for Cam to watch the TV right up close, and they very patiently made room for him, and watched right up close, too. (I realise this is not necessarily a long-term solution...!)

A few things have lifted our spirits lately. Cam has started recognising us in photos. My Mom has put pictures of me in some of his visual therapy powerpoint presentations that she has designed for him (who ever said Grannies weren’t techno-savvy?!). The other day I was drinking my morning coffee from a mug that has on it a picture of me and Cam. He pressed his nose right up to the mug then pointed at the picture of me and said, ‘Mom’ – and that was without his lenses in. This is technically impossible, and definitely miraculous. He did the same with a photo of Murray; then he also got hold of my ID book and did the same again, even pointing to my eyes and nose. Yesterday he was pointing out two of his cousins in photos – ‘Gark’ (Mark) and ‘Niggie’ (Nici)!

Cam just doesn’t seem to notice or interact with other kids much. They certainly don’t freak him out, but he doesn’t really play with them (Meagan and Craig are an exception, to some extent; I suppose because he knows them well). He also hasn’t grasped the concept of sharing, because he can’t see that there are other children playing with various toys and that if he happens to stumble upon a toy, and if that toy happens to be in another child’s hands, he can’t just take it. When Murray dropped him at school the other day, he hung around and played a bit with Cam on the carpet. They were playing with a cow and making cow noises, etc. One of the little boys in Cam’s class came up and said, ‘Hello, Cam!’ He had a pig, which he proceeded to give to Cam. And then Cam gave him the cow. And then they all made piggy noises and laughed. Progress!

‘That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.’ – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18