Two seizures

Today I decided to take Nate out with me. One thing Gabe has mentioned a couple times is how I don't do much with the boys. Sure, I do a lot for them, but I don't tend to go out of my way to share activities with them. I'm usually doing cooking, doing stuff around the house, homework, or taking care of Jahno.

So today Nate and I left early to go to his appointment in town because I wanted to stop at Kohls to get the boys some new dress shirts and to get his glasses adjusted. 

On the way, I talked to Nate about his family. This never really happens because I always side-step the topic but I decided to see what he had to say about them. It was weird hearing him talk about his brother and sisters like he knew them (seeing as he hasn't spoken with anyone since he was seven years old). I learned that he has three younger siblings (Aaron, Breana, and Christina--who he taught to say "I--Love--You" when he was seven and she was five). And three older siblings: Victoria, Elizabeth, and Tiffany. Tiffany is my age. He is only one of two boys in his family. And his two younger siblings are living with his maternal grandmother, as far as he knew. 

It's enlightening to just give your undivided attention to somebody.

The topic then went on to other things, as if we had been talking about school before chatting about what we were going to do this summer. Later, we had his appointment at Pathways for an initial assessment for services. I was quite impressed with him, to be honest. He showed a maturity I'm not familiar with in the way he expressed himself about his issues and past. This could be because he simply wanted to impress his audience of three inquiring and somewhat sympathetic adults. He impressed me, which probably was unintended. 

I had to step out for a few minutes to feed Jahno and shortly after I came back, Nate had a seizure in the office. I was annoyed. Here I was burning up in that stuffy office, a cranky-tired and squirmy baby on my hip, my phone kept vibrating, my mounds of mommy-debris all over the place, and a clipboard filled with paperwork I had to somehow fill out one-handed in the next ten minutes before I booked it to my final exam. And Nate has a seizure, which I knew he brought on himself. Oh, well. I wanted to cry by the time I left that place, knowing I would be--once again--late to class with my mind elsewhere. 

Gabe had driven into town to do the switcheroo, and I told him about the seizure before I got into my car. I knew he would ask Nate about it right away. 

I rushed off, but on second thought called Gabe to tell him how well Nate did during the appointment. I didn't want his seizure to ruin the positives. Gabe had talked with Nate already, who had admitted (only after one denial) that he did bring the seizure on himself for the attention. And we were happy that he admitted to it. Making progress. I felt good all of a sudden. Still a little shaken up and tired, but good.

Later tonight, however, Nate had another seizure--this one I'm not so sure he bargained for because Gabe said it was the worst one he'd ever seen (or heard, seeing as he was downstairs with Jahno). We are pretty sure Nate bounced his face off the kitchen table.

The beginnings of a sweet shiner:

So much for adjusted glasses.