But our paranoia isn't entirely unfounded or unreasonable. Anyone who has been around Gabe for even five minutes knows that he can't sit still and the concept of focusing seems to be about as far beyond his grasp as the reality of ice breath.
And then, every once in awhile, he'll surprise us with a feat of mental focus or stay-in-placeitude that gives us hope, or at least momentarily distracts our own short attention spans.
Yesterday, the kids received a package from Grammy and Grandpa containing a little princess crown for Norah and a squirt gun for Gabe.
Norah in her crown.
Norah was quick to put on her crown and give us a sort of dance (I got a video, but it really ended up being pretty boring--she stopped dancing as soon as I started the camera and then just kind of ran around for a bit, so I won't include it). And then we set up a little game for Gabe in the bath tub.
Libby put some shaving cream soap on the wall in the tub and Gabe, while sitting on the edge of the tub, shot the soap off with his water gun.
Libby put some shaving cream soap on the wall in the tub and Gabe, while sitting on the edge of the tub, shot the soap off with his water gun.
A pretty simple game, and considering how much time he gets to spend outside playing in mud puddles and getting properly soaked (and playing with his other numerous water guns), it didn't seem like this game should hold his interest that long.
He spent nearly two hours in the bathroom last night doing this. TWO HOURS. And one of the times I went in there to check on him, he gave me further evidence that maybe, just maybe, he can focus on things well enough to get through life. I asked him what he was doing, and he replied that the soap on the wall was lava running down the mountain and into a river. "And this is a flume," he said.
"A flume?" I asked, trying to make sure I heard him correctly.
"Yeah. A lava flume."
So, I guess he was paying attention to those volcano specials that we've been watching the past few months. And I also guess that the trick with him will be to keep him working on things he is interested in. Cause he doesn't have any focus problems when it comes to guns or volcanoes. Probably this will make him an ideal candidate for G.I. Joe, as I can't remember them having any volcano specialists on their team yet. I mean, there was Barbeque, but he had a flamethrower. They used him as an expert on all things burning, but he really couldn't be expected to know how to fix a flame thrower AND to know where it's safe to step when walking over a lava field. It's a niche thing, obviously, and we'll have to hope no other volcano experts come along in the meantime, but at least there is SOME hope.
He spent nearly two hours in the bathroom last night doing this. TWO HOURS. And one of the times I went in there to check on him, he gave me further evidence that maybe, just maybe, he can focus on things well enough to get through life. I asked him what he was doing, and he replied that the soap on the wall was lava running down the mountain and into a river. "And this is a flume," he said.
"A flume?" I asked, trying to make sure I heard him correctly.
"Yeah. A lava flume."
So, I guess he was paying attention to those volcano specials that we've been watching the past few months. And I also guess that the trick with him will be to keep him working on things he is interested in. Cause he doesn't have any focus problems when it comes to guns or volcanoes. Probably this will make him an ideal candidate for G.I. Joe, as I can't remember them having any volcano specialists on their team yet. I mean, there was Barbeque, but he had a flamethrower. They used him as an expert on all things burning, but he really couldn't be expected to know how to fix a flame thrower AND to know where it's safe to step when walking over a lava field. It's a niche thing, obviously, and we'll have to hope no other volcano experts come along in the meantime, but at least there is SOME hope.
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