Roadtrip

Our latest trip to Toronto for the sibling study went quite well. Memee kept Nathan awake through the morning and early afternoon, so he crashed almost as soon as he was strapped into the car. And he woke up about ten minutes before we reached the McDonald's Playplace that I was planning to stop for dinner. It's been a long time since I had McDonald's and I think it'll be a long time again, but Nathan enjoyed it. He very carefully helped himself to all the little ketchup cups and grabbed my milkshake. He still doesn't know how to drink from a straw but he made a good try of it. And he got to have a good run around which made him much happier to get back in the car for the second half of the trip.

Nathan did a lot better staying in the hotel with me. I think he liked having my undivided attention. And being able to fall asleep in front of the TV. Nathan had a grand old time running around the room, playing with his toys. And eventually he climbed up on the bed and snuggled up until he fell asleep.

He woke up bright and early the next morning. Unfortunately, he didn't like the French toast that I ordered him for breakfast so his birthday breakfast was a bottle of milk and a cup full of Cheerios. But he was a real hit with all the hotel staff. They made faces at him and he just lapped up the attention.

His assessment went well. I think having the appointment in the morning and a reasonable night's sleep the night before helped a lot. He still ended up falling asleep in my lap two thirds of the way through. They saw a lot of improvement in his eye contact and verbal skills. His receptive language has gone from an 11 month level to a 15 month level in the last three months.

The trip home went fairly well. Nathan didn't sleep so we took more frequent breaks. He is definitely the darling of the roadside Tim Hortons along the 401. Once they found out it was his birthday, he got a free chocolate chip cookie at one place, a free Timbit in another and a free bag of pretzels in another. All in all, I think he had a good experience. And so did I.