Prebble Family Tales

And Gareth is rapidly approaching seven years old.

“Ask mom why baby cries.”

Today, Gareth used an Intellikeys keyboard to write out, letter by letter, the sentence above.  This is a pretty momentous occasion as this marks the first time that Gareth has ever independently conveyed exactly what he wanted to say.

Until now, he has been limited to “speaking” via the choices we’ve given him or to the icons available on his Mercury system.  But today, he shared his thoughts.

The only assistance he received was help stabilizing his hand.

We can’t wait to see what he says next!

Okay, time to catch up!

The Miracle League baseball season has concluded.  We went to the closing picnic last weekend where Gareth was given his first ever trophy.  He didn’t want to let it go the rest of the day and was extremely proud to have it.  If you haven’t seen it yet, feel free to ask him to show it to you.

We’ve traded in Brandy’s “I don’t want to be a soccer mom” Mazda 5 for the purchase of a 2004 Toyota Sienna with an automated wheelchair ramp and kneeling system.  I think the kneeling system is incredibly cool (it lowers the right side of the van before deploying the ramp), but it doesn’t buy us much of an advantage and it increases the time waiting for the ramp to deploy, so we don’t use that feature.  And no, it can’t be wired to bounce the van up and down as though we were starring in a Dr. Dre video.

In less than two weeks, Collin will be born and will get to move into his patiently waiting nursery.  Things continue to go well, and we’re still on track to deliver in State College.  Brandy and I will be traveling to Danville on Friday to meet with yet another doctor there, just in case.  We’re struggling with the idea of experiencing a relatively normal birth and the challenges of a child without challenges.  You’d think we’d be pretty well battle worn, but we’ve spent the last nearly seven years tuned to what Gareth requires in care and are wholly unprepared for normalcy.

Anne (my mother) has moved in with us since the last blog entry.  She’s helping us with Gareth while we help her with support.  By October 26th, we’ll have six people and a cat in our house every night.  It’s starting to feel like Charlie Bucket’s house.

Those are the big items from the past month.  It has been far busier than we would have liked, but we’re just about out of it in time to have our second child.  Can we take 2009 off?

Gareth and I have been spending some time this morning putting some new music on his MP3 player. So far, we have added:

• Peanut Butter Jelly Time
• The Star Spangled Banner
• Macarena
• Die Zauberflöte Act II: Die Hölle Rache (Königin)

Each of them makes him crack up.  I’m sure his nurse is thankful that she no longer has to listen to “Hollaback Girl” (she was offended by the profanity), but something tells me these aren’t going to make her any happier to listen to music in the morning.

Gareth started off on the right track - a medieval themed room. It was awesome. And then we moved and time went by and Gare had a Cars bedroom. Not bad. Now?

Miracle League is officially off its July hiatus, which means we were back in Altoona on Saturday for a ball game.  Gare was thrilled to be back on the field.  I was thrilled to have an excuse to get a strawberry Julius at the mall.  Gare and I also got some video game time in on Sunday, playing a few songs in Rock Band and a few rounds as Darth Vader in Soul Calibur IV.

Things are back in action in other facets, as well.  Brandy has a hectic school schedule this week with various meetings going on.

I’m getting back on track with finishing the work in the basement that will allow my mom to move in with us for the remainder of the pregnancy.  I’m also meeting with somebody this week on BikeAble business, dropping off books for the AAUW, and trying to sell more crap (know somebody who wants to buy 300+ CDs in one shot?).

Speaking of rampant consumerism, I’m sure some of you are wondering how many of the new Clone Wars toys I’ve been buying.  The answer is: zero.  After having just packed up all my Star Wars toys, there’s no way I’m going to add to the collection now.  Forget it.  Not worth the hassle.  I’m a practical junkie.

Sure enough, Gareth got his second opportunity to throw out the first pitch at a Spikes game. Being tight with Easter Seals sure has its advantages.

Gareth very nearly made it to the end of the game, but called it quits at the bottom of the last inning. He almost saw the fireworks. One of these days, he’ll stay awake long enough to see the end of a game.

Because of the special events, Gareth got two autographed Spikes baseballs. That makes three for his burgeoning collection. I think it’s pretty well decided now that he’s a baseball fanatic. I feel … so alone.

Gareth got the news yesterday that he will once again be throwing out the first pitch at a Spikes game.  He’ll be on the mound for his second round this Sunday night (July 27th).  If you’re attending to see Gare’s performance, get there early.  They do the first pitches well before the game actually begins.

Gare’s Grammy Anne has been helping us out a ton by coming over to the house in the afternoon to help Brandy unload our nearly 50 pound child. This has given Gare and Grammy plenty of chances to get to know each other better and do some special things together.

Like planting tomatoes.

We now have a mini Gareden (I just coined that - ain’t I clever?) in front of our porch. With any luck and a whole lotta plant love, Gare will be able to harvest (more puns!) a lot of enjoyment from their endivers (somebody stop me).

Keegan has also been stopping by to visit a lot more often. The hot days of Summer have brought out the garden hose for afternoon water sports, mainly consisting of being splashed by a Finding Nemo sprinkler.

This has served three purposes: it gives Keegan and Gare time to play together; it gives both boys a chance to cool down; it allows them to take baths in broad daylight by applying soap, rinsing in the spray, and repeating.

That last part is not a fabrication.

The first day they decided to do some rain dancing, Keegan had to borrow a pair of Gareth’s trunks.  Keegan is a 70 pound kid.  From what I understand, the fit was rather snug.  Having learned his lesson, Keegan brought his own trunks on subsequent days.