November 25, Days 302 and 303

The last two days have passed in a whirlwind. I've been too pooped to pop let alone write my daily journal entries. I've been busy taking down fall/Thanksgiving decorations and putting up Christmas decorations. I decided that this year I would only put up what I could do, inside and out, in one day. That should mean I can take it all down in one day, too, right? Therefore, all of our decorations are scaled way back. That's fine, as I'm not in the holiday mood this year.

Rand and I took a short walk yesterday, saw some neighbors and Rand had visitors. Today was pretty much the same, minus the walk. The weather has been so lovely, sunny, clear blue skies, with a nip in the air. We'll take advantage of it as long as it lasts.

Today I started writing down the words that Rand said - usually at random, including sentence fragments. Rand was anxious to read everything I wrote. Finally he said, "I want water." I gave him water but he didn't want it. He said it over and over again - I want water, water, water. He used hand gestures that meant nothing to me, like twisting his hand in the air, moving it back and forth over the table top, he was so, so frustrated. He took my face in his hand, put his face up close to mine and said "I want WATER!" Still, I couldn't figure out what he wanted. He wouldn't give up and repeated the word incessantly until I asked him if he could draw it. He said YES!! He took the pen and wrote "RAND." I said, "Rand." He beamed and said "Yes, I'm Rand." Then he said his name over and over like he was trying to imprint it in his brain - I'm Rand, I'm Rand, I'm Rand. He does this often and unfortunately, the word/name never sticks with him. But it was so simple, I tried making it too complicated. All he wanted was his name. I pointed out the similarities and differences between water and Rand, but he was not interested. He was ready for dinner by then. And so it goes.

Keep Rand close. He is trying so, so hard.

Love,
Connie