David Goes to Yale (Part I)

Well, technically yes - we went with David to Yale today. However, dont be alarmed, I still have 13 more years until I figure out how to pay college tuition for 3 kids (Read previous post of Jaclyn & the Retrievers and see if I have any shot of a Basketball Scholarship)

Today was our return visit to Yale Children's Center for David's evaluation by the Children's Developmental Disorder team. Our initial consultation was almost 3 years ago when David was about 18 months old. They essentially run through a battery of play challenges and assess where David is developmentally. So today helps us understand how much (or how little) progress David has made since 2002.

I had a great 1/2 day with David at Yale. Tiring yes - I was grouchy by lunchtime (sorry Rae). But David and I were Playtime Partners. I sat in the room with David as different people came in to run through each of the "play" evaluations. Interestingly enough, I remembered the place, the room and even some of the exercises. At the time of this writing we have not received the final evaluation but my cautiously optimistic feeling says they are pleasantly surprised with his growth. My brain says he still has areas of improvement. David was funny, cute (from what I overheard from the nurses), smart, defiant, and perplexing - a 4 year old boy. After 2+ hours David figured out this was really some "pseudo-play". David's question after every exercise was, "DAD, ARE WE DONE YET ?"

Two great things happened today:
1 - When David awoke this morning, he came into our room and said, "Hey, Where's My Dad?". Shocking because I am not part of his morning routine. My morning funk is growing on him.
2 - During one of the exercises at the clinic he played catch with one of the staff. While throwing and catching the ball with her I became very emotional. Suddenly he stopped and said - "HEY DAD, CATCH!". I instantly opened my arms in great joy to catch the ball thrown by my son. It became one of those Classic Sports movie moments where everything goes into slowwwww motionnnnnn. I open my arms, steady my hands, big smile on my face waiting for a ball thrown by my son and...........I DROP IT.

David - I was so proud of you today. You are one of the most courageous little boys I know. You are the B.M.O.C. (Big Man On Campus). To answer your question - NO, WE ARE NOT DONE YET and WILL NEVER BE DONE. I am your life advocate and I promise to brush up on my catching skills.