When Q was about 9 months old our pediatrician ordered a brain scan to 'just make sure' his sudden leap in head circumference was nothing to worry about. We would go have the scan and that would be that. A few days after the scan she called us to say that the technician found an 'abnormality' and that she was referring us to a pediatric neurologist. I remember thinking that once he was born I literally thought I was done with all of the specialists. So the scan is sent to the neurologist and we set up an appointment to see her. It happened that my mother was visiting and so we all went; Y, me, Q and my mom. The neurologist was very nice, almost peppy when we first entered the office. We sat Q on the rug and she observed him for a few short minutes while we talked. She was friendly and chit chatty and we were all stretched nerves. And then she put the scans up onto her light board and there was pictures of sliced sections of Q's brain. At that moment I almost lost it. Brain imagery should never involve your family is my opinion. There were dozens of small images and she started at the first one and pointed out all the different parts of his brain and gave us her opinion on EACH SCAN. When she was about 3/4's of the way through the images my mother leaned over and whispered that if anything was wrong she would have gotten to the point by now. And at the moment I realized he was fine. I suddenly realized that if you are a pediatric neurologist you probably spend a lot of your time giving parents really bad news and that when you only had good news to share you might want to really go into what you love about a healthy brain. She was in her element. He did have an abnormality that she had seen in other Irish American children (my mother blurted out - "are you about to blame the grandmother?!" to which she said, laughingly, "well - yes!" and that abnormality did lead to a 'growth spurt' of the head at around this age.
So there we were; parents of a healthy baby with a really big head. Not bad. We were handed the brain scans to keep and told we could refer back to them if he ever had an injury that he needed another brain scan. I'll be happy never to refer back to them. I would like to be able to look at them and read other things however. The how and the why of a six year old little boy who is now not our little mimic but his very own real person with likes and dislikes all his own. A wonderful stew of our influence, his biology and the crazy bunch of experiences he's had in his 6 years.
Lacking any information from the scans I've begun to look at his bedroom for the clues. His room is for the most part his to do with as he wishes (except for painting black to look like the night sky - we have to save something for his messed up adolescence.) Gone are the days of his sweet nursery where I made all the design choices. No more Babar, no more plush toys of the cat n the fiddle, no more night lights. Now it's all Q. And I love it more now than ever before. However, I do wish I had taken a photo of his room when we had the scan done. His room as it looked when I thought I knew him and had ideas about who he might turn into. Ha! How silly. And so I am recording his room at 6 years old. Q's favorite things now.
Q's Room, 6 years and counting;
Monkey Water Skiing; pulled from magazine and taped to wall next to bed
Stuffed Animals - Everywhere!!!
His Sticker Table: He painted it red and now covers it with stickers he likes
Dancing Men Paper Chain his aunt made him
Books, books, books. Recent quote:
"When I can finally read, all my toys are going to be books!"
Lion puppet bought on one of many frequent visits to China Town.
Floor Puzzle
Not a floor puzzle but on the floor because it's Pokemon.
More Floor Puzzles
Lego models EVERYWHERE!
Joke books and boxes of rocks and crystals
His hat rack - cowboy hats, football helmets and everything in between.
Dream Catcher his aunt gave him when he was having nightmares.
It worked!
Poster his Papa Lou sent him.
Sports posters ripped out of magazines and taped haphazardly around his room.
His binoculars that must be within reach at all times
His third birthday invitation, signed by Reggie Jackson and framed
the souvenir he bought himself at the American Indian Museum: a box of Indian Masks.
His first writing hung on his wall per his request.
"Mom, how do you spell "Revolutionary War?"
More sports posters
His pet fish Ice Cream
His 4th birthday - Skateboarding party decorations
The planets hanging above his bed.
The planets stuck on the wall behind his bed
His bed - with some of the animals he
'HAS TO' have in order to fall asleep.
