Amanda's Compassion

It's been a rough few days at the Benson house. Judah, our oldest, went through spinal surgery a month ago and took a turn for the worse. Needless to say, I have been a puddle of tears. I took him to the doctor to see what they could do and as Judah was getting his blood pressure taken, Amanda pointed to the cuff and pronounced "boo boo". She then gave him her special sticker that she had picked out for herself.

Today, I was sitting in the bathroom crying from frustration. She came up to me and gave me a hug. Then she got "doggie" - THE doggie and gave me her security toy. She had doggie give me a kiss and then gave me another hug. Eight hours later, she came up to me with this little concerned look on her face and said "mama cry." The compassion in this child amazes me. It goes way beyond her years. God told me that Judah would change her life. I can already see it happening.

5...8...2

You know how a lead guitarist shouts 1..2..3 and then rocks out? Amanda has her own version. Today, she put her guitar around her neck and shouted, "5..8..2!" and then proceeded to rock out. And rock out she did.

Doggie

I've never had a child who had a "security" blanket or toy that they carried everywhere. Enter Amanda. She was terrified of this toy at first and now she carries it everywhere. She LOVES her doggie.

Hearing aids

When you have cleft lip/palate, they automatically put in ear tubes along with one of the surgeries. Cl/cp kids tend to have multiple ear infections and all over too much fluid behind their ear drum. Amanda never got ear tubes. When she came home, she was working on a duel ear infection and as a result of two years of ear infections, she has two permanently ruptured ear drums. Amazingly, she has never had an ear infection here. So, two permanently ruptured ear drums = automatic hearing aids until she gets older to repair the problem.

All that to say, Amanda finally got her hearing aids. They were put in her ears and she just sat there very still for a minute. It was like a whole world suddenly opened up to her. She cried just walking into the audiologists office and had moments of panic and moments of peace like the moment when she could finally hear. On the ride home, a bird tweeted and she turned her head with a little surprised look as if to say "what was that?" Yesterday, she took them out once. I told her that was fine, but then she needed to come inside. She quickly decided (saying "ears, ears!") that outside with hearing aids on was a better option. She has kept them in all morning today without complaints. A blessing to be sure since getting a kid to wear these things sometimes takes time and a lot of bribery. We tell her how pretty they are (which is the reason for pink and purple) and how wonderful her ears look with them on. She has a giraffe clip that attaches to the hearing aids in the event that she takes them off. Less chance of losing them...It will be interesting to see how her speech changes for the better. Yay for prayers answered.

The Wiggles

Amanda loves the Wiggles. It's one of those kid things that makes you cringe a little as a parent. I like seeing my kids enjoy something, but seeing four grown men having this as their full time job leaves me feeling a little embarrassed for them. But, Amanda thinks they're great. And when they cease to be great to her, we will willingly say goodbye to the Wiggles forever. And no, she will never see a live performance. We have limits to our Wiggle love.



She will ask for "usic" (music) and usually what she wants is a Wiggles video. What she doesn't like is Henry the Octopus. She's afraid of that fun loving eight legged creature.

There are limits even with the beloved Wiggles.