Crazy Heart Mama

Before work yesterday, I was throwing a load of laundry into the wash and Rowan was helping me. By “helping” I mean that we have a top loading washing machine and he throws random clothing in willy-nilly like he’s one of the San Antonio Spurs. It’s all exactly as helpful as it sounds as I try to throw back the stuff that doesn’t belong because at three years old, he hasn’t quite grasped the concept of sorting. I think he gets that from his father.

Anyway, as we were playing the laundry game, Rowan said, “Hey, I really like ‘Ghostbusters’ the movie. It’s good.”

I said, “You like that, huh?”

When Colman was watching it the other day, I was worried some of the scenes might be too intense for Rowan. And to be frank with all of you, I really don’t like to take any chances on anything–nightmares included–interrupting my sleep. That’s why we can’t get a puppy or another kid. I’m a firm believer in the more living, breathing things you bring into your household, the less likely you are to get a full night’s sleep.

Then Rowan proceeds to tell me, “Yeah. I like that movie. The Ghostbusters are the humans and they work to fight the ghosts. And the ghosts are green. They’re not white ghosts, no. And they’re HUNGRY!”

“The ghosts are hungry, huh?”

(I can’t really remember since the last time I saw “Ghostbusters” was probably thirty years ago.)

“Yeah, they’re hungry.”

“What do they eat, Rowan?”

“Cookies! And then the Ghostbusters, the peoples, they get the big marshmallow man. The end.”

I just thought, Wow! That’s a perfect summation of that movie. I couldn’t believe how well he described it and he managed to hit most of the high points. Then Rowan did the same thing later about a different story he was telling me. It was about Colman, but when Colman told me, Rowan had pretty much gotten it right.

(Sidenote: Dear Kevin, I am not letting the kids watch tons of TV while you’re gone. I can totally see you thinking I’m engaging in questionable parenting by plopping them in front of the television while you’re gallivanting around Brazil watching soccer matches.)

My brother brought Whataburgers for dinner last night because he was in town for a doctor’s appointment, and I was telling him about Rowan’s storytelling skills. He said, “You ought to start a channel on YouTube and call it something like ‘Movie Blurbs by Rowan’ or something like that.”

(Another sidenote: Dear Kevin, we have not been eating fast food every day, although, I do admit I have not had to cook much of anything since you’ve been gone. Yay, me!)

Brilliant idea! I’ll make a video of my brilliant toddler summing up movies he’s seen. So I got out my phone and made a video of Rowan telling me about “Ghostbusters.” Except it lacked all of the spontaneity of the first conversation. Really, it was like pulling teeth to get him to talk about it.

I posted the link to the video file on my Facebook page because, for whatever reason, WordPress didn’t like my video file. Or I’m inept. Probably the latter. However, if you watch the video, I think the disappointment in my voice is evident that his brilliance didn’t shine through quite like I’d hoped, but, instead, he just sounded like your average three-year-old.

Colman is doing fantastic! We had an appointment at TCH last week with Dr. Dreyer, and Colman’s response to the heart cath has surpassed their expectations. The plan is to let him get stronger this summer through playing and swimming and see how he does. If all continues to go well, they will consider lifting his exercise restrictions in school and let him participate in PE and maybe take a tennis lesson here and there. In just three weeks, he’d already gained almost an entire pound. He was just under 45 pounds at the appointment. We go back for a follow-up right before school starts in August.

So as of right now, the medical team at TCH is going to go back to Medical Review Board and deny Colman for a heart transplant based on the fact that, at present, he’s too healthy for a heart, which is great news. Eventually, if he starts showing signs of heart failure again, they’ll only have to tweak his transplant workup a little bit in order to list him for a new heart. Now we’re hoping with his new and improved circulation, he’ll grow like a weed this summer.

And for all the Spurs fans out there, here’s a picture of Colman mid happy dance after the Spurs won the championship last week. Enjoy! 🙂