Day 27: Tuesday is Tunes Day

Most people that are reading this know that Charlie and Henry were in hospital for a long time when they were born. That's a whole other blog. We got to know the things that the hospital offered but, since C&H were tiny babies, there was a lot of things that were not what we needed but it was interesting to know about and part of what Texas Children's Hospital (TCH) does to make it one of the best children's hospitals in America.

For example, they have three therapy dogs (we went to pet one a few weeks ago). Another example is that the hospital has a Music Therapist.

In a previous meeting with the music lady, Charlie mentioned that he would like to play guitar. So, she arranged for him to borrow a guitar and, on Tuesday, she came and jammed with him. Pretty cool.


I'm not saying I am the dad in this Onion article but I do notice that Charlie and Henry have a very broad music taste. I listen to a lot of music now that I know I wouldn't have tried if it wasn't for them choosing the music. The other way, they know a lot of old stuff because I have music on a lot. However, actually playing musical instruments? I haven't a clue. I am still ashamed to this day of how I reacted when my friend Karl started playing guitar back when we were 15 or so. I was very disparaging of the idea and I don't really know why but I am sure jealousy was part of it. Karl went on to be in lots of bands, writes songs and has made a lot of friends (some I also consider to be my friends) through the years via playing music. I'm not going to be pushy about it but I am going to be encouraging Charlie to keep at it with the guitar. Perhaps in doing so I will make some amends for scoffing at Karl back in the 80s. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 18: Sunday / Fathers' Day

Image
Did you know that Fathers' Day is 50 years old in America? The first Fathers' Day was 1972, I read. I got to spend the morning with Charlie, the afternoon with them both and then the latter part of the day with Henry. So, given the circumstances, that is the best I could ask for. It was a day that had a lot of changes in it, not just where I was and who I was with. Like a lot of people, Aly and I stay in touch via Instant Message throughout the day when we are not together. I'll share our Sunday morning chat because it's relevant to how the day progressed. Charlie has a history of intestinal issues that go all the way back to the first few days of his life. All that is explained in the blog about their time in the NICU. However, the relevant part here is that Aly and I discuss Charlie's pooping quite a lot. Sorry. He has a routine and routinely takes medicine to make sure that he routinely goes. Here's another relevant IM from Sunday; Things got better for Charl...
Read more

Introduction

On June 2 of 2022, Charlie had a Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy. Since there are a bunch of articles about what that is, I am not going to spend time trying to paraphrase them for this. I will just say that it is a surgery on the spine performed with the intention that it will improve communication between his brain, spine and muscles by going into his spine and cutting sensory nerve fibers.  The recovery is in-patient rehabilitation for several weeks. Back when Charlie and Henry were born, we did a blog to keep people updated and it helped give me (David, Charlie's dad) something to occupy my mind and has since been a helpful source of memories of that time. So, I decided to write a blog about this experience. The hospital is Texas Children's Hospital in the Medical Center in Houston, Texas. For those that know that hospital: Surgery was in Legacy Tower then we moved over to West Tower.
Read more

Day 37: Friday Energy

Image
The post's title is actually about a distinct lack of energy. Charlie was a bit grumpy and tired this morning. I wasn't much better and had one of those days when everything felt like it needed more effort on my part than normal.  Aly very kindly took a drive into the city to drop off some clean clothes for Charlie and a care package that was mostly for me.  Charlie had his therapy sessions and continued to do well. Following a request from me for some tips about to help him with something, I had 10 minutes with him and his occupational therapist. I was very struck by how very well she knows Charlie already. When I processed that thought I was reminded that I am literally writing a post with title Day 37. Yeah, you get to know someone after 5 weeks.  I have also noticed over the last few days how very popular Charlie is around here. I acknowledge my own bias but, for example, when I said that I thought Charlie was not in a great mood, the answer was an emphatic - "no way,...
Read more