CAREGIVER NOTE:

No meltdowns over the weekend. He did have some questions about this house and why he was here…. He says he likes it here, still. So that’s good. When asked what he likes — he did say he likes the food a lot and he has a nice room to sleep in. We watched a bit of Antiques Roadshow once I could get him away from the news for a bit. He enjoys seeing the things people bring in for appraisals. He does have trouble following things at times and often gets confused — but it is something he does enjoy especially when he recognizes or has some familiarity with an item or the host city.

CAREGIVER NOTES:
Vivid dreams have made their appearance again. Not sure if we’ll be dealing with that again this morning or not, but I really hope we can distract and move to something else without spending the day trying to find a way to handle something that doesn’t exist in reality, but in his mind and he’s unable to connect the dots.

Last night’s adventures concluded with a plate of “hotcakes” which he devoured before going back to bed. He was all smiles with a full tummy and lots of good thoughts about what’s growing in the garden.

CAREGIVER NOTES:

It seems he’s setting a new nighttime routine…. immediately after dinner he goes into the bathroom, undresses and goes to bed for an hour or two. He wakes up and checks his watch for the time — gets dressed and comes out looking for something to eat. For the most part, we’re able to get him to recognize that it’s evening time frame and that the rest of us are trying to get ready for bed. He’ll reluctantly take his nighttime meds and go back to bed after a light meal, a little conversation or TV time.

About those meds. He’s getting a little sneaky — if we aren’t watching him put them in his mouth and swallow. I’ve found his pills stuffed in his chair and breakfast tray remnants recently. Hmmmm….. I’m really hoping this won’t become a bigger issue in coming days.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

After a really good night’s sleep, he had a very good day overall. Lots of smiles, laughter and enjoyed the company of his son and grandson who are still visiting for a few more days. When they aren’t in the room with him, he wants to know where they are. It will be a period of adjustment when they leave on Thursday.

CAREGIVER NOTE:

It’s celebration day, another trip around the sun has been accomplished!

— we were up late last evening. He just wanted to talk. He’s anxious about visitors coming — we’ll have to talk to the visitor about spilling the beans too early and causing some worry because he doesn’t arrive as soon as anticipated. The “where is he?” has been swirling around for hours!

CAREGIVER NOTE:

He wanted to talk about his parents yesterday — there was disappointment when he realized he couldn’t talk face to face with them any longer – despite his memory telling him otherwise. He wanted dates of birth and death and wanted to see it on paper, though the print was too small for him to read even with his reading glasses. I guess magnifying glass is next on our list to purchase for him. I was able to bring up the information on the computer for him and make things large enough for him to read a little bit better and he was very grateful that information was available and so accessible with just a few clicks on the mouse. I’ve been toying with an idea of a family tree for a little while and I guess it’s time to make one that is large, visual and tactile for him. Getting a start on collecting the pictures for him so we can begin the process of making that and hopefully, it will be done before his birthday in a couple of weeks.

Include some fun in today’s “to do” list.