A Very Morris Weekend

Like I said on Saturday, Jamie had some really special visitors from Santa Rosa, CA and Portland, OR.  (Her Morris Aunts and Uncles) Once the Portland contingency got to see and visit with Jamie, she had officially seen all her family.  (Santa Rosa peeps have been able to come down each week)  Jamie had a full day of therapies on Saturday plus her visitors, so she slept almost 7 hours straight on Saturday night. (Which is great, considering that I can barely get in 7!!)  Sunday was a nice day of just visiting.  Everyone got to spend some good time with our girl, and I know she loved it.  When her Aunt Carla was in the room, Jamie said "Chris" and "Debbie" (Carla's kids), without any prompting.  We had fun little moments like that all weekend, the moments of lucid words or phrases really get us jazzed up.  The cousins brought two photo albums, one of which allows you to make recordings on each page.  Jamie was repeating some of the words, and even trying to help turn some pages!

When Jamie started vocalizing and "speaking" in this kind of stream of consciousness fashion, most of us wondered if some of what she was saying was in Russian (mainly because we can't understand about of 90% of what she "says").  So imagine our excitement when her nurse on Saturday night seemed to be Eastern European of some flavor! I was CONVINCED that a) Jamie was speaking Russian and b) that her nurse would be able to translate it! Alas, we were swiftly informed that Jamie's nurse was NOT Russian (and may have been a little offended that we assumed she was, and that more than one of us asked...multiple times) and that Jamie was NOT speaking Russian. (Although if the nurse wasn't Russian and didn't speak Russian, how did she know Jamie WASN'T speaking Russian? But I digress...) The nurse explained that what Jamie was able to speak was English (duh! We knew that, we speak English!) and that it is a good sign that she is doing all this mumbling.  It can be slightly disconcerting to be in the room with Jamie when she is mumbling. It can sound like she is really trying to talk, and there are moments of purposeful speech, but when it is not discernible, it can sometimes be hard.  As far as I understand it, the constant mumbling isn't something she can control just yet.  Just like she has this spontaneous movement where she rubs her eye over and over, she mumbles.  We are pretty sure this will start to taper off as she is able to focus for longer periods of time, but we just can't be sure what to expect.  

One important thing that I've noticed about Jamie's mumbling is that when she "speaks", she is doing a lot of repeating.  So I don't think we can say for sure how much she is really processing, but at the least she is able to repeat some of what she is hearing.  I don't want to give a false sense of what is going on with Jamie, but with that, I think I run the risk of being a bit of a downer We'll take what we can get!

One question I ask every day since she really started vocalizing is "Jamie, who is the best?" Without fail, she answers "Me"....until Saturday.  I asked her the regular question "Jamie, who is the best?" Nothing but a little mumbling.  Then I changed it up, "Jamie, is Lailah the best". Jamie's response: "She's the closest".   I may have asked her a few more variations of the question until I got the best answer at the very end.
Question: "Jamie, is Lailah the best?"
Answer: "She is."
I think I jumped up and down. (Family members present DID remark that it MAY have had something to do with the fact that I asked like, ten times.)

I almost forgot one of the best stories of the weekend.  Jamie's non-Russian-but-Eastern-European nurse has a very thick accent. And she talks very loudly.  So, when the nurse came in and introduced herself and started tending to Jamie, Jamie was evidently unimpressed by her.  How did she express this? She kept telling the nurse (and anyone in the room who would listen, for that matter) that she is an American.  Over and over.  Don't worry Jamie, we all know you're an American. :)

Anyway, that is all for now, not much new to report in terms of new skills or changes.  (But that is okay!) Please continue to pray for Jamie's 100%, FULL recovery.  Also, please pray that she will be able to focus her speech and use it to be able to communicate.  We so desperately want our Jamie back to be able to really talk and interact with.  Please pray for us - the longevity of Jamie's recovery seems to sink further in every day, and we will need some serious stamina and strength.

Love, Us.