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Nancy and her friends, frequently LynnR, take Lynne for regular joy rides outside Aegis. Lynne gets more boisterous on those trips than with me, which I cannot explain. Lynne’s reaction makes me worry I am missing something in caregiving. Her friends have advantages because they have been taking her on these joy rides right after Sunday lunch for months, even years. Their connection with Lynne is unique. I envy it and am indebted they frequently share it with us. Her are two recent trips.
Trip 1: We drove over to Interlaken in Seattle and parked near the paved imperial path there she wolfed down, and very much. Then we went for a good walk on the flat paved section and at one point she bent down to pick up a fern and carried it for a while. She enjoyed looking at the cute dog we passed by. When we got back to the car she got right in and then when we set the muffin on the console, she grabbed a big chunk with her hands and fold it down it was all I could do to pull the paper wrapping off before she ate that too.
Trip 2: We had such a fun time with Lynne today she was calm and happy and agreeable. She ate all her lunch at Aegis and then we took her outside. She got right into the car on her own then we stopped at a bakery to get some treats. While we waited for LynnR to get the food and coffee, Lynne and I hung out and sang songs. She belted out the chorus of Linda Ronstadt’s You’re No Good and sang along with others. At one point when she started fiddling with the music controller on the console, I said, Do you want a different song? She said, Yes. She then grabbed her iced coffee and sucked down the last bits of that and seemed quite pleased with herself. Being in the fresh air under the trees with the smells of spring bloom wafting and sounds of birdsong is really good for her (and all of us)!
She seems to be really wanting to assert her independence and the only time she gets cranky with us is when we’re fussing with her or bossing her around. She also prefers less chatter. We tried to give her free reign as much as possible.
She does tend to stop and brace herself, bending over and holding her knees for support. We’re not sure if it’s back pain or just her regulating herself. She drank a protein drink in addition to eating the full lunch plus our additional high fat treats, so hoping we came out on with more calories eaten than calories exercised.