Hank, Mose and a few teeth

I've been trying to get into the rhythm of bringing Henry to Mom's place on a regular basis. It's harder to work on mom details(clip nails, moisturize, toilet duties, prettifying, etc.) but I'm getting the hang of it. Henry basically gets right to work systematically destroying mom's room while me and mom putter around. Actually, he's not that destructive, he just has an insatiable curiosity that often involves emptying containers and sort of filling them back up with whatever detritus he can find. Mom loves to watch him do his thing although they didn't interact too much today. They were both busy with their own projects.
I'm trying to get mom to take part in as many daily rituals as possible. Applying lotion to her always dry legs and feet is the mission I'm on fire about these days. She does a pretty good job but it takes alot of cueing on my part to keep her on task. And getting lotion on her legs means the stockings which I've grown to fear and loathe must come off. I work up a sweat every time I wrestle with those things. The contraption that Lorr sent(The Stocking Butler) to help with getting them on works okay but mom doesn't like it for whatever reason. So she complains and I comply.
Rainy's coming for a visit in three days and counting....yay! Of course, I've got tasks lined up for her when she arrives.
Big news! I found mom's glasses that have been lost since Thanksgiving. (Fortunately, Lorr had an extra pair so mom's been okay.) They were in one of her jacket pockets with some wadded up Kleenex, of course. What is it with the elderly and squirrelling away tissues? It's an epidemic on mom's floor. So, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that mom won't be without her glasses. I had the fear of Dog in me once she lost that first pair that if the second pair were lost it would be a HUGE hassle to get her Rx filled. Lorr ordered two more pairs for mom a few weeks ago(before I found the lost pair) so mom will never be without her glasses. If she had a fall because she didn't have her glasses it would weigh heavy on my soul for years to come.
Once again, I am surprised by the neglect that some other residents endure. If the family isn't around and they lose their glasses or their teeth, it's basically curtains. When I go on my weekly rummaging through the Laundry Lost-n-Found I am always struck by the basket of unclaimed false teeth. I look at the toothless residents, wondering if their teeth are sitting in the basement waiting to be reclaimed. These are the things that keep me up at night. That, and my teething child.

"I can't go up for communion...

...I sinned too much this week." That's what mom said this past Sunday at Catholic Church. When I asked her to elaborate on what her sinning was all about, she was predictably vague. Needless to say, no amount of whispered coaxing would get her to take communion so she left a sinner, ready for more sinning this week. Mom has become attached to baby dolls lately...she started hoarding other residents' dolls so, after much thrift store rummaging, I found a baby for her, and a crib. Apparently, regressing to taking care of dolls is a commom dementia behavior. I left her room today as she was sitting in her fancy new chair(scavenged from the Walker bowels) holding on to the doll. It seems to have a calming effect on her which is good. Today she was getting really wound up about taking care of her friend down the hall. Kind of a nightmare...I had to get a nurse to take the woman out of mom's sight so I could toilet her in peace. The woman kept trying to open the bathroom door while I was wrestling the pee diaper off of mom. Yeah, it sucked.