Simon's Memory

In late spring, our pediatrician's office moved a few miles down the road. It was a slight inconvenience for us (since we've moved, getting to her office is much more difficult than it used to be), but not too big a deal. She's still reasonably close to us, and is still affiliated with our preferred hospital, and that's the more important part. And, even more important, I (who can be really picky about doctors) really like her and am comfortable discussing anything about my kids with her. So, we followed her to her new office.

Both yesterday and today, Rachel suddenly broke out in hives that resolved almost as quickly as they appeared. When this happened yesterday, the teacher and administrator were alarmed enough that she was taken out of the classroom, partially because they were concerned of the possibility that this condition was contagious, but more so because they wanted her near the phone so, if she started having difficulty breathing, they would be able to call 9-1-1 immediately. After hearing about this when I picked her up yesterday (it happened just prior to dismissal), I called the pediatrician this morning, and she wanted me to bring her in for an exam.

Well, after picking them up, we're heading over to the new office, and I'm focusing on the building number trying to find the new office. All of a sudden, in the back seat, I can both hear and feel Simon getting agitated. I KNOW it's going to be on the left side of the road, and I pull into the left lane. Simon is getting more and more upset. We approach a traffic light. I recognize where we are. The building on the corner is the SAME BUILDING as the audiologist's office where Simon had his hearing tests. OH NO!!!!!!! Simon is now hysterical, having a full blown tantrum in the back seat. And I'm pulling into the building parking lot because, yes, the new office is in that same building. Overall, we were there for nearly 75 minutes. He spent most of that time hysterical, because not only did he have the fears of being in the doctor's office, but also of being in THAT PARTICULAR BUILDING. Now I am considering changing doctors because I really don't think he's going to be able to handle going into that office. We'll try it a few more times before I take that step though.

We have been in this building 3 times before for Simon's (and Rachel's) hearing tests. The first time was in March, 2009, just before we were told they were on the spectrum. Since that went VERY badly, we went back in April, 2009 to see if we would be able to get better results. No such luck. Then we went again to get our final answer in August, 2009 (14th to be precise, ALMOST A YEAR AGO), and Simon recognizes it from that long ago.

What's happening in that brain of his that he has that kind of memory? How can he take that experience from more than 11 months ago and remember it well enough to recognize we are approaching that building from blocks away? What else does he remember? What else has made THAT STRONG of an impression on him? Does he remember EVERYTHING??? There are so many times I really wish I could crawl around in his brain for just an hour or so, just to try and understand him a bit more.....