Nov 28, 2005

Christmas is here? Already?


I'm really not ready for Christmas. I'd rather skip it really...It's too much stress. In regards to shopping, I've made my lists and I've checked them twice and I still think I'm forgetting someone. Ari and I decorated yesterday, after she fell asleep I had to move all the ornaments she insisted on hanging to taller branches because the tree was really bottom heavy and totally bare on top. Like the pic? It has ornaments on it from when I was in Kindergarten....those are the best kind.

I want to get Ari her
own TV and V-smile, from Santa of course. If I do though she won't get much else as that would take most of my budget. It's really just a matter of deciding to get her few big things or bunches of little things. Personally my favorite gifts are baskets full o' stuff, with little things. I love that. Kids though, at this age, it's quantity over quality that matters so I'm having a hard time deciding.

I also wanted to show you the house my Mom and stepdad are building. It's on hold right now, obviously due to his illness but they've done everything so far BY THEMSELVES. No contractors, no help. Everything from foundation to plumbing was done by their 4 hands. I think it's pretty darn cute. It's the Hyatt compared to their beat up double wide that sits behind it. When it's done it's going to have a really cool 2nd floor open loft that my mom will use for office space/TV/playroom.

What you see is a shell though. There are no walls, flooring or anything on the inside. I hear my stepdad has a friend that rounded up some people to help him finish the house. I hope they do it soon, the bathroom in their current abode is falling through the floor. The toilet leans to the right about 60 degrees. I actually fear using it as I'm afraid I will end up under the mobile with my pants down mid peeing. It's scary really. Thankfully it does have another toilet that sits next to the cracking bathtub.



I actually volunteered to offer up my hands and time during the school break, but they refused. Saying with Ari I probably wouldn't get to do too much to be worth the trip and really the drywall and flooring will be covered.

Nov 26, 2005

Thankful
















I am Thankful that Thanksgiving is over.
I am Thankful that my daughter and I are safe and healthy.(despite the Up. Resp. infection)
I am Thankful that I have a roof over my head and food in my pantry.
I am Thankful that I made it through Thanksgiving without caving to my in-laws request to move to Longview.
I am Thankful my dog didn't destroy my house when I was gone.
I am Thankful for my friends' support, who some have had an equally nightmarish holiday with in laws.
I am Thankful my stepdad looked better on Friday then he did on Wednesday.
I am Thankful my in laws own three huge properties and can't decide which one to live in. (Must be nice)
I am Thankful that one of those properties gives me the creeps and I'm sure is haunted.
I am Thankful I didn't choke on the driest Turkey in the world.
I am Thankful I didn't have to use my CPR skills on anyone else choking on the driest Turkey in the world.
I am Thankful for my education and knowledge & however not thankful my in laws are already probing me for medical advice.

That about sums up my week. Hope everyone had a good holiday! Thankful to be home.

Nov 21, 2005

Huh?

What is wrong with me?

Your 80s Heartthrob Is
Bill Gates

Nov 19, 2005

Oh Harry night

Yes, I was among the masses who attended the opening night showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Did I wear robes, glasses, and carry a wand with me? Nah, but I did stop at Walgreens first and stock up on a purseful of candy and sodas. Don't judge....it saves me at least $10 bucks by not buying that stuff at the theater.
I debated at first on whether I should bring Ari with me. The Potter books start getting much darker at the 3rd one and I was afraid she would get scared. She saw the 3rd one at home and although she was a little obsessed with the werewolf in it, it didn't scare her. So I figured, if it scared her, we would leave. It turned out well, she wasn't scared and there were a ton of kids in theater about her age or younger and none seemed scared.
Lord Voldemort and Dragons are pretty much the only scary things about the movie and they aren't realistically scary but more animated like scary.
Back to my point, the movie was good and true to the book, HOWEVER I didn't care for the directing. It's hard to pinpoint but the actions in the movie seemed to border on cheesy and almost slapstick, which doesn't follow the theme of the story. The guy that directed the 3rd movie should have done this one. That said, the ending was done well, as the ending to this one stands out as compared to the first 3. You Harry Potter fans will know what I mean, I'm trying not to give anything away to those who haven't read it.
I also have to say that Ralph Fiennes was an awesome choice for Voldemort, they couldn't have picked someone better. I've always liked his work.
I should start making Friday nights, Movie night for me and Ari. She has excellent theater manners. (My high school Drama teacher would be so proud)

Nov 17, 2005

Funny chinamen

Oh my god,
I actually heard about this on the radio and I finally found it on my friend, Windfall Woman's's website.
I just literally fell off my chair with laughter, seriously, I did.
I really needed that although my hip feels a little sore.
Anyway, ya gotta see this:
Chinese students doing Backstreet boys #1 = "I want it that way" (?)
Chinese students doing backstreet boys # 2 = "As long as you love me" (?)

One little, two little, three little indians......


Curley Bear, Blackfoot

My grandparents, Anna and Terry aka
Bobo and Poppy


5 generations, Poppy/Terry, my Mom,
Great Great Grandmother Cayia, my Great
Grandfather Norman, and baby me.

So, wanting to be a good parent and not one of those lame parents who never do things for their kids at school. (I know some are just too busy, really, I know) I graciously volunteered to speak about my "culture" and bring a dish related tomorrow in Ari's class. It's like international world culture day tomorrow or something. Anyway, when I volunteered I was struck with the dilemma of which culture shall I pick? I mean, really I am the human embodiment of the American melting pot. My Grandparents and great grandparents lineage covers several different nationalities. They are, in the order of familiarity; English, Native American/Blackfoot and Cherokee, German, Irish, French, Dutch, and Scot. At first I thought I would pick German as my mom and grandparents loved to make German food growing up and it's the closest I came to having another "cultural" influence. There was a lot of drinking beer from a stein as well. But then I thought maybe I would go the Blackfoot Indian route, as my grandfather who was very proud of that connection, & he looked the part (see pic) and would often take us kids to reservations up North to buy moccasins. He seemed to think it was just wrong for a kid in our family to not own a pair of Moccasins. I started doing a little research, asked my mom a ton of questions, and dug up my own copies of genealogy info my Aunt had done. So far I've figured out that my Great Grandmother Virginia Cayia was the daughter of a man who grew up on a Blackfoot reservation in Alberta, Canada. So that would make me 1/16th Blackfoot by my calculations. Still on my mother's side, my Grandmother's grandmother was 100% born and raised Cherokee, I have no genealogy info on that, only my deceased grandmother's word. I suppose that makes this very Anglo, blondish, freckled, blue-eyed American accumatively 1/8th Native American. I stand out like a bruised thumb on my mother's side and this is why.
So, in my very little free time, in the past 2 days, I've put together enough information to speak about 10 minutes, made little feather jewelry for the kids, bought some cornbread mix to make, and have a ton of pictures to show.I just need to put on my moccasins (yes I have some) & I'm all set.
*******************
I had 2 really good days in clinicals, witnessed 3 births, 1 c-section and 2 done the old fashioned way but with drugs.
Pretty awesome experience and I surprised myself with the 2nd one by getting all teary. I think it was the parents that did it though. They were young, both under 18, but during the whole process they were both so loving and sweet. Their tears of joy and excitement when that baby came out was so touching, I couldn't help but cry a little. They had a lot of family support, I think they'll be Okay. The other parents seemed happy but there was no crying and and it just wasn't that way.
I liked it, but I'm not sure I would go the L & D way after graduation. It was way too much "Hurry up and wait". Sure there's the excitement of the baby and the chaos around that but beforehand, the nurses let the parents rest and it's chatty chatty at the nurses station all day. Too slow and too boring for me.



Nov 15, 2005

Job, School, and Breasts

(Don't ya love my title, hehehe)

I've gotten partial information back from the "make-up" test, The co-ordinator managed to get the first 2 pages graded and according to her, I did "awesome" on those first 2 pages. She's supposed to email me the grade sometime tonight or tomorrow. I've got labor and delivery tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get to help in birthin' some babies.
Just checked my email, and it's in, Made a 92...how frustrated and pleased I am. Ugh!



Lecture today was really boring. It was all stuff I knew for the most part, and worse I had to sit through an hour lecture on baby feeding. This is torture for us Moms in class who have plenty experience feeding babies. I tried breast feeding and then ultimately went to the bottle. As it turned out the Breast reduction (Bilateral reduction mammoplasty) I had when I was 18 was detrimental to my breast feeding efforts. I did try though for 2 weeks until Ari lost almost 2 lbs and I discovered after 2 or 3 hours of pumping and only getting less then an ounce that my breast milk production was scant at most. She went to formula at 1 week. ( I did pump regularly for another week and added it to the formula but my results were not worth it and depleting.)
Was it worth it? Well the reduction did wonders for my back and shoulders as back then, I was around 120-130 lbs, 5 foot tall and I wore EEE cup size bras. You can imagine how disproportional I was. So yes it was worth it. Did Ari suffer? The first week of me trying she did, but after, No. Knock on wood, she's really a healthy kid. She's 4 and has only had 4 sick visits to the MD in her entire life. (1 rash, 1 ear infection,1 case of croup, and 1 strep throat). Also, I found out researching for the link that new studies are being released that a breast reduction can actually decrease the risk for some types of breast cancer. So it all worked out.

I worked yesterday and for some odd reason, every time I work lately, we are totally understaffed. When I came on, at first, everything was good. I gave up my desk duty (I like working the desk, it's what I was originally trained to do 5 years ago) but I gave it up to another CA who is humongously pregnant right now. I start my vitals (14) patients and find out when I'm almost finished that the other CA was sick and went home. She never even started her vitals. So I have 14 more patients to take vitals on, Blood draw on a patient, A nurse had asked me to pull a foley and an IV for discharge, AND I had 10 Accuchecks (blood sugar checks) to do before dinner time all to do within 2 hours. Needless to say I walked up to every nurse and said "I am alone on the floor until 6 pm, vitals, bedpans, and accuchecks are my priorities, please do everything else yourself." I was running the entire shift.
That'll teach me to give up the desk, lol

Good news! I was waiting with Andrea's mom (Andrea is Ari's little playmate next door) at the bus stop and she asked where I take Ari so early in the morning. I told her about the daycare and she volunteered to watch Ari and take her to school for me! She even volunteered for free but I told her I'd pay her anyway. So problem solved! She said I can bring Ari by tomorrow at 6. Yay!

I'm going to finish with a quick movie review. High Tension or Haute Tension as it's called in French was really intense. (not trying to be pun-ny) In 2 words, intense and disturbing. That's it, if you like horror/suspense movies, go rent it. If you find it's too gory and want to turn it off, at least fast forward to the end, it's the best part.

Nov 13, 2005

Little Chicken



I titled this one "Little Chicken" because Ari and I just saw Chicken Little and that's what she keeps insisting on calling it. It was pretty darn cute, well worth the money. But please, please, PUUULLLease, if you have a small child who cannot sit through a 90 minute movie without crying or screaming then please leave them at home. Wait for rental!
Ari was born a movie buff, she's like her Momma. When she was 2 1/2 I took her to see
Finding Nemo. I had every intention of leaving at the first sign of trouble. She sat there the entire time, never making a sound, the most she did was move to my lap before the end. She's a movie kid, most kids are not and in fact when the lights go down and the loud stereo sound comes up they get scared, despite what's on the screen.
The reason I make this plea, is the entire first 10 minute opening today was ruined for us by the 18 month old behind us screaming. It took his Mom forever to decide to leave and his older sister was in tears also as they left. I felt pretty bad for the kids, not at all bad for their idiot mom. Some theaters have a baby day which is an option for a first time baby movie goer.


The best part of Chicken Little was Zach Braff's voice. I love him, major crush, where the hell is Scrubs?! I really miss that show. Zach has a blog by the way, but he doesn't update it too often and of course it is not too personal.
I'm a little ADD today, back to the point. The movie was good, take your kids, or don't if they're not movie kids. :)



Late night snacks and TV

It's 3 am and I am up and bored. At about 1 am I was all ready with my popcorn to sit down and watch High Tension (or Haute tension) , this French horror film I heard about, Watched the first 20 minutes and it was just getting going when Ari woke up. I had to stop it as this movie is supposed to be completely graphic and violent. Ari has a "snuffy" nose and a headache. I gave her some tylenol and she is watching cartoons as I type. I have no interest in "Dave the barbarian" so I'm blogging. This is one the of the sucky things about being a single parent and being the only grown up in the house. There's no one else to stay up with the sick child or run to the store for some children's sudafed. I could either take her with me in the middle of the night or just do what I did, Tylenol ( I seem to always have children's Tylenol on hand) for sinus pressure and wait for her to fall asleep again. It's going to be awhile because I just made her a snack of peanut butter toast.
I suppose I shouldn't complain, Ari is a perfect kid, I love her more then anything in the world, and I don't know what I would do without her. (She just reported "her head is feeling small better"...heehee) The memories I have when I was a kid that were my fondest was me waking up late at night. I never was a good sleeper. My Dad, always the night owl, would be up watching TV, he make me a snack and some warm milk and let me watch whatever it was he was watching. I can't remember all the shows but I do remember episodes of MASH and Three's company being among them. Maybe nights like tonight will be among Ari's.
This has been too short a weekend for me. Maybe me and Ari will go see a movie tomorrow.

Nov 10, 2005

A New day


Ari, 1 day old

I had a much better day today then last. I was in the newborn nursery today and I had a blast! All morning I assessed, fed, and rocked to sleep babies, Gave their first shots (not so fun I'm afraid, but I did well) Watched Circumcisions (again not so fun, but interesting), and last but not least, I passed my newborn assessment check-off with my instructor. She's proven to be kinda a hard ass so I'm pretty pleased with myself. There is soooo much to remember when assessing a newborn. It's not just counting fingers and toes and listening to bowel sounds. It's testing reflexes (a lot) and checking for hematomas and doing gestational age maneuvers. It's the first check off in awhile I actually studied for...and I had one day's notice. (I had volunteered to be first in orientation yesterday in hopes to redeem myself to the instructor for my childcare issues.)
As far as my childcare issues, it seems my classmate' s 18 year old daughter is not going to come through. I was hopeful but I didn't think she would, when I was 18 I couldn't get excited about a job that required me to be there at 6am. I had one that did, it didn't last long. So, I guess I'm just going to have to deal with the frowns and and upset instructor and maybe offer to stay late or something. I'll tell her Tuesday.




Ari and I are both off for veteran's day tomorrow. It happens to be my Dad's birthday who is also a Vietnam veteran. Mike was an Air Force veteran. Ari got to make a star for her school hall with Mike's name on it. We decorated it with stickers. Please think of our Veteran's tomorrow.

Nov 9, 2005

Two bad days


I've had 2 bad days, there have been worse, of course, but these have to be in the top 10 in my Nursing school experience.
From Friday to Monday I did almost nothing else but study. I normally cram hard a day or 2 before a test and get As and Bs on them, but this time I wanted to make a really good grade on some exceptionally hard material. So from morning to bedtime, I studied for 4 days straight. I made notecards, took practice quizzes, took practice critical thinking essays.....Everything I could possibly do. I had to take breaks of course, with a 4 yr old, you have to but I mostly studied. So...Monday night, the night before the test, I studied, got all my stuff together for morning, checked and double checked my alarm clocks (I set 2, My radio alarm and my cell phone) and went to bed around midnight (kinda early for me).
Tuesday morning I wake up at 9 am. The test was at 8.

Ari is in the living room watching cartoons. I ask in tears, "Ari, did you turn off Momma's alarm?" "Yes " She replies. "Baby, you know we have school today" She innocently replies "I wanted you to sleep." Still in tears I tell her to get dressed as I am getting dressed. I got her to school at 9:10, I got to my school at 9:45.
I walked straight to my Nursing coordinator's office (she also happens to be the overall Nursing program director) and again, start crying again. I look like crap, no shower, I hadn't washed my hair, no coffee, I'm breaking out and not wearing any make-up.
She tells me this test counts as my drop. (we can drop just 1 test, the lowest this semester) I convinced her to let me take the test anyway just to see how I would've done and she agrees on account it would help me on my final. It doesn't count towards my grade. I take that Monday. I know it won't count, and I'm not in trouble but I REALLY, REALLY would have aced that test had I made it there. I could have dropped the Test 1= B and had a high A average instead. I studied so damn hard. I'm very disappointed in myself. And so it wouldn't happen again, yesterday night I moved my loudest alarm, my radio alarm to the top of my armoire very high out of the 4 year old's reach. It woke me up fine this morning.
Today was another story. I mentioned in
another entry how I've been having trouble organizing my clinical schedule to work with Ari's pre-K schedule. I HAD found a way that worked until today. Ari starts Pre-K a half an hour later then the rest of the school. After a dozen phone calls I found a daycare that not only opens early (6:30) but can also take her to school for me. The last 2 semesters, clinicals started between 6:45 or 7 but this semester, they decided we all need to be there and starting at 6:30. It was Ok in Pedi because I talked to my instructor about it, she was really understanding and sometimes I even made it there before she did. Today was my OB orientation. This instructor seems unwilling and seemed pretty upset when I mentioned the possibility of me getting there late. Even after I explained the entire situation. (I have no family in town, my friends work early, there is no daycare anywhere that takes your kids at 6am AND will take them to school). Just after our conversation, a classmate who overheard my worries said there is a possibility that she could get her 18 year old daughter to do it as she needs the extra money. She told me she'd talk to her tonight and get back to me. My instructor is reluctantly allowing me to be late tomorrow. (Did I mention that parking for students at the hospital is 3 city blocks away from the hospital!) I'm going to be having asthma attacks by the time I get there since I'll be running! So I hope this thing with her daughter works out.
The worst of the worst of these 2 days was yesterday night when Mom called from Houston. MD Anderson has turned my stepdad, Jerry away. There is nothing they can do for him. His tumor is sitting right next to his carotid artery and no surgeon will touch it. Jerry wants to try an oncologist in Waco as he was told chemo may shrink the tumor and give him more time. I spoke to my mom last night. She says she has to follow Jerry's wishes. I told her that she really needs to speak to Jerry and ask him how he wants to spend the rest of his time. I really think that Chemo will hasten his death like it did for Mike instead of giving him more time. I think in any case, I would be surprised if he made it until Christmas based on the condition he is now. But she's right, she must follow his wishes, and she doesn't want him to go any more then he wants to. I think the oncologist they see will probably tell them the same, and start Hospice in the works.
History repeating

Nov 7, 2005

Test 3 and TV Medical dramas

I've spent the last 2 days complete buried under pediatric cardiac/ pregnancy complications notes. I am writing an new entry to kind of vent some tension and it's an excuse to take a break.

I'm studying the cardiac defect Tetralogy of Fallot . They use to call this "blue baby" syndrome. I'm told there is a lot emphasis on this on the NCLEX so they emphasized that disorder in lecture.

I'm very visual and when I learn it helps if I have a visual memory to remember things by. It's untraditional but I like to use movies if I can. HBO produced a movie called Something the Lord made and it is about the doctors (and the 1st African American surgical assistant) who came up with the technique to cure Tetralogy of Fallot. In the movie they show the main actors drawing the anatomy on the chalkboard and I remember that when I think of TOF. It REALLY helps.
Another example is I use horror movie and scenes of bodies being severed in various ways to remember the different planes of the body. (ie Transverse, dorsal, etc.) I know it's weird but it works if you are a horror movie buff like me. :) Of course, it only works if you keep in mind the truth that's represented from movies and not the false things dramatized for entertainment.
On that idea, I like medical dramas on TV. ER seems to hit close to home with the facts about half of the time, which is pretty good considering they keep it entertaining as well. I started watching House last season and although I really like the show, It really cracks me up at how badly they mess up the truths about medical diseases and hospital procedures. Last weeks' show they had a patient with active TB and not once was he put on respiratory isolation. Also, did you ever notice that the doctors do EVERYTHING on that show? They not only diagnose and prescribe but they start IVs, give meds, run the CTs, MRIs, Ultrasounds, surgically operate, and still have enough time to spend quality emotional supporting time with their patients. What the heck are all the other people doing in that hospital?! They show other technicians and Nurses but they never do anything to the patient in question.And forget trying to guess the diagnosis. They always put a wacky spin on a disease like it being 4 things combined or it's something really bizarre like pesticide poisoning only found in Africa.
OK, long enough break....the pizza guy should be here any minute and I gotta get back to studying.
Think A everyone!

Nov 4, 2005

ER trip and Temp taking

I'm kind of disappointed there are other publishings about my pooh theory. (see below) But I guess it was too obvious a thing to go un-noticed before this nursing student came along. Hey, I enjoyed writing it anyway.

I was searching for a basic "ER" logo pic and couldn't find one, This one of "Dr. Kovac" is way easier on the eyes anyway....he's yummy.


***School update***

My last clinical day of pediatrics was yesterday and I got the privilege of spending it all by my lonesome (was the only student) in the children's ER. I really thought it was going to be more exciting then it was. I didn't realize that the children involved in traumas went to the Adult "crash" dept. The department I was in saw mainly level 3-5s. My layman interpretation of the levels are Level 1 is "dying" ie internal bleeding, Level 2 is "could die very soon" ie severe asthma attack, Level 3 is "chronic or serious problem that needs to be dealt with in 2 hours max with about 2 interventions" ie. a child with urinary tract infection. Level 4 is "can wait for up to 8 hours, 1 intervention needed" ie ear infection or rash, Level 5 is "patient could probably get better on their own and the problem is in no way fatal but since they are here...." ie. sprain or a cold. I got to help in triage all day so I got familiar with the level system the nurses explained to me. The worst I saw all morning was an infant with RSV who was in mild respiratory distress. I had never seen the nasal flaring, high resp rate, and subcostal and intercostal retractions before. The good thing was they took the baby straight back and the had about 2 MDs, an RT, and 5 nurses surrounding him in minutes. He's gonna be fine. He probably went to the NICU after I left. It was fun but not what I thought it was going to be.



Tympanic thermometer

I'm also anti-rectal temp taking if there is another accurate way available. Axillary (underarm) can be off but Tympanic (ear) has been proven to be the most accurate if done right. I read an article not too long ago that said rectal temps are sometimes up to two degrees higher then core temp. (think of where you are looking, you want to monitor brain temp but you are monitoring all the way down there in the rectum.)
I asked why they weren't using Tympanic and the nurse told me the doctors think rectal is more accurate in babies (under 2 is what they were doing) That may be, but why traumatize the child anymore if you don't have to? Every baby screamed when they did vitals.
I say get the Tympanics and train staff how to use them appropriately (which they should know anyway)

Md Anderson in Houston

***Stepdad news***
We finally have some hope. Mom's taking Jerry to the MD Anderson cancer center in Houston on Tuesday. If anyone can help him, they can. I am relieved they are at least seeking a second opinion. I am also relieved that My step-brother Shane and my sister Jamie both live in that area so my Mom and Jerry have family support there.

Nov 3, 2005

Vote for me...please

Please Vote for me,
I'm up for Nursing Blogger of the month !

Nov 2, 2005

Wonderful world of Pooh, an analysis


I've been wanting to write about Winnie the Pooh and friends since I took Intro to Psychology a few years ago which happen to coincide with Ari being about 2 yrs old and was real big on watching Winnie the pooh. I discovered then while watching an episode with Ari that the characters, all of them, suffer from some Psychiatric disorder. I had to do some research figuring that the author of the stories A. A. Milne had to have minored in Psychology or something. Turns out he was just a writer/editor, had once worked under H.G. Wells, and had a son named Christopher. So today, I wanted to, for kicks, do a break down of the characters and try and figure out what disorders each had. Feel free to comment and add to it if you like.

1. Winnie the Pooh- Well besides being a little intellectually delayed he also a compulsive eating disorder and also has a moderate compulsive obsession related to honey. That must be how he comforts himself when times get stressful like when he thinks about the Heffalump.

2. Roo- There's not too much to analyze about Roo except for maybe his co-dependent relationship with his mom, Kanga. They seem to be the only two in this world with any rational thinking processes. (although I could see Roo steering off the path in a Norman Bates kind of way.) That falls under a borderline personality disorder.

3. Eeyore- My favorite character even though he is the reason I started thinking about this in the first place. Eeyore obviously suffers from Severe Depression and self-loathing, but nothing a little Prozac or ECT wouldn't help.

4. Tigger - He has a Bipolar disorder, without a doubt. He cycles rapidly (Cyclothymia) as evidenced by his impulsive behavior and occasional word confusion.

5. Rabbit- Where do I start. Obsessive compulsive disorder with a secondary Narcissistic personality disorder. He gets very agitated when things are unorganized and out of routine and he thinks he's always right.

6. Piglet- Very sweet little guy but could definitely be helped with some Xanax from time to time. This one suffers from Generalized Anxiety disorder.

7. Christopher Robin- Last but not least,on the surface you might think of him as the most sane as he comes in and saves the day and gives rational thought to every dilemma, However I have analyzed him with having the worst type of disorder. He has Schizophrenia. As he has frequent delusions and hallucinations that his stuffed animal friends are real and talking to him.

That was fun, if you don't believe me just catch an episode on the Disney channel sometime.
...anything to add?
I got a lot of my Psychobabble from this site.

*******Update**********
My Best friend sent me this link. Those darn Canadians thought of this first. Although their analylsis is different then mine, They get a little too in depth as I was just looking on the surface. Go fig, At least I wasn't the only one to notice.