Photo ops

I love blooming trees. These beauties have been coming out around our entry way. G and M love to go up and inspect the bees buzzing around. Luckily nobody has been stung yet. Lovely.
We visited Gainesville and had lots of fun. G loves to wear black socks like dad and we love the socks at Old Navy. You can get them for $1.45 individually in any color and size, or for $1.00 if you buy more than 5. We got 15. Then on our way out G said he wanted to get a picture with this display. M had to be encouraged to get in the picture and then discouraged from climbing up on the platform.
While we were waiting for the Old Navy to open we stopped by Publix for some breakfast. Brach'sfast? No no, we ate the free chocolate chip cookies, found our favorite Thomas mini whole wheat bagles, then we paid our $0.25 to eat some candy. Really, what a deal. For $0.25 we got a huge gummy worm for G, a caramel for M, and a peanut caramel cluster for me. It's just one quarter, and just one piece of candy each. Rather than $1.00+ to buy more candy than we should eat etc...

lovely day with M

Today we were staying in town while G was at school. We stopped by the post office and sent some blankets to my sister who just had her 5th. Then I asked M what she would like to do. She said she wanted to go to the Lightner Museum. So off we went to find our favorite metered parking spot in the shade. $0.75 bought us 30 minutes of parking and we pocketed the 3 pennies designated to be thrown into the fountain.

M wanted to hang out with the fish so we did that. It's a glorious collection of fish. We even saw a grouper in there. The pellet machines were gone but luckily we'd spent our quarters on the meter so it wasn't a disappointment, for me anyway. Someone came along eventually with Cheerios and it was a feeding frenzy. Fish more than half way out of the water, lifted on the backs of other fish frantic for something processed to eat.

I hypothesized to the lady with the Cheerios that maybe they stop feeding them every once in a while to remind them to eat algae and the small fish. Otherwise the pond would get over run with well fed Koi really fast.

Then I noticed one of the gigantic orange fishes head down at the bottom, unmoving. Oh no! Dead fish. That's 5 pounds of dead fish in a small pond. Sad.

Later we did see that it was just barely moving. It was apparently eating something on the bottom. For a long time.

We went into the Lightner Museum just for a fast peek because after all we only had a few minutes on the meter.

We went to visit "bear" and got a picture with him. We've come to appreciate what a nice bear he is and can now joke about being afraid of him instead of actually being afraid of him.

We also found this lovely bust.
Hurray to the wealthy person who commissioned this lovely piece.

training the baby

I've got Penny (and myself) trained to have a nice interaction when she wants to be picked up. If she's in the swing and fussing I get really close to her and smile until she smiles before picking her up. When she's on the ground I wait until I see her little legs kicking to pick her up. Sometimes I just pick her up before she fusses at all if I see her doing these things. She's a cutie.

She signs milk sometimes. She's pretty consistent at knowing what I'm offering when I sign milk. It's cool watching her learn.

Baby Got Back

Saturday we had a bridal shower for R. It was fun to play the games and reminisce about our own bridal hopes and stories. P and S took the kids to the beach so we had several hours of kid free hang out/entertaining.bP stayed with me and rolled around on the ground being cute. After the party she descended into a state of green boogie inconsolable gloom. She was up all night Saturday/Sunday so she and I stayed home from church. S took the kids and it was ok.

Today she is just about back to normal. We got to sleep in our bed last night instead of on the couch. Nice! She even spent some time sleeping in the bassinet. Strangely I can't really sleep without her by my side. I guess I'm sort of wired to know where she is if she's touching my body. With her out of the bed, I felt like she was going to fall on the floor or was smothered because I couldn't feel her there to know she was safe.

She's such a cute baby. I'm glad she's back to happy.

love

I talk with people every once in a while about G's School. They are surprised to learn that it is free and that it has a residential option. Without fail they say "I could never send my child away."

Having a deaf child and letting them attend a school for the deaf is a lot like adoption. You're not giving them up. You're giving them more.

When we drive to school each day to drop G off I see kids. Regular kids hanging out and associating with their peers. Laughing, joking, part of the group. That's what it means to be a deaf kid at the school for the deaf: you're normal.

Perhaps a lot of parents think how they as hearing people would feel weird and uncomfortable at a deaf school. But for deaf kids it's the only place where they have a critical mass of kids like them to just be a kid. Never again in their life will they have this opportunity.

I think about the band in HS. I loved it. Yet outside of a school setting most adults don't get to be a part of something like that. I did get to be in band in college and then teach band. I even got to be part of a brass band. That was awesome. I loved those opportunities to belong and create with a group.

A deaf child going through their entire education in isolation misses out on so much. So many of their social talents will never develop. How can they?

There are some I'm sure who are sending them away because they have never learned to interact with them. There are a lot of people who send their kids (hearing and deaf) to the neighborhood school who don't interact with their kids either. But somehow that they sleep in the same house at night means they love them?

The parents that can, change their lives to move here. Others can't. So they send their kids here.
It's about loving them enough to let them go, grow, and live.

I"ve heard

My mother said that when I was a little girl I was very gregarious and sweet. Then somewhere between 4 and 14 I was a monster. It worries me when M is being ridiculously sweet, what lies in store.

Today G helped unbuckle her and she said "Oh thank you G. You are the nicest brother ever!"

I don't hesitate to tell M she is the best or my favorite. I just qualify it. "You are the best M ever!"
and "You are my favorite M!" It could be taken to mean that I think she's the best. But what I am actually saying and meaning is that she is the best M. And that is true. So if I can avoid naming my children with repetitive names, they can all be the best G, M, P, T, L, G, J etc....

going to 11

Like me, I'm sure you thought G could get no cuter. Well we were all wrong. Today during out 2.5 hour stint at the playground I spotted these babies.

Freckles!