Happy Halloween!

Yesterday John's preschool class had a costume parade and Havilah and I got to tag along as they marched through the elementary school classrooms. John went as Super Boy, minus the underwear on top of Hava's leggings. Hahaha!!

Tonight we got the kids all dressed up as Super Girl and Super Boy (including the Superman underpants!). 

Oh yeah, baby, free candy here we come...

At home with the loot (one of our neighbors was giving out these awesome glow necklaces to all the kids):

"Mom! yellow!" 

"Uh, yeah, John, you have yellow candy in your mouth. Thanks for showing me."

Hope your Halloween was sweet!

Hava

I just found this video of Havilah from May:


Shaky shaky


Five months later...here's a video montage of Havilah this month. She's still talkative but she no longer sits still!


October 2008

Let me wake with the dawn

One verse that keeps coming up...and keeps my perspective in check:

"The LORD said to [Moses], 'Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.'" (Exodus 4:11-12)


One quote that expresses the value of hard times (and is anyone in America--or the world for that matter--not reflecting on hard times?):

“The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.”—Joanna Macy


One song that resonates right now:

"Mercies New" by Nichole Nordeman:

Is it fair to say I was lured away?
By endless distractions and lovelier attractions then
Or fairer still, my own free will
Is the better one to blame for this familiar mess I've made again

So I would understand if You were out of patience
And I would understand if I was out of chances
Your mercies are new every morning
So let me wake with the dawn
When the music is through or so it seems to be
Let me sing a new song, old things gone
Every day it's true, You make all Your mercies new


Two comments that have given me encouragement regarding my son:

"John is a sweet, sweet boy and we all love him to death! His progress so far leads us to think he will reach his Individual Education Plan goals by the end of the school year" --Ms. Martin, Awesome teacher

"You and your husband are really good at working with John on his speech at home" --Tamara (speech therapist, who I often feel like a bimbo with--through no fault on her part)

One happy thought:


(John and Havilah in their Halloween capes--here come Super Boy and Super Girl! I had fun sewing these super quick projects...)

Did you know?

* That cockroaches and scorpions and other friendly, clean creatures can and do climb UP drains and into houses?

* That the way to solve that problem is to play fourth grade student and make a volcano in the drain? Baking soda plus vinegar cleans out the drain, and hot water a few minutes later flushes the lovely bugs back where they came from.

* That tarantulas are huge, furry spiders but that they don't usually purposely hurt humans? Go ahead, pick up the next one you run across!

* That, thanks to living in the desert, I can personally attest to these tidbits of information?

And people ask me if I miss Portland...!

mayonnaise

John is continuing to make progress on his speech. He's still missing key sounds. "Sky" becomes "dye" because that K is tricky, as is G, Z, J, and a handful of others. But I'm happy to report that John is working hard--and still playing hard. His teachers at preschool are Awesome. Yes, Awesome with a capital A.

We had a preschool potluck picnic at the park tonight. It was a casual time and I was able to talk to his main teacher, Ms. Martin, about John. All of his teachers agree that he is one of the "sweet boys"; nothing warms a mama heart like hearing that. I also had a chance to get to better know the assistant teachers, Ms. Nancy and Ms. Kim.

While I chatted, John and Havilah went crazy on the playground equipment.

This afternoon I was making potato salad for the potluck and I said "John, can you say mayonnaise?" And he did. Very deliberately, very proudly: "Mayonnaise!" His list of words/phrases is still under 50, still far behind the average but the list is growing every day. I was discouraged a few months ago... thinking will John ever speak? But now I know that he will speak. He is starting to speak and is gaining confidence. He is so pleased with himself every time he busts out with a new word. And we are so proud too! There is plenty of clapping and whooping every time we hear something new slip out of his lips.

P.S. Don't you like Hava's shoes? She is such a girly girl and loves pretty clothes, cute shoes, and pink chapstick. I am in trouble!!

Ice Ice Baby

Five days late...here is a sampling of our Williams, AZ, cabin trip. We found a small lake perfect for throwing rocks in...


...though Havilah was most interested in zooming over the rocks and eating the pebbles.

This is such a fun time of year to be in Northern Arizona because the nights are chilly but the days are still mild and warm. The cabin is cozy and the kids enjoyed exploring with the pine cones and sticks and playing on the teeter totter and tire swing.

We found an amazing little coffee shop featuring drinks such as "Wicked Witch," "Kickoff," "Warm Days/Cool Nights," "Pumpkin Patch" and other fun fallish themes. John had an apple cider. Once Havilah had a taste, she continually signed "more"! Fortunately for her, John is quite generous.

It was good for us to be out amongst the trees, breathing unpolluted air, and getting a bit of use out of our sweatshirts.

So why is this post labeled Ice Ice Baby, you ask?

I've been thinking lately about what to do about the fact that John loves music but really can't sing yet. We've tried humming, or just saying random words in songs as he listens to his CDs, but then I had a revelation.

Tonight Billy and I had a lovely, leisurely birthday dinner out at a nice restaurant. On the way home after picking up the kids, I asked John to say "Ice Ice Baby."One of John's favorite words is ice so I combined it with Hava's name ("Baby") and we had the line from a classic song: Ice Ice Baby. Billy and I were laughing and laughing as John "sang" ice ice baby! in the backseat. Billy said he must think we're nuts since he's combining his favorite beverage addition with his little sister's name. Oh well! We're singing, baby!