Walnut Grove Part 1

In July, we took the girls to Walnut Grove again to visit the sites and see the great play they put on 3 weekends each year, with pieces of Laura Ingalls Wilder's life.  We were able to leave Ato T with Grandma and Grandpa B, which made him much happier than he would have been with us, and allowed us to really enjoy the museum and play with the girls.

Under the mantle used in the Little House on the Prairie TV show.

Learning about a small town at the hands-on exhibit.

 Trying out one of the rooms.

 Giddy-up!

 Playing store at the children's exhibit.

 Wading in Plum Creek.  It was much higher this year than it was last year.  We almost had a very wet Miss O.

Ato T

We're having a tough summer with Ato T.  The big girls are in more activities, which means he comes along with us and is away from home more.  Ato T DOES NOT like to be away from home.  More importantly, he doesn't like to be away from his little rocking chair, which is is sitting in for almost every photo, because that's usually when he's happy.  He does well at school, and is usually fairly content at home, and does well if other people are caring for him.  But when Mike or I are "in charge," he screams and has tantrums A LOT.  So if you see posts of family activities and Ato T is not included, this is why.  We only take him with us when we have no other choice or it's something he will enjoy.

  It's hard to love someone so much, but still feel angry at them.  We're looking into a 5 day dolphin therapy in the Keys, and praying that may help a bit.  In the meantime, his PCA hours have increased dramatically.  So much that I don't know that it's physically possible for us to actually use all of them.  That's a blessing!



Catching up: Part 2

Yep, she's cute: and she knows it!

 More back yard fun:

Catching up

It's been a busy summer, and I haven't had as much time to post.  So here's the last couple of months in review.

Miss I was looking for some shorts, grabbed these and put them on.  Only when they were on did she realize they belonged to Little Miss.  Our 6 year old officiall can fit into our 8 month old's shorts.  :)

This is how we roll in the back yard on hot days:

 Little Miss has mastered the step from the family room to the kitchen.  She's so quick now that we had to buy a gate.

Learning to eat

What is this weird thing?

 Ummmmm ... I don't think I like this.

 Look at my cute smile!

 What 'cha got there?

 Why is this sticking to my hand?

 Yuck!  Get it out!  Why would you do this to me?

7 months old

I guess when you're child #4, your 6 month pictures turn into 7 month pictures instead.  Enjoy!

Memorial Day weekend in pictures

Daddy's motorcycle helmet

Tilling the garden

Pulling dandelions

Swingin' with Vincent (PCA)

Fun $1 buys at a garage sale

A well deserved nap

How quickly they grow

I cannot believe that Little Miss is almost 7 months old already!  Where does the time go?  Snuggles are becoming less frequent, as she navigates her world.  She is pivoting like a champ, and commando crawling well, and can crawl on hands and knees a tiny bit.  Oh, it just goes way too fast, but what a blessing it is to watch her grow!

Wet Paint: Please Don't Touch

We have finally had some success with Ato T and finger painting!  Hooray!

Speaking, of not touching when paint is wet, here's something that's been bothering me lately.  Mike and I are both Caucasian, Miss O and Miss I are also Caucasian.  In case you haven't noticed, Alto T and Little Miss are both African-American.  Our church has a small amount of African-Americans, and a large number of Caucasian people.  Lately, Caucasian people in our congregation seem to feel incredibly comfortable coming up to touch Ato T to feel his hair.  Now, I get the desire to do so.  Before I had AA kids, I wanted to do that as well.  Their (my 2 AA kids') texture is different than my hair's texture - we want to touch what is different to us.  However, I held back touching other's people's heads - just don't think it's terribly appropriate.  With Ato T, I have not seen the same respect for boundaries.  People (especially at church) seem to think it's just fine to come up to him and touch him on the head to say hi, or rub his head, or touch the scar from when his shunt was placed and ask what happened.  I'm not sure why they think this is okay.  Maybe it's because his wheelchair puts him at the perfect height for people to do it, maybe it's because he's a little kid, or could it be because he is not able to run away from them when they are doing it?  I do see him try to push their hands away, or give them looks that say, "Why are you touching me?"  But none of these people seem to notice that.  All they seem to notice is that they are making effort to be (or at least act) comfortable with his disability.  Yes, I think it's great when people can step out and include those with disabilities.  However, it would be nice if they would learn to do that without having to touch my son.  No one finds it appropriate to touch a complete stranger on the head when it's a typically functioning adult.  I would appreciate it we would all show the same respect to individuals with disabilities (and babies, pregnant women, etc.).  So please, if you don't know him, think of him as having a sign around his neck that says, "Wet Paint:  Please Don't Touch."