6/11/12 - Eva Turns 7

These have been a very eventful few weeks for Eva.  She turned 7 on June 4^th and had a shark-themed birthday party with her friends from our small group.  She’s been taking swim lessons in the Olympic-sized pool at Mt. Hood Community College, which she really enjoys, although she still finds the depth intimidating and prefers not to wander off the submerged platform they use to create a shallow end.   Amanda is still in the shallow learner pool, but she’s fearless and seems to consider it an oversized bathtub for splashing and play. 

 

A couple of weeks ago Bethany jumped on Eva and rammed the frame of her glasses into her eyebrow.  I couldn’t get it closed and had to take her to urgent care for three stitches.   They used a powerful topical gel to numb the area without a Novocain shot and she didn’t even cry as they stitched her up.  When she got home she told Amanda and all her friends, “I got sewed!”  

 

The girls and their friends recently finished their AWANA club with an awards ceremony and Spring Fair where they got to spend all the “shares” (AWANA dollars) they earned over the semester.  Eva got a certificate for finishing her first Sparks book and will start on the second book in the fall.  Amanda graduated from Cubbies and will be an official Sparky next year.   Bethany is still too young to join, so she’ll have to wait another year, until she’s four.  

Tongue Tied

We’ve been making some progress with Bethany’s weekly speech therapy sessions, but she still has a very limited vocabulary, and many of her words are hard to understand.  She says “yeah” and “no” pretty clearly, as well as “Momma,” “Da-yee” (Daddy) and “bye.”   Sometimes she can repeat a word clearly enough to be understood if we speak it to her first, but she rarely comes up with a word on her own.   She doesn’t call Eva or Amanda by name yet…not even a toddler nickname.  Her primary form of communication is tapping my leg and making me follow her as she tries to point out what she wants. 

 

Her therapist Janet suggested I print out a page full of pictures of things she likes to eat to help cut down the frustration when she wants a snack, which is one of our biggest struggles.   The rest of the time we play a guessing game as I point to different things to try and figure it out.  When she plays she chatters to herself in rapid baby talk, trying out different sounds. 

 

It turns out that Bethany's speech delay is partly due to being slightly tongue tied.  They didn't find it before now because she didn't have any nursing or eating difficulties, and up until now she hadn't really been trying to form words. Now that she's trying to talk, it's pretty obvious that she's having difficulty forming the words. The doctor said she could have easily snipped it if she were a baby, but now it would bleed more and probably be more painful, so she's recommending I talk to a specialist at OHSU.  I had to go through watching Amanda getting a double root canal with just sedation (she was awake and crying through the whole thing), and I hate the thought of having to do something similar with Bethany (even though this would obviously be a lot shorter). The speech therapist said that sometimes they have exercises that can help stretch the frenulum, but that can also be painful and laborious, and she's not old enough to learn how to do them yet. I'll have to talk more with the referral doctor before we decide what path to take.

Spring Projects

After enjoying warm weather on vacation and an unusual heat wave earlier this month, the girls didn’t like having to go back to long sleeves and long pants.   Every morning they ask if they can wear short sleeves and shorts, and every evening if they can wear their sleeveless pajamas.  They want to run around in the backyard in their bathing suits and play on the slip-n-slide.  Unfortunately, I keep having to tell them that it’s too cold and we’ll have to wait for the weather to warm up again.  Here’s hoping that summer weather arrives sooner rather than later this year! 

 

We’ve taken advantage of the season to check several items off the “to do” list.   When the weather warmed up to the 60’s we began painting a different room in the house every few days.   It’s been four years since we moved in the walls and baseboards have their fair share of scuffs, pen marks and other signs of wear and tear.   The house is already looking much fresher and brighter, and clearing out every room to paint has given me a natural opportunity to purge and spring clean.   When the winter weather drives us back indoors, it will hopefully be a lot more cozy.  

 

In addition to our garden, this year we added a cherry, apricot and plum tree, and two apple trees (to cross-pollinate).   We also planted four blueberry bushes out front that fruit at different stages in the season, so we’ll have fresh blueberries all summer.  

 

A lot of our friends and family have been trying out different ways to cut costs and become more self-sufficient, such as raising rabbits or chickens, making their own household cleaners or herbal remedies.   We’ve become more conscious of emergency preparedness and have been slowly building a cushion for our families in case of job loss, severe inflation or other unexpected disaster.   It’s amazing to think of how many basic skills we’ve lost in a modern world that has become largely dependent on being able to flip a light switch or drive down to the grocery store and find exactly what you need always in stock.   

 

Several of Dave’s friends hunt and shoot, and he likes to go to the shooting ranges with them every once in awhile for some guy time.   The son of one of his residents is a police officer, and when he heard Dave had been learning to shoot, he brought over half a dozen different guns to teach Dave all about their features and safety requirements.   Dave said, “It’s like having my own personal gun coach!”   He decided to invest in a safe, a range membership and a revolver to start.   It’s his new favorite hobby and he can’t wait to take me to the range for a date night and have me try it out.  

Snow Birds

In April we were able to escape the endless Oregon rain and headed down to the Southwest for the first time in over a year.  We flew into Arizona first to visit Aunt Laura and Malcolm and see their house for the first time.  The girls loved escaping their winter wardrobe in the warm weather, and swimming in the big pool with all the float toys.  

Aunt Laura had planned several outings, including painting clay figurines, a puppet show, a train museum and the Children’s Museum of Phoenix.   It was much larger and had a lot more activities than the Portland one, and the girls were completely enthralled by it.  Eva got lost at the top of the giant tree house for a few minutes, but Daddy came to the rescue and helped her find her way down. 

 

At the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, we got to walk down the hallways of a real antique train, ride the mini train ride and take the girls for a turn on the merry-go-round before retiring to the playground.   

The puppet show was “The Three Billy Goats Gruff,” and though Daddy had to take Bethany outside when the ugly troll showed up, Eva and Amanda were so impressed they put on their own impromptu puppet show for us when we got home. 

 

After a few days it was time to head to our old stomping grounds in California, so we took a scenic route that Laura had mapped out for us and followed it all the way through Julian, where it was cool enough that we had to switch back into long sleeves and pants.   Once in Vista we took every opportunity to visit with friends and family.  Aunt Nanci took the girls to the Wild Animal Park to see the new baby elephant and lions.  

 

We drove up to Riverside to visit with Grandpa Gordon, enjoying a BBQ at his friend’s house with a spectacular view in the backyard.   We enjoyed seeing Uncle Mark and cousin Riley, and the girls had a blast playing with cardboard boxes and dressing up a toy goose that had clothing for all holidays and seasons. 

 

We went to Orange County to have dinner with my Aunt Gayle and Uncle Mark.  It was the first time I had gotten to see my cousin Joshua and his wife Suzanne since their wedding almost two years ago, and we got to meet their adorable son Aiden.   He reached for me the moment he saw me and cuddled on my shoulder, though he had never met me before.  I guess I must look like family! 

 

We spent an evening at Amber and Xavier’s with Aunt Nanci, Uncle Gary and cousins Allen and Haden, and got to see how much Michayla and baby Sophia had grown.   By booking almost every breakfast, lunch and dinner on our trip, we were able to squeeze in visits with my friends Laurelle and Rachel, Dave’s old buddy Johnny, and Chappy and Misty.   It was a full schedule, but well worth it to see everyone, and the trip was over much too quickly.