CHRISTIAN:
1. Is a FANTASTIC student. Don't tell him, but at parent-teacher conferences, his teacher let me know that he reads 160 words per minute - the fastest student of the three second grade classes. He is her top student, and such a good, kind boy. "Not a bad bone in his body", were her words. This made my heart so full and happy. I've always known that he is a great kid, with the patience and tenderness of someone much older; but whenever I hear it validated (which is quite often), I'm so grateful that I get to raise this little boy.
2. He's not so little. He turned EIGHT on September 26th. We had an awesome little family party with all of my family there, and my SIL Anna made an amazing ninja cake for him. He was so excited about the whole event and we had a great time.
3. He got baptized! Mo baptized him, and his Grandpa Bob confirmed him (along with Aaron Geyer, Grandpa Edgardo, Mo, Grandpa Hyer, and Bishop Fleshman). It was a special experience for him, and I was happy that he made the decision.
OLIVIA:
1. She's not a bad student either! She's right on track, or ahead in all of her subjects, and her teacher reports that she is a model student. She sits next to her best friend Natalie, and her teacher said that they never talked and so she's never had to worry about moving them.
2. She got moved. :) Apparently, she figured out it's fun to talk about fun things with your friend while your teacher is teaching. But she doesn't seem too upset. She generally likes school very much and particularly enjoys going to PE and the library. Last Wednesday, they went on a field trip (who DOESN'T remember and love field trips!) to Linder Farms and got to do all of the little activities out there, and pick out a little pumpkin. She had a great time!
3. Olivia wanted to be a witch for the second year in a row. I think she makes a pretty good witch, and after we finally figured out how to make the wig not scratch her head, she's a good sport about wearing the thing.
ADELAIDE:
1. Obsessed with horses!! I got this for her for her Halloween costume and she wears it all the time, or drags it around behind her. She has a couple of stuffed horses as well, and the cutest thing ever is when she puts the stuffed horse between her legs and waddles/rides it. Always good for a smile.
2. Did I mention it seems like we've been sick for the last two months? And this little girl has had some form of the flu about three times in the last 6 weeks or so. She doesn't even go to daycare! Where is she getting it from? Anyway, she's been a trooper. And I have been, too!! I don't want to gross you out, but the amount of bodily fluids I've cleaned up in the last two months has been...depressing? Disgusting? Frustrating? All of the above?
3. I have been very busy the last couple of weeks, and more so in the weeks to come, getting Adelaide ready for preschool. There are a lot of evaluations and meetings that need to be completed and attended, and I've visited the preschool several times, trying to decide which classroom to put her in. She'll attend the preschool taught by the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind (IESDB), and there are two classes: Total Communication (TC, essentially a signed english class) and Auditory-Oral (AO, NO sign, completely oral class). I've been very conflicted because I use quite a bit of sign with her and I feel like it has been INVALUABLE in our communication. I can't tell you how many times she didn't have her implant on, for whatever reason, and I was still able to "talk" to her and know what she wanted. She also understands better when she has that visual back-up. And what parent doesn't want their kid to be bilingual? And finally, she is deaf. She always will be, and ASL is the language of deaf people. I feel like I want to give her that, so if she wants to make that culture a bigger part of her life later on, she won't be held back.
Now, for the flip side of that. Ken and I chose to have her bilaterally implanted with cochlear implants. We want English to be her primary language. That is made SO evident anytime that ANYONE talks to her. She is comfortable with, and responds well, to a handful of people's voices that she hears all of the time. And of course, anytime there is background noise, it is also difficult for her to understand. So if there is background noise, or a voice that she isn't familiar with, or someone who doesn't understand she is deaf, I'm constantly repeating/signing what they are saying to her. This is fine for me now, I'm happy to do it. But, knowing her, I know that she would get frustrated by needing a translator all of the time. And I want her to be able to communicate with her family, friends, the general population, in the language they all speak. So, putting her in the AO classroom would force her to start learning that English, without any reinforcement from sign language. Tough choices.
DIANA:
1. The days and weeks go so quickly, it's frightening. I'm just sure that I'll wake up tomorrow and I'll be in my sixties. For now, I'm enjoying the changing weather; watching the leaves fall and smelling the crisp air.
2. I ran a 10K with my cousin, Josh, a couple of weeks ago. The race course was on the greenbelt in Boise and it was a beautiful morning. Josh made me run faster than I ever run and I finished the race in just over 55 minutes. And then Josh's girlfriend held my iPhone while I puked in the nearest trashcan. Not one of my finer moments; I blame it on no breakfast and Josh, for making me run so dang fast.
And just for good measure, here's a few pictures of the garden. We put it to bed a couple of weeks ago. Here is Uncle Dan and Uncle Mark harvesting potatoes on a SUPER old contraption. It made me laugh because I know how Andrew harvests their potatoes. Enough said. If you need more of an explanation, ask me.
Playing in the dirt will be missed.
