Mysterious milestones

When we left the room, Timo would be lying on his back. Mysteriously when we returned to the room we would find him on his tummy. Mimi and I spent quite a long time trying to film him doing his new trick. He kept not doing it. Mimi had the idea to leave the room and keep the camera running to see if he would do it when we were in the kitchen. Mimi was sure that he was just shy about doing his trick. 

So here is the footage of our time stirring the spaghetti!

He hasn't figured out the next milestone yet. Reversibility!

a WAY bigger triumph

I have had dreams about this boy walking. This is my friend Amy's boy Cypress. He is 3.5 years old. Even though I believed it would happen one day, actually seeing him walking moves me so profoundly. I want the world to know about his story.  You wouldn't necessarily know it from watching this video but he has cerebral palsy.  Amy and Sean were told all sorts of dire things about how he would never crawl, stand, talk, eat, have a pincer grasp, walk etc.

The prognosticators were wrong. wrong. wrong. wrong.

They didn't know the power of belief, love, persistence and the Anat Baniel Method.

I wonder what Cypress will do with his awesome life. I just hope I get to go shopping with him some day- or at least dance with him at his wedding.

triumphs

I went to a fun event this evening over at the cathedral. It was a fundraiser hosted by one of the guilds at the cathedral in aid or an organization called Crosswalk which is a shelter for homeless teens. It was spearheaded by a Mom at the cathedral and it was a very simple concept. The entry "fee" was a donation of $5 plus clothes that you culled from your closet. All the clothes were laid out and everyone went "shopping" and enjoyed donated foods and wonderfully created goodies in a festive atmosphere. There was also a small silent auction.

Now I thought I might just leave without going "shopping" because the mounds of clothes were intimidating and I was feeling hesitant about what would fit me etc. However, after having a few visits and then trying on a fleecy zip-up hoodie I was hooked. I filled the bag I brought with more than I had brought (I hope that's ok!) and then headed home. Now the really dreamy part.... After I put the kids to bed I tried on my "finds" and they ALL ARE AWESOME!!! I got 4 pairs of perfectly fitting pants (4!!!), a whole bunch of tops, a sweater, a fleece, a fuzzy jacket, and a pair of dress flats (they are a bit squeezy but it's for beauty right?). And I didn't have to go into a horrible change room with horrible lighting and stare despondently in the mirror plus fork out however much that would have cost me to purchase new.

Plus earlier today I went with a couple of other Moms (plus kids) to a "Pickers Delight" warehouse event (basically a big space filled with mostly things that should just go in the garbage) and I found 3 awesome things. An emergency radio/flashlight/windup-wunderbox, a bunch of large art paper and a song book that is going to be great for Martin's work. Camp songs, worship songs, etc with chords and melody lines. Lots of old favourites in there.

It snowed about 6 inches of beautiful wet flaky snow today. Lots to be thankful for.

the latest

We have a case of the sick going through our house right now and Ami is the most effected by it. High temperatures, the H-F Chest, coughing, grogginess, lots of sleeping and a fair dose of whine.

Martin had a particularly busy weekend this weekend because the Dean is away. M got to perform his first wedding yesterday which was very special for him. He thinks that he got a few eyebrows raised and some conceptions shattered when he mentioned in his homily that we lived together before we got married.
It snowed a bit this morning which makes everything brighter and cleaner.

Mimi went to see a play with some folks from church yesterday. It was really short notice and when I asked her if she would like to go (without me or Martin) she said "Yes, I am brave". That about sums her up! She has been very brave these days with a hard visit to the dentist and then getting sick and all. I just wish she would stop asking if I have a baby in my belly. I guess my poochy tummy is giving her the WRONG idea!!!!

"Mimi is so fun to look at!"

Timo is totally cute these days. He likes to blow bubbles and he just beams when Mimi is near. He is really good at going to sleep by himself during the day. He seems to have avoided the cold but who can say. All I know is that he still wanted to nurse every 2 hours in the night last night. I think I have had enough of that.

I got some items at the auction yesterday which I am very pleased about. It will mean better storage for books and kid things. Now I will need to get some storage situation for all my ABM props. I worked on a little girl from Grand Forks a couple of weeks ago and she will come again this week for three lessons. I need to find a few other kids to practice on so I can really learn ABM!

Ami was presented with an award for citizenship at his school (Citizen of the Month... there were about 5-8 citizens from every grade). He was very pleased with it and Martin and I and Mimi and Timo were all there to cheer him on at the assembly. He is wishing his life were different these days. Maybe things will be better when the cold/fever is gone.

awwwwww

Sometimes Martin doesn't take Bodhi with him when he walks Ami to school in the mornings because he doesn't like the sound that little kids make when they see our dog. I agree that it can be really annoying but he misses out on other things too. Today when I had Bodhi with me a very little boy with big brown eyes and a Paddingon-esque coat said to me "your cute is (pause) dog". I think he wasn't expecting to say anything outloud but it just poured out of him. You only get that kind of random cuteness if you walk the dog to an elementary school in the mornings.

2 month Marathon

When we moved December 1st I had no idea how much of a marathon life would be for two months. I feel like I am actually able to breathe today although the two months are not quite over yet.
Now I can create a list of all the things I have accomplished since moving here...

~Travel with Mimi and Timo on Amtrak to Spokane- arriving in the middle of the night, waking up my 4 year old to get off the train, schlep baggage, get a taxi, arrive at our new home.
~"host" a meeting/pancake lunch for families from the cathedral on the 3rd of December. By "host" I mean "hide in my room". Luckily our friend Katie came to visit us from Portland and was able to keep watch of Ami and Mimi. All over a tremendously overwhelming "welcome" to Spokane. I am not even sure if I am over it yet.
~Mimi's birthday was on the 5th. Luckily I had the presence of mind to do the preparations (acquiring presents) before we left Canada.... Katie's presence made it a real celebration.
~Ami entered public school and I found a school willing to take Mimi (just newly 5). Only drag is that it means driving to drop off and pick up every day. (Biggest challenge was when the snows arrived in January. . . . )
~In December I had one week of school for both kids (aka childcare) so in that time was more able to make Christmas happen and to make sure that Santa knew that we were now living in Spokane.
~I had to find a chest of drawers for the kids. Bought one from a 2nd hand/vintage place. Actually it was the second one (from the same store) which I participated in heaving on to our roof-rack. I hadn't seen the one I eventually bought until the first one was already on the car. I think this is recommended activity for 6 weeks c-section postpartum right?!
~Put the two kids into 2 days of "winter camp" at the YMCA in the week before Christmas when they were already on break from school. This ushered in slightly more sanity than would have been available if they had been home every day that week.
~I had to watch 9 days of training (segment 2 of my ABM Children's Mastery) by DVD. No small feet.
~Luckily Julia and Travis came to visit us at New Years so I was able to clean my bathrooms and the kids got LOTS of tickles (which they adored).
~January brought the push to find childcare for Timo while I was at my training at the end of Jan. Ultimately I found 6 caregivers for 9 days of training. The number of people I have to thank for leading me to these 6 wonderful people is HUGE!
~9 days at ABM training in San Rafael, staying in Berkeley with a different childcare arrangement almost every day. Exhausting.
~ Back in Spokane toured Helen and Frank (and 3 kids) to downtown Spokane (by bus!) to see the river/falls.
~today I restocked my fridge, found a storage solution for art supplies and made a yummy chicken dinner.
Tomorrow will bring more storage and sorting solutions as I get to tackle "moving in". Also I can start blogging about cute things that happen at my house. Enough of this martyrdom.

11 weeks old

Timo is 11+ weeks now- I just had to check because I have been telling people that he is 10 weeks! His latest thing is putting his hand in his mouth and giving it a good chew. I am hoping that this does not mean that teething is precociously early! I can actually see his top front teeth up in his gums when I peel up his little lip! He is feeling a bit more clingy to me these days, especially at night (no surprise) and he has actually slept 5 hours in a row a couple of nights (just not in a row!). I think he gets a little stuffy at night and that is what wakes him up. I look forward to his desire to sleep through the night.

He is enjoying kicking a lot (especially when he has his diapers off) and he is so cute when he coos.