Blessing Two: Nati's words

If you have met Nati at all you would know this kid is amazing at communicating even without words. He can whine, cry, fuss, imitate sounds, act things out, point, and drag you to things. When we very first took him to the doctor in April 2009 he basically said the word, "Ma" and that was it. He used it all day every day for months. Finally a few other words came into the picture like Ya Ya - Yared, la la - water, ti ti - blanket, Da da - Daddy, la la - loud, and a few other two syllable sounds that stood for many different things. We waited and waited but no new words really came around. He would come come up with his own signs for things so we knew what he was talking about. He would pantomime starting a lawnmower, or mixing brownies in a mixer, or starting a car with a key just to show us what he was talking about or playing. He also was a great mimic and would make sounds like "aha aha aha" for fire engine or "grrrrrr" for the blender or "eeep" for the car lock.

In April 2010 we had our one year home check up. They weren't' really worried about his words as they said he had been removed from his first language and thrown into a second at a critical point in development. They gave us a referral to a speech therapist just so we could get a baseline in case there was an issue later on. The week he was to go to the speech therapist he finally said his first two word sentence, "me turn", "Ya Ya turn" "me own". I was thrilled and almost cancelled the appointment. I'm glad I didn't.

We spent two hours with the therapist and she fell in love with Nati. Her evaluation was that he comprehended at or above his age. His words were about 6 months behind but even if English was his first language he would not qualify for therapy at that level. She wants to see him next summer but she really wasn't concerned at all. She gave us great tips on how to help him and what not to do. They told us to not correct him but just say everything the right way in front of him. This was a great help to us.

Now, fast forward three months and there are words flying all over the place in our house. He is even funny like Yared is. Sometimes only Yared and I know what he is saying but more and more others know what he is saying. It is so fun listening to him.

We were having a potty time he looks and says "Me cute bum bum." I tell him this all the time as he really does have an adorable bum. I replied, "Yes, your bum is cute." He smiles and says, "Mommy cute bum bum too." That made me laugh and laugh which wasn't great as he now says this quite often. Some of my favorite words he says are "whera" for where and "right hera" for right here. Also he has Lightening Mqueen underware used as incentive for potty training which he calls "Keen ware ware" The sound I hear most often these days is "Ya Ya tay wi me" or "Mommy tay wi me" which is asking us to play with him. He also is a bit fascinated with old people. He will yell "Ole man" and act out being old with a cane if he sees an older person. I am trying to break him of this as he is getting clearer and clearer and I don't want him to offend anyone. When he had a tummy ache one day he said, "Mommy, belly hurt, me ah ah ah." (I hurt and need an ambulance.). He climbed in the van one day and said, "Mommy van hot, new van ease" (the van is hot and we need a new van please.). I even catch him talking in his sleep. His newest phrase is "yeah baby" learned from Daddy.

It is wonderful to have his words come in and to see even more of his fun personality through his broader communication skills. His imagination might even be bigger than Yared's but we are only finding this out as he couldn't tell us what he was playing. We are so grateful that he is talking. Sometimes we have to work on not yelling the same thing 6 times at the top of our lungs, but I'll take the noise and chaos any day to watching him struggle to express exactly what he needed and/or wants.

Blessing one: Camping Memories past and present.

This last weekend we went out camping for the 4th time this summer. I am not sure why exactly we like it so much. We just do. You always get so dirty, hardly get any sleep and it takes forever to clean up when you get home but there is just something I love about it. I love being outdoors where you hear cicadas and crickets but not airplanes and traffic. I love cooking on a camp stove where it feels like you are playing pretend rather than doing a daily chore. I love sleeping in a tent with the three people I hold dearest to me all within arm's reach. I love swimming in a lake and forgetting to shower. I love jogging through the woods and watching out for snakes rather than jogging down the street watching out for vicious dogs. I love sitting around the campfire talking rather than sitting around the TV zoning out. I love waking up to Nati's cheeky grin in my face and a giant slobbery kiss as he says, "Hi Mommy". I love watching Yared fall asleep exhausted with pieces of Smore's still stuck to his pjs.

I have such great memories of camping as a kid, like the time we went up the back side of Mt. Kenya when my brother was a senior. He thought he was too big to share a tent and so set his own up apart from the rest of us. Then that night as we realized we had set the tents near a major animal trail, he began to looked a bit concerned. Late in the night I woke up to a noise. My mom giggled and told me it was Ian moving his tent near to ours. The next morning we got up and found him literally touching our tent with his. Another camping trip was with my grandparents and I sat by a river with my Grandad learning to paint a sunset. The African sky was a riot of colors but the thorn trees and palm trees were just giant black silhouettes against the blaze of reds and yellows. As I sat there learning to see this image and capture it on paper, it was burning into my memory and just writing this makes me see it in my mind and hear the African night around me. There was the camping trip we thought we found the perfect spot, a soft green mossy grass right by the lake. We wondered why the silly tourists were not camping on it but were far back on the rocks... silly people we thought. We awoke in the night to our Mom leaping over us and even on us to look out the window. She very excitedly told us the hippos were eating next to us. She wasn't kidding. We spent a few hours listening to them chewing and swallowing. The toursits sat and took pictures from the safety of their far removed tents. Silly people missed out on being inside the action like us:). Even farther back in my memory are trips in England where we all slept in a caravan tent that smelled like mildew and we were eaten alive by tiny gnats. But I remember on this trip I got my very own sleeping bag which was hideous brown and pea green and yellow and I loved it.

In college camping was about the only vacation I could afford. Luckily I was in CA which has amazing camping and I have great memories of Yosemite, Big Sur, Santa Barbara and San Diego. We would even camp when we went to my brother's rugby tournaments... always a place to watch intesting animal behavoirs. After college my sister and I went camping in Yosemite and forgot to lock our food up. We had to spend the evening listening to a mama bear and her two cubs eat all our food. One bear cub had the cheeky nerve to eat our raspberry granola and then sniff inside our tent and let us smell the raspberry scent on his breath. This is a funny story now but we were both terrified at the time. When I told this story to my brother he responded with his usual teasing laugh, "YOU should have been worried, Meg can out run you." I had thought of this and thus had planned to not run but jump in the freezing raging Merced river. I would rather die on the rocks than by bear teeth:).

Camping.. is it the unknown, is the back to basics, is it the memories, is it just the wildness? I don't know what draws me to it. I know others hate it. I say too bad my friend but that is fine with me. The camp grounds are already too full!

Here is our latest trip. We took our friends Seba and Nadew with us in July and they wanted to go again and even want to go again in the fall. I guess camping can be contagious, even crazy Ben and Mo style camping.

Coming from dry Kenya and dry California I am a bit enamored with green.

The drive to the campground is through a beautiful part of Virginia packed with history.


Our brave camping companions.
Little kids were not allowed on the big dock so we just decided we had to act like little kids. This is our version of YMCA. I believe we deserve a 8 our of 10 for synchronized jumping. Ben is not facing the camera which drops us two points:).
Comforting his little brother after his latest horse fly bite. They seem to know Nati is delicious and go for him. He spent 5 minutes crying and then at least two yelling "Bad bug" at the top of his lungs so the whole lake knew how he felt about being bitten.
However, jumping he does like.
And swimming.
Then there is the obligatory "throw me Daddy" time. Yared learning to do this without goggles.

Nait's goggle free jump.

Seba and Nadew brought kayaks.
Some parts of life must go on, like potty training.
Wish I could say I did these. We found them in the sand. There were four others too. Talk about talent. I am proud of myself when I bury the boys.

Storing up sweet memories

I have been feeling so overwhelmed lately with how sweet my life is that I sometimes feel songs bubbling up inside me wanting to burst out in a Sound of Music sort of way. I even have had moments where I feel guilty for how joyful I am and how many blessings God has poured into my life. I know so many friends and family who are suffering right now. It feels almost wrong to feel happy when thinking of them. But then I remember everyone has mountains and valleys in their lives. I too have had my valleys so I am going to sit on the top of this mountain and enjoy the view. I will store up memories to think on later in life.

When I was a kid I used to read Leo Lionni's Frederick. If you haven't read it, it is about a mouse family preparing for winter. Frederick doesn't gather up food like the others but stores up sights, sounds and beautiful colors to share with his mouse family in the dreary winter months. That is what I am trying to do. I wish I could freeze time, but as that is impossible I want to squeeze every moment out of this special time I have with Ben and the boys. I will stop feel guilty for my joy and just try to share it around. This doesn't mean life is perfect but it sure is precious right now. And so like Frederick, I will prepare for winter. I am going to treasure little hands resting in mine. I am going to clean less and play more Lego,cars, and pretend. I am going to accept every hug and kiss that the boys offer even if the timing is not perfect. I am going to learn to cook with them in the kitchen with me. I am going to take time to play tennis or racquet ball with Ben. I am going to soak up the funny little conversations that happen all day long between me and my two little men. I am going to love that my body is healthy and young enough to be in good shape and work on getting it into great shape. I will tell them to be quiet less and instead listen to their joyful screams. I am going to plan even more weekend camping or get-a-way adventures. I will revel in the peaceful darkness of the boys room as I watch them sleep and listen to the little snores. I am going to let them have more bubble baths. I am going to tell "Three Little Pigs" even if JUST told it three minutes ago. I am going to join Ben and the boys wrestling matches more often. I will hold tightly to the moments that for now I can take away owies with a kiss. Basically I want to live life to the fullest right now and in the future.

I am going to add some posts on particular blessings soon as I feel the need to share them. If I don't they might just bubble out of me and make me sing and dance with a full orchestra accompaniment happening in my head. Then the neighbors might think I really have lost it. I feel that Jesus has answered so many of my prayers and walked personally through my valleys that I want to follow the old song, "Count your blessings name them one by one," so that He gets all the glory for this happy spot I now rest in. This post will not have pictures, just my thoughts on joy. But I must end it now as one of my biggest blessings is telling me he is hungry and would like "bekfast pease Mommy".

Beauty and Bike Rides

Our local Botanical Garden is the coolest place ever. It is beautiful, peaceful, quiet, and amazingly enough kid friendly. They have a whole area of the gardens dedicated to kids that we visit at least three times a month. At Christmas they string the whole place with lights and let you drive through in the evening for a parade of lights. In the summer time they let you ride bikes through the gardens in the evenings.

We have been meaning to do this for quite some time, but since Yared just learned to ride a two wheeler this felt like the perfect opportunity. I googled good picnic dinner ideas and hit upon a yummy quiche recipe. The van was then promptly loaded down with dinner, bikes, energetic boys and enthusiastic parents. We hit the jack pot on weather, and there was almost no one there. This was a definite bonus as Yared tends to crash into things he is looking at, which includes people. We were glad no one was knocked down as they wandered the gardens. He is also showing perfectionist tendencies and was getting super frustrated with the fact that he STILL fell down, even though this was only his third time on his bike. Overall I think he had a good time. There was much concentration and cheering to be followed the next minute with loud howlings of pain that would ring through the forrest. Ben ran along with Yared and I walked with Nati on his tricycle. I had a chance to get some good pictures of the gardens and the bike riding extravaganza.

We came around one corner and onto a wedding. It was a great night for a wedding.
My rascally companion for the night.

A sad face after another wipe out. Ben had to try to explain that falling wasn't the end of the world.


I love that he climbed off the bike on his own and started smelling the flowers. Good boy.

Dad showing it was in fact possible to turn around on the small path.
My view for most of the evening.

Another 'not the end of the world' pep talk.

Giant mushroom that this teacher couldn't walk by without taking a picture.
Look at that concentration.
The tongue is often out to aid in said concentration!! I do the exact same thing. My piano teacher used to let me chew gum in recitals so that I wouldn't stop putting my tongue out:).
Delicious quiche was devoured.
Ben took my picture and Yared declared this a silly face.

Then I told him to make a silly face. I LOVE it.

Field Trip

Last summer we did quite a few Ferry trips to have lunch with Ben. We haven't done it once this summer. I decided we were going to do it today. I did happen to pick a day that was in the high 90's but it was still fun. I also am determined to start using my camera to capture more than just the beauty of our boys. So armed with a picnic lunch and my D200 we made the trek to meet Dad for lunch. It was also a sample of home schooling, which we plan to start in September, as there is just so much learning out there to happen without sitting at a desk. I'll add some comments but really this is a picture story of what we call a "Mommy, Yared, Nati Adventure."

Waiting for the Ferry.

Here it comes.

"Pee Pee Mommy!!" - and when I said hold it..he did.

Part of Navy life these guys are often near by.
Watching the paddle wheel.

LOVE


Beautiful to look at horrible to swim with. This one is at least 12 inches in diameter.
Daddy!!



What can we find?
I continue to love reflections... me and the boys in Ben's glasses.