On Our Path

It's good to have a twin on your path in life.

Walk4Hearing

Donations are pouring in to support our family walk in the Portland Walk4Hearing! We will be walking in honor of all of the wonderful families we met at John Tracy Clinic.

I will add the names of all of the kids in Julie's class to Skylar's shirt. Paige will sport the names of the kids in Betty's class, and Jim and I will wear shirts with our supporters' names on them. I am getting all teary thinking about how good it will feel to walk for JTC and our new found friends.

Here is a link to Skylar's fundraising page. I invite you all to be a part of the walk to raise money for hearing loss awareness and advocacy.

Christmas Card Shot?

Four Going on Seven

So we've been at Lake Tahoe for the past week, which has been incredible, and I promise to post pictures soon. In the meantime, enjoy this little taste of my never ending wonder at my girls' brilliance.

The scene: Sitting at the table in the morning, playing with some matching cards with P and S. The first set matches opposites, like wet and dry, up and down, etc. The girls put these together with a little help identifying the words that go with the pictures.

The second set of cards is more advanced. These match consonant blends with pictures of things that start with those letters...so, SL matches with a picture of a slide, etc. We complete these with a little help, and then there are a few blends leftover that have lost their picture matches. One is CL and one is TH. To Paige, "what starts with CL? It sounds like CL...". Paige: "Clarence"!!!!

Clarence is one of the siblings she attended the sibling program with at JTC. She pulled both the sound and the memory out of her brain to make the correct association. (side note: Pam thought she said "clearance" and immediately declared a desire to go back to school to keep up with her granddaughters)

To Skylar: "what starts with TH? It sounds like TH..." Remember, this is one of the hardest sounds for Skylar to hear and discriminate. Words like "there" usually come out with a d sound (dare) and words like "thing" come out with a t sound (ting) or p (someping).

Her word? "thumb!". Showing me a thumbs up. Almost immediately. Is she really hearing the TH clearly enough to produce it correctly? Or is she reading it? Seeing the letters TH and knowing they start words like thumb that sound different than t or p?

I gotta get these girls reading.

New Camera!

I've been limping along taking iPhone photos for years now, since our point and shoot started eating up the battery juice in a matter of minutes. I know, I could have replaced the battery pack, but I was holding out for a digital SLR and Jim got me one for my birthday! I. LOVE. THIS.CAMERA!

Happy birthday to me!

Jim and me at King Estate Winery, S and P with best pals E and N, and my awesome cupcake-plate presents

School starts two weeks later here than most of the rest of the country, it turns out. So, next week we are off to loll about Lake Tahoe with Papa and Gramma Engelhardt, then Labor Day weekend, school starts the 8th, and my parents arrive that day as well! Can't wait to hear more about their Norway trip.

Happy end of summer to all.

Settling In

I still don't feel like we're back to normal life yet, after returning from JTC. Part of it is that it's summer, and things are slow and lazy with people being all over the place on vacation.

Most of our team members are on summer break now too, so I've given myself permission to take some time to mull things over, like exactly what to put in the PowerPoint for Skylar's teachers, etc. That being said, we have accomplished many small things since coming home, and that feels good.

1. Made an experience book from Skylar's class pictures. She sings the songs constantly. Tonight we had a nice chat about a few of her friends with CI's - specifically, Rebekah, Briele, and London. Then she said "but Raina doesn't have a CI..." Miss you Raina!

2. Watched the videos given to us on a DVD by the folks at JTC - including an 18 minute video of Skylar being given the PLS-5 language test. Our SLP is grateful to have access to these videos as demonstrations of AVT methods. You rock, JTC.

3. Met with Annie, another parent, and talked service options, school experiences, etc...she is a wealth of knowledge and a real fireball of passion about her son. She inspired me to be BOLD in advocating for Skylar!

4. Took the girls to swimming lessons daily for 2 weeks. They got pretty comfortable playing around, but don't want to put their heads under water yet. Paige did it yesterday at a pool party when I bribed her with 2 extra times down the big water slide ;-)

5. Got the stairway wall fixed and textured, ready for paint. The dust this job created inspired the deepest cleaning our living room has ever seen - which was strangely satisfying.

6. Ordered "Rebuilt," a memoir by a guy who gets implants as an adult, recommended by Annie. Arrived today - does it count as pleasure reading?

7. On my first day back to work, secured approval to reduce hours to 32, effective immediately. Very grateful for supportive peeps in the workplace.

8. A play date here and there...ice cream, swinging, sliding, park.

9. My b-day is Saturday, and I'm looking forward to my "secret" present from Jim and whatever the girls cooked up for me, plus a fun dinner out with our dear friends Tim and Rebecca and family, then cake and ice cream on the new deck we are still paying off. :-) Night before, I'm getting a massage and Jim is taking me to King Estate for fancy wine and dinner.

10. When we venture to Tahoe in two weeks, we will camp on the way down and on the way back up, thusly getting some campout time in this summer, by the skin of our teeth!

jTC Reflections - Letter to Paige

On the next to last day of the program at JTC, the parents joined the siblings for a picnic on the lawn. After we ate a delicious lunch of Freebirds burritos and quesadillas that Paige and Grandma Rotzie picked up, Jim and I read Paige letters we had written her a few days before. Here is my letter.

Dear Paige,

I love and adore every inch of you. Your bright smile lights up my day. When you were born, my life changed forever - I became a Mommy. Now I see the world through your eyes - observant, curious, thoughtful Paige.

I remember your first words, your "toast in the tummy" video, our trip to see Katie and Anika. Mommy-Paige time is very special to me.

Always believe in yourself, Paige - because you can do anything. Just don't grow up too fast. Four is a wonderful age, full of wonder and excitement about all the things you are learning and doing.

Daddy and I will always be there for you when you need something - advice, support, a shoulder to cry on - and to watch you do amazing things. I love you with all my heart.

Mommy