Whoa, summer, slow down!

Every summer is crazy busy, and things happen way too fast, but this summer, things seem to be moving especially quickly. Maybe it's the developmental stage the girls are in - they are capable of doing so many new things, every day - and there have been many impressive firsts and transitions these past few weeks.

A week ago Friday was my birthday and the girls' last day at their old preschool. I took cupcakes in to celebrate and thank their teachers, who have been with them for two years. The lead teacher had made goodbye cards for each girl, with pictures on one side, back to when they first started at 15 months, and notes from teachers and student-teachers on the other side. They feature the trademark Skylar orange and Paige green motifs, and are laminated for maximum preschooler durability. It was a very sweet gesture, and we all teared up while saying goodbye.

That night Johanna babysat the girls while Jim and I went out to dinner with our good friends T & R - T's birthday is the day before mine. Johanna had not seen the girls since before they were potty trained, in big girl beds, or Sky was diagnosed with hearing loss. The girls didn't miss a beat, loved seeing her again, and it was really fun to see them showing off all their new tricks. The best part of the evening was the dance demonstration they gave J. before we left - each one performing their individual style with great enthusiasm and flourish. Sky includes lots of kicking, fluid arm movements coupled with lunges, and the occasional yoga pose, while Paige favors jumping, running in place, somersaults, and sneak attack hugs.

The next morning, we packed up the car and headed to Lake Tahoe for a week of rest and relaxation at Papa Tom and Gramma Rotzie's time share condo on the north shore. I've been to Tahoe numerous times, but being there for a whole week, at a resort, gave me a whole new appreciation for the beauty of the place. We had perfect weather and fantastic company - what more could you ask for? In addition to gramma and papa, cousins A. and J. were there, uncle T. and aunt K., and a couple of extended cousins as well at various times - one of whom took us out on the lake for a boat ride and the other took the girls out to dinner and gave them wonderful presents!

We hiked, lounged on the beach, played in the pool, rafted down the Truckee River, rode the gondola to the top of Heavenly Valley, and played in the sand at a playground on the beach, in addition to eating really good food, consuming lots of chocolate ice cream, and enjoying the aforementioned boat ride. Jim and I even managed to escape for an afternoon/evening to Reno, to take in some dinner at the delicious and stylish Bangkok Grill (pure Reno, with its access to the restroom requiring traversing the lobby of the adjoining Super 8 Motel), shopping at the Sierra Trading Post outlet store (highly recommended) and some strolling/gawking at the casino scene, all thanks to the babysitting services of a fine papa and gramma. Thanks for such an awesome trip!

The photos above are a few of my favorite shots from our excursions, three of which feature the awesome fold-out fish sunglasses gramma found for the girls. They are quite a hit with all three of them, as well as general passersby.

We returned from Tahoe rested and relaxed and with a little more color in our cheeks. But wait, the fun doesn't stop there! The very day we got back, Gramma Mary and Papa Mike drove up to Eugene, and we spent Sunday with them getting the house back in order. Jim and my dad hung the girls' new swings in the back yard (sniff - the toddler swings are gone). Then, on Monday, P & S started their new Montessori proeschool. Well, not really, because this week is the last week of camp before school starts, but they are going to the new school site and meeting some of their new teachers and friends that will be in their class. This is one of those transitions I worried about, not too much, but enough, about things like what if they freak out and hate it? What if the teachers or other kids are mean? How good are their security procedures? Will the staff help with pottying and serving lunch? Where do we put all their stuff? Will they nap??????

You probably guessed this, but none of my worries were necessary (or useful), although perfectly natural and providing of some miniscule amount of worthy purpose, if not now, then in the future? Maybe? They waltzed in with their lunches, hung up their coats, met the teacher and started exploring the room. There are two bunnies and a turtle, countless new toys and educational objects/materials, and a new, huge room to run around in, not to mention the excellent outdoor playground. So, it's all good. A great way to transition into fall.

Sigh.

Tahoe

Comic Relief

Anyone have any tips on how not to break out laughing when, during bedtime lullabies, your three year old starts gleefully chanting "My daddy is a butt! My daddy is a butt! My daddy is a butt!"

Hear Better, Live Better!

This past week has been a crazy wonderful one. As I mentioned in my last post, it was big news that Skylar has hearing loss, and we've been overwhelmed trying to learn about the issue and all of its potential ramifications. Things seemed to move at lightning speed from our pediatrician's recommendation at her 3-year check-up to get her hearing tested, to the first audiologist appointment (where results showed a moderate to severe loss of hearing in both ears, but due to some fluid and a cold we were asked to return in two weeks to repeat the test), to the second appointment with Dr. Swem, where we received the same results and a recommendation to go ahead and order the hearing aids. She could pick out her own colors, was she ready to do that? She was. I wasn't. It was a hard day.

This past Monday Skylar got her hearing aids, and this week has been one of the most amazing transformations I have ever seen - in her life, in our family life, in my experience parenting Skylar and Paige. I frankly had no idea how much we had adapted to communicating with Skylar differently than with Paige. The moment she put them in, her face turned bright red and she turned quiet, listening to everything. After having them in for a half hour or so, she began experimenting with talking, which clearly sounded different inside her head. At first she was whispering, and we had to encourage her to speak up. Gradually, she seemed to get that these magic little computers were helping her hear better, and she was eating up how much more easily she could communicate with us. She's responding to questions immediately and participating in back and forth conversations to a much greater degree than ever before.

Here's the super star at the doctor's office, and going for ice cream after.


Skylar calls her hearing aids her "hear betters" (so cute!). And from our first week wearing them, I'd say they are a hit. Wow. Oh. My. God. What a difference. The most amazing thing of all has been her attitude. She patiently lets Jim and me put the hearing aids on and take them off, and wants to put them on first thing in the morning and right after her bath. If one makes a feedback noise she says "owee, my hear better" and points to it. If one falls off her ear, she says "uh oh, my hear better!" and shows us which one so we can fix it. She LOVES them!

I'm still walking around with my mouth half open from the degree of change. I really didn't expect it. And although of course I have had thoughts of why didn't we find out sooner, we did have suspicions, why didn't we get her hearing tested sooner?, there are a million good reasons and I won't go into them here. We're moving forward and feeling really positive about the gifts modern technology has given her. One of the books I ordered calls hearing loss a great teacher. I'd say that's true, but Skylar herself is the teacher, as well. Talk about a model for perseverance, trying your best, being resourceful, figuring things out for yourself, staying positive and showing your passion for life. She's the teacher.

Okay now that I'm crying (with joy!) I have to go. One more thing: she picked orange and pink, of course.

Milestones

Hold on to your hats...in the last three weeks, three major life milestones have happened upon the Engelharding world.

First, we traveled to California to attend my 20-year high school reunion, an event that stretched over three days with various incarnations of activities and locations, all of which were great fun for me, as I was lucky to be graced with the best high school friends for which a girl could ever ask. Friday we BBQ'ed at my parents' house, Saturday were reunion events at the park (with families) and the bar (adults only), and Sunday we brunched at Sandra's by the pool. What an amazing set of friends I have, I love you guys so much!

Next, we headed up the coast to Patrick's Point State Park, north of Arcata, CA, to camp and hunt for agates with my mom's side of the family. This was P and S's first camping adventure, and they did awesome.

We were accompanied part of the time by Herb, our exchange student from Germany my senior year in high school, who came over for the reunion and made a grander trip out of it. It was great to reconnect with him and show him PP and Aggie Beach...much loved traditions for the Vige-Hardings.

While in the PP area, my mom and her siblings took the opportunity to arrange to scatter my maternal grandparents' ashes in the place they loved so much and introduced us all to many years before. We gathered at Trinidad Head, on a Coast Guard-secured fog horn platform teetering above the Pacific. My aunt Tammy brought a flower for each of us to throw in the ocean after the ashes were scattered. It was a beautiful and fitting tribute.

The above pic is from Christmas 2002 at the Harding's in Los Altos. Grandma Eleanor is holding baby Anika and Grandpa Dick is standing next to my mom.

Lastly, we've been absorbing the news that Skylar has some degree of hearing loss in both ears. We don't yet know the cause, extent, or exact plans for treatment, but suffice it to say this is big news that is all at once validating, scary, and amazing. Validating because it explains the language development that has been lagging behind Paige, as well as certain behaviors and communication difficulties. Scary, because there is still so much unknown about the cause, extent, potential for progression, etc.

And amazing, because my little girl has been compensating so well that we almost didn't even get her hearing tested. She is reading lips. She is a keen observational learner. She is doing well socially with her peers, and knows all her letters and is beginning to spell words. She supplements her verbal communication (which continues to improve in clarity, vocabulary, and length of phrases and sentences), with gestures and signs. In short, she rocks. And I just love her more than anything right now.

Oregon Country Fair 2010

A fun day near Veneta, Oregon, people watching, playing, listening to music and eating great food!

Summertime

A smattering of recent summer pics from a day trip to Florence and today's back yard sprinkler/pool party.

Also, a quote of the day for you from Paige, on our way home from preschool, commenting on a house we were passing: "Mow your lawn, people!"