There is no Faye anymore. What persona used to occupy her cranial space is now just a gobbly goop of information. When the correct three small humans, also known as children, are around the now voided Faye, she still maintains Mommy. Mommy is, afterall, the most important persona, and SHE will always remain intact no matter how many protein cascades plow into her cranium.
“I just love you sooooo much, I love you all the time. I love you all the time when I’m with you and when I’m doing things with you and I love you all the time even when I’m at school, or at my Dad’s, or I go somewhere and I see somebody, I just still always love you, and you know what? I’m never going to not love you.”
“and you know why? because you’re so beautiful when you talk, and I just love your hair it’s so soft…. I just, I just love you.“
Said my son as I tucked him into bed.
Heaven, ahhhh.... three happy wandering digging kids, quiet beach.... happy mom.
I received an invite from a classmate to bring the kids down to Jekyll Island to observe the bird banding station. The banders operate the Jekyll Island station for approximately two weeks twice a year. I had never been to Jekyll Island, and knew very little about it, but after some consideration the thought of nature, beach, quiet, all seemed like a great idea… The kids and I were really due for a “break” and “detox” from our daily grind.
When we arrived on the island, yesterday morning, we were greeted by my classmate who has an interest in environmental education, thus my clan was a perfect match for her; three wide-eyed bushy tailed adventurers who were willing and excited to listen and learn. We received a personal tour of the bird banding area, as well as the wetlands and dunes of the southern end of the island.
We followed that with a bite to eat, and a trip to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Da-ta-da! The mecca for young ones who are mesmerized by reptiles. The Georgia Sea Turtle Center was quite impressive, and they also allow you to walk through the rehabilitation building where they had approximately 10 adult size turtles in rehab tanks, and a few green hatchlings. It is quite impressive to see the size of the loggerheads. Wow. Such amazing creatures!
serious observation
happy boy
After touring the Sea Turtle Center, we checked into our hotel and crashed on the beach. Then we woke early this morning and went back to the banding station and the children were allowed to watch over the bird bander’s shoulder. He even let them sneak in a few gentle touches. “It was SOOOOO soft”, Jackson later told me.
As we left the banding area, Jackson exclaimed repeatedly in the car, “that was the best thing ever!”
Score. Happy kids, happy mom.
sandy salty
i stopped just for a minute to snap a photo of this old shrimp boat in Darien, on the way back up hwy 17. I LOVE shrimp boats, sometime, when I have a child-free weekend, I'll have to go back down to Darien and take some serious pics.
The time has finally come, that time we all face when our little people are ready to move out of their cribs. Oh, where does the time go? And yet, I’m not sad over my baby’s milestones because with each step her little personality is blossoming and entertaining all of us.
So, now down to it. I am on a budget. Ya, hear me? So, I’ve been watching craigslist for a half-way decent bed for cheap to become available. Finally, this weekend the timing was right. I found a barely used twin bed and mattress. The bed is black, and Olivia’s furniture is white, but the style is the same… that bead-board/cottage look. I googled “mixing wood colors in rooms”, and found that it is perfectly fine to do, in fact always better to mix than to have everything matching.
before, image from craigslist
after, ready for big-girl Josephine
aye, my head is a compressed brick of information and I don’t think anything else can squeeze in. I cannot wait for midterms to be over! boy oh boy. I am drooling all over myself.
oh, this actually is the easy part... damn.
Guess what Faye is doing this evening?
It is easy to take simple actions for granted, but one must consider all the physiological integrations of the nervous system that are required to do the simplest of actions, even something as simple as maintaining muscle tone for the sake of posture.
Between last Christmas and June, Olivia destroyed 2 electronic toy keyboards. Why? Because she loves them so much. So, when Santa Claus came he brought one for her, but within 1-2 months Olivia dropped it on the wood floors enough times to render it useless. Subsequently I found an inexpensive replacement at Target for $11 and at the time even thought to myself, “sheesh for $11 I should get a back-up for when she destroys this one”. I didn’t purchase a “back-up”, but it was only a matter of weeks before the 2nd keyboard was killed.
I was perusing the toy aisles with the intent of finding something musical, possessed buttons, but might be more durable. I found this Fisher-price puppy that plays different songs or rhymes depending on what body part you press. He has buttons in his ears, paws, stomach, and a big red heart that lights up when pressed. Ah-ha! lights, music, buttons… almost perfect, minus the fact that she’s never really been interested in stuffed-animals, but I decided to give it a shot.
It has now been 3 months or more, and with a little disappointment thus far, Olivia hasn’t displayed much interest in the puppy. I have sat with her on occasion and helped her touch the puppy and we listen to the songs, etc, but I have yet to see her make any deliberate attempt to play with it on her own.
Well, well, well, we all know now that little miss Olivia is full of surprises. And what do you know? Saturday evening, I made her bed, placed the puppy on her pillows as I always do, and she immediately climbed up pushed the red heart and settled onto her tummy to watch and listen. My jaw dropped.
When the music stopped, she rose onto her knees, pushed the heart with her pointed index finger, again, and laid back down to listen. I was shocked. She persisted at this for several minutes! Obviously long enough for me to run and find the camera to snap a pic of her with that little finger pointed.
My baby girl is coming back! It has been 4 years or more since the last time I saw her point her finger.
And you may be confused about why this simple act is so significant to me and for Olivia. Think about the scenario, she had to notice the toy, recall its function, go to the toy, choose what to press to get the desired effect, and then deliberately use her motor function to press the button, linger long enough to hear the song, and then decide to repeat the action.
yes yes yes… I have a test test test… and no ordinary test, either… no scantrons this time… gotta know the material ’cause ol’ prof likes essay format. yup.
mind mapping-ish, i discovered last spring that drawing out the concepts myself by using text, lecture notes and other supplemental material really allowed me to LEARN it, not just memorize it.
just look at those little helices
Must leave the blog alone now, and get back to studying… have to *cough-cough* learn classifications of neurotransmitters yet tonight. OUCH! Good lord, bleck! Oh, add secondary messengers to that list too.
CRIMINI!
Yep, never say never
Items in photo:
- One 4.5 year old boy
- One nose on that 4.5 year old boy
- One pair of hemostats
- One red Lego
- One confession of reading a story book about a dinosaur with green beans up his nose
- One straight “talk” from mommy, “we’re lucky this was easy to get out, but if it were something else, who knows what could happen. I know it’s funny, and I am giggling too, but you are a big boy and know better than this.”
- One sweet 4.5 year old boy who said, “Sorry, Mama”
