Little Hula People

Grammy and Papa took a trip to Hawaii and came back with arms full of souvenirs, including these exotic get-ups.  The kids really got into it, if you couldn’t tell.

     

Splash Day

Our weeks have been very full with birthday parties, swimming, therapies, and play dates, but you wouldn’t know it by reading my blog, because school has completely usurped all my free time lately.  On a side note, I only have two more classes and my internship left before I finally graduate from my Masters program!  As of the end of July, you can make that one less class.  I am so excited!

Back to the music.  We escaped to the zoo splash pad with some friends one weekend about a month ago.  We have annual zoo passes, because going to the zoo here is a “just right” kind of diversion.  When it’s beautiful out (most days), the animals are active and we wander around feeling like we could be somewhere much more exotic than Phoenix.  When it’s not feeling so beautiful… in other words, over 100 degrees, the kids can still romp around in the splash caverns and then traipse about the zoo for the next twenty minutes while our once-soaking wet swimsuits create wearable swamp coolers for our bodies while they dry (and yes, this only takes twenty minutes… tops).

     

Gabe was fretting over a spider web on the ceiling of the caverns.

  

Ari wants her face in the water all the time.  As with last year, people still think she’s drowning, because it’s hard to fathom that a girl who doesn’t have much muscle control would have the most herculean breath control imaginable.  She rarely comes up for air – kind of like a dolphin.  And, the milk inside her cereal bowl is no exception to the incessant face dunking/bubble blowing.

Ari isn’t afraid of animals anymore (for now, *fingers crossed*), which is awesome timing because she is scheduled to begin Hippotherapy (horseback riding therapy) in November!

 

An exceptional bonding moment was witnessed here briefly.  It could have gone on much longer, but Jake was hungry and impatient and he didn’t realize about the bonding moment until I told him later.  Isabella and the mama Orangutan (forgive me, she has a name but I forgot it) locked eyes and truly connected.  Mama orangutan didn’t come close to the window until she saw Bella standing there.  Then she scooted right up to the glass and they both stared at each other without distraction.  It was really special to watch them together.  I can’t explain why, but it touched my heart. 

  

Little Fish

A mother’s pain

I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with this until much later, much further down the road.  But it’s here, and I’m not quite ready yet.  Isabella has always been pretty advanced for her tender age and something of an old soul.  Since she was a two month old in a baby carrier at the mall, people used to comment that she had “wise eyes”.  In fact, she must have gotten the “wise eyes” remark at least ten times from distinct observers since infancy.  And it’s true, for a baby, she was kind of wise.  At least in the sense that she never ceased watching others, observing, and taking in the world around her.  Now, she is still very aware and mature for her age – I mean, every time I speak with her, I feel like I’m talking to a teenager in a two-year-old’s body.  But even with all this taken into consideration, nothing could have prepared me for what she is going through now.

Isabella has become acutely aware of her missing left hand.  We don’t discuss it at home except to tell her that we love her arm and her hand, and that she is beautiful and perfect in our eyes.  She does receive many questions and remarks from both curious, friendly children and not-so-friendly children about her missing hand.  But, regardless of where it originated, she has realized that she is different, and she has attributed a meaning to it that we would not have wanted for her.  Isabella has started to indicate that she is self-conscious of her missing hand, and I am at a loss about what to do differently to change her perception.  It started when her Papa (Jake’s dad) paid her a compliment last month, saying that she was beautiful.  Bella retorted with, “No, I’m not beautiful Papa.  I have a hand and an arm”.  Her Papa repeated himself several times and each time he was answered with the same response.  A few weeks later, she was on a walk with her Nana (my mom), when she initiated, “Nana, I have a hand and an arm.”  Nana replied, “Yes, and I love your hand and your arm.”  Bella retorted, “No!  It’s not nice.”  Although it hurt me to hear this, I tried not to take it too seriously.  I hoped by just reinforcing our love for her and all her parts equally, that this would pass.  I couldn’t tell if she meant what she was saying or if she was just testing us to get a reaction.

Today, I got my confirmation that she isn’t just testing.  She really does believe what she is saying, and it breaks my heart to pieces.  I started dressing Bella this morning, and like usual, she snapped at me “Let me do it!”, so I let her.  As she was dressing herself, she got pouty and said, “Mommy, I want two hands.”  I responded, “okay, let’s go downstairs and get your other hand (her prosthesis)”, she got teary and said impatiently, “No, mommy!  I want three hands!  I want Jesus to give me three hands!”.  I was speechless.  She repeated, quietly, “I want Jesus to give me three hands”.  I just hugged her for a long time, so she couldn’t see my tears.  And that’s it… no great lesson, no triumphant ending, no turning her life around with a teachable moment seized.  Motherhood is equal parts joy and pain, and today was just a reminder of that.

Preschool grad

Both Ari’s and Gabe’s preschool years have come to a close.  They both have matured and learned so much that they are barely recognizable to me from when they first started last August.  Ari’s class didn’t have a graduation ceremony, but they did have a water day (which I was unable to photograph, because I was busy getting soaked).  Gabe’s class, with Miss Jessica, did have a ceremony, and it was beyond adorable!

Gabe was so excited for us to all be at his graduation, and it shows in his expression when he caught his first glimpse of us. 

Miss Jessica talked about the preschool grads (Gabe and Ari still have one more year of preschool before kindergarten), and all they’ve achieved.  She concluded her speech by asking over the microphone, “Are you ready to rock, GABE?! Gabe’s been ready to rock all morning!”

Yes, we can see that!

Gabe took his role in the production seriously!  He was so dedicated to singing the songs and playing his guitar – I was swooning!

 

Ari was very impressed with her brother, to say the least.  Music can light up her world like none other.  Make that a musical performance by her brother, Gabe, and you have one happy little lady.

 

The kids did a musical performance in sign language!

 

There was a face painting ceremony, with different colors and markings symbolizing aspects of their growth and development.  It was so cool!  Gabe felt totally special that his Daddy could be a part of it.

 

He was even awarded a medal for his accomplishment.  The strings started to fray about an hour later, and it’s now mostly fallen apart, but he still cherishes it anyway.

 

This was such a special and memorable way to acknowledge this milestone.

After the ceremony, we were invited for a luncheon inside, where we all got to say our goodbyes and thank you’s to Gabe’s sweet teacher, Miss Jessica.