Family Update

I am still really behind on pictures but I am in the mood to write tonight so I think I will ramble for a bit. I would like to start with Georgia. I can't express in words how proud I am of that sweet girl. She is the most pleasant, joyful, loving little being I could have ever have hoped to create. It has been a little over a year since we found out about her hearing loss and what a difference a year makes. I can still take myself back to the night after we found out she had a hearing loss, and more than that, she would need hearing aids. I remember calling my mom and sobbing as hard as a person can sob and telling her I knew that this was bad and going to be something G would have to deal with for the rest of her life. And of course on that night my mom had the wisdom and the confidence to calm me down and tell me in a year this won't matter and everything will be fine.

I hate it when my mom is right. Her hearing aids have just become a part of our daily routine. The weekends we take time off from them here and there while we are at home and she does fine. At school she wears them all the time along with an FM system and there has never been a problem. I know it is still something she will have to deal with for the rest of her life and my heart will break about it still as different situations arise, but she is such a joy and ray of light that I also know everything will be fine and the mom in me is the one able to say this.

Most exciting for her, perhaps, is that she was accepted to a Spanish immersion school so next year she will start kindergarten in an all Spanish speaking environment. The school is perhaps one of the most sought after and popular in our public school system so we are very blessed and honored to have gotten in. She will be in class with the same 28 kids from K though 5 and that is also exciting to me because hopefully the fact that she has hearing aids will never be a social issue, at least while she is in elementary school.

Next we have Darby, who is also a most impressive little being. Let me start by saying she is a rather big kid. She can wear size 4T clothes and just turned 3. She is the same size as a couple of the shorter girls in G's Pre-K class. I think she might be my freaky-tall one. What amazes me about Darby is her intensity. If she is feeling lovey, she feels it with her whole body and will wrap herself around you and bury her head in your chest and squeeze until she shakes. If she is interested in something, the questions are endless and can come out of nowhere for days. If she is feeling fiesty, she grits her teeth and squeezes or hits of grabs whatever she can get a hold of (including her sisters). If she is feeling silly, she throws herself around the room and giggles uncontrollably and sucks you right in with her. I love that little giggle.

I have described her as spirited and I stand by that. I think a lot of people think they have spirited children , but it takes one to know you have one. When G was a baby I thought she might be spirited but she is not (unless it comes to putting her socks on and in that one area she is spirited). I only know she is not because I have Darby. Darby challenges me in ways I never thought possible and part of me loves it. The best thing about Darby is when you get her alone, just you and her, she is the most personable and charming kid to be with. She is engaging and talkative and will even ask you things like "Tell me about your day?" And then she will listen. She also has a great since of humor. We have been working on a knock knock joke and she is close to having it but we will have to keep working. It usually goes like this:
Darby: Knock knock
me: Who's there?
Darby: Cow
me: Cow who?
Darby: Silly cow moo (should be: no silly, a cow says moo) And then she giggles and bends over and slaps her leg.

Finally we have Mera. This little turkey is so smart. Actually all babies are smart but I forgot how smart they can be. She knows all of the family members, including dogs, names. She knows the words eat, drink night night, nurse, cracker, Mary (plus Mary's dogs names). When I say "know" she looks for them when you say the word or acts interested in what you are saying, especially the word "eat." That girls loves food and if she is eating something you better just keep it coming or she will scream at the top of her lungs at you. It is quite unsettling. She has a great disposition and will play happily on the floor for a very long time (unless a big sister interrupts and maims her. Maybe all babies will sit on the floor and happily play at 10-months, but my other two never did so I am really enjoying this. Mera has a great smile and loves to flash it at strangers. She is also very giving of her waves, both hello and goodbye. She is a great baby and I have so much fun with her everyday. I can already tell she is going to be my buddy for the next few years.

Finally, we have had one more life change in that my husband is no longer working for the Tulsa World but has made a career move to the non-profit sector. He is working in the communications department on a mid-to large sized public relations organizations and enjoying it very much. I think he misses writing sometimes but I keep telling him he call get his blog on anytime. Overall we are doing great a s a family and I am truly enjoying my three girls for all of their differences and all the joy they bring me everyday.