Elfed

Cedie's mom posted this on their family blog. I had to do one for us, too.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9572152503

Thankful

Our family has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We are thanful for Evan's continual improvements in health and development--it seems like he is doing something new almost every day. We are thankful for all the love and support we get from both sides of our family. We are thankful for all our wonderful friends and neighbors--those we have known for many years as well as newer friendships. We have met so many incredible people not only in the CHARGE and special-needs community, but also as close as our own street.

Our thoughts are with families who have recently lost children, or are battling serious illness, or frustrations with transitioning to life at home after a long hospitalization (Thanksgiving 2005 for us was full of worries about that last one).

First Snow of 2007

It started snowing this morning, and hasn't stopped yet! Grandma Key brought Evan some snow pants and boots yesterday--just in time for today's weather. It's a wet snow, and not much fun to play in. But we went out and took some pictures anyway (would you really expect any less from us?).

Not so sure how I feel about standing up in these new boots. I think I'll just hang on right here.



Julie took this picture of mommy & I all bundled up (I'm a little more bundled than mommy--she always complains about something called "hat hair." Glad I don't worry about stuff like that.)


Finally home again. Time to get out of these wet clothes!

The Bee Movie

Last night we took Evan to his first movie...The Bee Movie (just like Mighty Max!). We went to a group showing that was a fundraiser for some friends, and it included dinner right before the movie. Jeremy and I really didn't expect Evan to last much past the credits...especially since he had to hang out for about an hour before the movie even started because of the food. But Evan has a way of always surprising us. As soon as the lights went out and the previews started, he was enthralled. He watched about 45 minutes worth of the movie before he quietly fell asleep in the theater. Every time a situation comes up where we aren't sure how Evan will do, he always comes through and surprises us!

A pre-show snack



Evan made a new friend--this young man was very interested in Evan's style of eating.



Finally...the show is getting ready to start!

Two Bottles

Kids come up with the darnedest things to play with sometimes. Evan is a great example of this...he has all these fancy toys, and what are his favorites right now? The Sit-n-spin that I bought him at a yard sale for a dollar, and these two bottles from the pantry--Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce and maple syrup from Trader Joe's. He likes playing with the bottles so much, if the pantry door gets left open I can almost promise these two will be scattered across the kitchen floor.

A few nights ago, I thought he should see what was in the bottles. So we had a little taste test. He liked the maple syrup. Not such a fan of the Sweet Baby Ray's (means more for mommy--this is the only brand of BBQ sauce I've ever liked). The sad thing is now he can't play with the syrup bottle anymore--it has to be refrigerated after opening. But the BBQ sauce is still there. The sample came from an open bottle in the fridge.

Washoe

The first chimpanzee to learn sign language passed away earlier this week. Washoe (along with three other chimpanzees who also sign) had lived on the CWU campus in Ellensburg since the early 1980s. She was 42 years old.

I had the opportunity to see Washoe and the other chimpanzees signing, many years ago now. I took psychology 101 my very first quarter of college, and attended a "Chimposium" as part of the class. I remember thinking how amazing it was to see an animal not only understanding receptive communication, but also able to use expressive communication in return. Humans are "wired" for language right? It's what separates us from animals--yet here were some able to learn and use ASL in context. When Washoe died, one of the other chimps signed "hurt." And they taught each other--Washoe was also the first chimpanzee to teach ASL signs to her adopted son.

I never would have imagined ASL would become important later on in my life, or how it would feel to see a similar progression of communication with my son, who faces barriers of his own to learning language.

If you would like to read more about Washoe's life, here is the address for an article: http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breaking/story.asp?ID=12331

Remember when you had this much energy?

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com