Bwaaah

Bwaah is in the dictionary of our family. It is Luke's all purpose word for "what's that?" and "there." When Luke wants to know what something is called, he says "Bwaah?" If you ask him "Where's Luke? or Where's Lilah" his answer is "Bwaah." He sounds rather like a raccoon twilling when he says it, and we find it quite endearing.


And now, since Lilah is learning english, she's taking lessons from everyone in the family. Including Luke. When she want's to know what something is, she'll point to it and say "Bwaah?" We keep telling her it's not real word, it's Lukey's word, but she'll have none of it. Guess we should pick our battles.

In an interesting sidebar, Luke's older brother Ross had an all purpose word. His was "Goom Goom Bah!" which was a word of both happiness and sorrow. Nice how these things run in the family.

Snapshot of our life! :}

Here is a typical morning in our house, the kids are up, playing, I assume reading (with the eye wear being sported), and the adult tries to catch a few more Zs. In this case the victim or adult is cousin Carol, who is still comatose from a night spent in bed with her daughter Maia and a restless Luke. Rise and shine!!

Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

We are so grateful for this little Christmas Present!

3 is a magic number again

Leaving for first Day of School

When did our baby boy grow up? This week, our little Luke turned 3 and started school!!! As part of his Early Intervention, he gets to go school 2 days a week! He started yesterday and did great, unless you count the phone call we got from the nurse telling us he fell down and bumped his head. Apparently some other toddler bumped him with a tricycle and knocked him over. Probably a member of some toddler gang.

That said, we have known from our years here that he is going to the best school in GA to address his multiple issues and know that he is in good hands. He came home smiling and exhausted, just the way we had hoped.

Happy birthday to Luke, every school girls dream!

FEETAH!!

We have a new ritual here at the Stately Cudmore Manor. Every night before the babies go to their bubble bath, Lilah yells, "Feetah!!" This means that she wants to take her shoes off and march, dance, run and spin around on her bare prosthetic feet. Then, the most important part of her ritual is, Luke takes off his shoes and socks and they compare feet. Luke is more than happy to comply and giggles through the inspection. Finally, they sit together on the wicker chair and tap their toes together. What does this mean to Lilah? One can only guess. But we know it is good, and we know that it gives her joy to have her "FEETAH!" What more can a parent ask for?

Needs No Words.

Thankful

Hello, my name is Lilah and I am thankful to be wearing tennis shoes!!! This may not seem like such a big deal to most people, but to us it's a dream come true. My prosthetics are nearly complete. I have most of the appliances, and the actual feet arrive on Monday. But we have been able to try out the rest of the device all week and I LOVE them. I can stand without having to dance to keep my balance and I can wear whatever shoes I want.

I am Luke and I am thankful to be catching up! I can finally say "Mama." I can walk as well as anyone and I will be starting school 2 days a week after my 3rd birthday (coming soon).

I'm Casey, and I'm thankful that my college friends are home, that most of my college applications are done, and that I can escape to my basement room when the "terrible twos" make too much noise.

I'm Ross and I'm thankful not to have to get my picture too many times. I'm thankful school is out for 5 days and I'd be thankful if people didn't tell me every ten seconds how much I've grown.

We're Mike and Anne and we are thankful for all the love in our house.

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...

We are so sorry for our lack of posting. Life is really, really hard when you have two two year olds as opposed to just one. Just keeping afloat is a daily struggle. Not to mention the special needs issues of both kids keeping us hopping from MD to MD complicated by my (Mike's) weird work schedule, and yes, trying to live off of one salary so that Anne can continue to stay home until Christmas, at least.

As a result, we have posted next to nothing, and we realize our blog friends and family are getting rather put out. Please forgive us. I still haven't written a single Thank You card for the gifts that Lilah has been sent, so let me send out a pre-emptive thank you to any friend or relative reading this...a real card will come.

There is so much to say and a single entry won't do it. We should probably start with just general adjustment.

Lilah is doing so well. She has stopped having night terrors, and just needs a little assistance to sleep compliments of Mama or Baba joining her in the bed. Fortunately this does not have to apply to naps, which she does on her own.

Watch in the next few days for a post about her new feet, which she may get TOMORROW!!! It would not do the journey justice to not tell you in great detail about the wacky sitcom like orthotics place which is so not like any other doctors we visit. It's like medicine by surfer dudes.

Lilah and Luke love each other. She has been such a positive force in his life, encouraging him to talk more, cry less and take more chances. In return he gives her kisses whenever she cries and pats her back. He has been quite good about sharing his things and not losing his temper when she struggles with waiting her turn and vying for attention.

The big kids are great and have stepped up with helping out, sitting when necessary, giving and helping with baths, taking on extra chores and even changing a diaper or two (Ross is not keen on this idea- diapers and girls parts...yikes) We are so lucky and blessed to have such wonderful and supportive older sibs.

And as far as impact on us, we admit, it is hard. We are seriously outnumbered. Both children require a great deal of attention and giving it to them without shorting the older 2 has been quite a challenge. Our friends and family have been great, and we have held up pretty well, but have had to sacrifice on things like going out as a couple. We have bravely ventured out as a family to 2-3 family friendly places and essentially ignored our 18th anniversary (I got Anne flowers, but we couldn't figure out a way to celebrate with just us). Time for that down the road.

And without further ado here come the pictures...

Be looking for posts on Lilah's feet and Lukes speech.

Autumn in Atlanta

The first 2 weeks have been a whirlwind of Doctors, Therapist's, Caseworkers and Prosthetisists (okay, I made up that last word) and there is so much to tell, but it will take several blog entries to do it justice. Please be patient...we are evolving as a family. Sitting down to write is a luxury at this point. But here's a glimpse into our new lives...

This is how we spend everyday (when it isn't raining, you'd think we lived in Seattle this year). Dad's job is blocking the street.

Luke has been practicing falling. He's gotten quite good at it.

Love the expression on Lilah's face.

She also knows how to smile for a photo op.

The Terrible Twos cooking in the kitchen with Kitty

But why is the rum gone?

Sisters sporting the China look.

Kiss from Baba.

Every night is bath night and a wild rumpus!

Love everything about this picture of Luke!

Scenes From Home

Winding Down

God Bless the Dumpling Man!

Tomorrow is our last day here in China. What an incredible trip. I tried to make Carol write this post, but she wouldn't. It feels impossible to put into words what our experience has been here. The birthplace of my son and daughter is a place of such beauty. But much more than beauty, the sounds, sights and smells are so varied and exotic they will take a long time to process. We decided that the heart of China is the family. Everywhere we go we see intact families, all working and living together. Moms, dads, kids, grandprents, playing cards and tiles outside their stores, eating together, grandparents riding their bikes with a grandbaby tucked on the seat with them, moms and dads walking their kids to and from school, everyone playing badminton together. Everywhere is the family unit doing their thing. It really brings home to us what we thought already. Family is everything! Speaking of that, we are on our last nerve missing our own families!! We will arrive in Atlanta at 5:58am Sunday, and not a moment too soon!!

Cute puppy at street fair

Bargaining about a cute pair of shoes..... I lost.

Our new American girl

Best Zoo, EVER.

Written by Mike:

Okay, the time I went China, they just took us to historic buildings, jade stores and porcelaine outlets (perfect, I go to China to enter the 9th circle of Hell). If it weren't for Luke and the way-cool people that we met, the trip was, frankly, not too high on the scale of fun.

Anne goes back and sees the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. The hotel in Nanchang hosts a movie festival (are you kidding me?) and sees Jackie Chan (I got to see the gate of his house).

She got to see the Chinese Justin Timberlake...

Wu Zun!!!(I imagine girls screaming after you speak his name)

Then, she had the chance to go to an Anime Theme Park. She's married to a nerd and she gets the chance to go to an Anime theme park (and didn't go!!!!). Where was this stuff when I was there?

Then, of course, there's the whole Hot-Bell-Boy-thing...

So, to top it off, she appears to have gone to the coolest zoo in the history of space and time. This weekend, I did laundry and fixed the toilet.

We've been married for 18 years and have never spent this much time apart...I think it's turned me a little jealous.

Baby Lilah meets Baby Tiger

No Tapping On Glass, NO WAY!

That's right, Anne's feeding a giraffe. One more off the bucket list.

Carol too.

Lilah's thighs weigh more than all of Luke.

Catching Up in Guangzhou

school children out for a walk

crazy about the koi pond! When we walk up the steps to the hotel with the koi, Lilah starts yelling "fish fish fish!" in Chinese.

So sorry we haven't updated, Knucklehead that I am, I left my camera cord in Nanchang in the Great Skeedadle out of there. I got a card reader yesterday, so we can finally post pictures. We are in Guangzhou and SO happy to be here. Not only is it the last leg of the trip, but the island we are on is so peaceful. We see people playing badminton, doing Tai Chi, singing Chinese opera (or "yodelin" as Carol says.) the retired people in Guangzhou are active and appear so happy. I'll let the pictures and captions tell the story...Lilah is doing well. Not sure how to describe her, spunky, easygoing, sweet, spoiled, darling! She has spent some time in the time out chair already! Luke has never been in time out in his whole life! Get ready Atlanta...here comes Lilah!

Lilah enjoys the art museum

Okay, no chubby jokes.

Jazz Hands!!!

This is what retirees do in Guangzhou!

Not sure what this was about.

Like something out of a movie.

Our brave little Princess gets her first Starbucks after the ordeal at the Doctor

The required Doctor's Visit. She's in great shape!