the Moving Truck game

"We're going to go upstairs and play the moving truck game," Timo announced this morning after breakfast. Hmm... I thought. And I let them go up on their own while I put Hawk down for a nap. I could hear banging and footsteps for 20-30 minutes, and then I carefully went upstairs to investigate.

Here's what our playroom looked like:

And here are the two very proud boys, standing in their "truck"/rug, all carefully laid out in their bedroom.

"Okay, time to drive the truck! Mattias, get in your bed! And Mommy, you pretend you are Gemma and you can sit in the truck with the stuff. We're going to our new house!"

After a few minutes of driving and chatting, we had arrived at our New House! Timo led the way as we unloaded the truck, carted it all back to the playroom, and re-arranged.

Later, downstairs I had a few quiet minutes for a cup of tea and some work on the computer (a rare thing during the day!) before Hawk woke up. And yes, that is a HUGE pile of bananas on the table. Reduced bananas that Jim bought at the grocery store, and now they are ripening further before we put them in the freezer for banana bread and smoothies.

Phew.

"I'm a teenager"

"I'm a teenager", he says. "I'm going to do a workout." ..."No, umm, this is my phone. I'm calling Daddy."

Well ,wherever he picked this up, and whatever he thinks he is doing - ! It's nice though that he has just recently started listening to music on the headphones, because it is a helpful way for him to get quiet space to himself and learn some independence (and coping skills for when he gets stressed). Just following in the Welty footsteps...

Note: name tag courtesy of VBS

Cast off!

Hurray! The day arrived! Eleven weeks of his spica cast, and now finally Hawk has gotten it off! It was quite a day to look back and realize that this part of Hawk's physical journey has ended. Now he is ready to get stronger, regain flexibility - which he has never even had due to the fact that his hip was dislocated since birth! - learn to sit again, crawl properly, and then up and onwards from there. Meanwhile I am also very relieved to finish this stage because it has been physically tiring and emotionally challenging for me to care for him in the cast. On the whole there, the weeks went smoothly and he stayed healthy and amazingly did not get a stinky cast, as we had been warned!

Here we go! Ready to get it off!

Jim took the day off work to come, and we brought Timo and Mattias. It was their first time to visit Shriner's Hospital. They were very helpful and caring while Hawkins was getting his cast off; very inquisitive during the x-ray, and then very excited to run upstairs to the play room and explore the books, pool table, trucks, snacks and all other kinds of toys.

He cried because of the noise but was fine and happy the rest of the visit.

Yoda statue in the lobby

Bare legs again! Briefly outside at the playground before we headed home.

After we left the hospital we stopped to get late afternoon donuts (decorate your own) to celebrate, along with some falafel sandwiches and fruit salad to eat in the car on the way home. It's always fun to do something special and different from what we are able to do in small-town Sylva.

Hawk really has done amazingly well since getting his cast off. That very afternoon/evening he got down on the floor and crawled a little bit, and the next day he was off again, even though his legs are stiff and have to re-learn how to move again. He's been tender and winces when his leg gets knocked or tries to bare weight; the doctor said that could last up to 6 months. But for now he is free to learn and explore and do as he pleases! (With some gentle massage on his leg and hip muscles.) Isn't that a joy! Two days after the cast got off I saw him pull up to standing on the edge of a stair, and today he pulled up to standing on my legs while I was seated, and then crawled into my lap. This is BIG, people. You should see his proud grin. It's hard to capture on photo because the photos turn out blurry...but here are two from the day after his cast removal.

He's also rediscovering the joy of his toes!! Only on the right side so far. What a fun stage to see him learning something new every day.

the sore on his left knee is rug burn from crawling...

Here he is just before bedtime in his new rhino brace, which he will wear (for a long time yet) while sleeping. It has a molded plastic seat and foam straps over the legs and waist that secure with velcro. The point of it is to keep his hip bone at a more direct angle to the socket, which will help maintain the proper position while he grows and hopefully prevent regression. It's very lightweight and he hasn't complained about it at all. Isn't he the sweetest, most cheerful little guy?

Mother's day and some summer planting

I'm taking a break from all of these rainy days to load pictures from the camera, including these from Mother's Day. Mattias helped with the scones, Timo made the fruit salad (all by himself), and Hawk gave his charming smile.

Later we worked on potting tomatoes, squash, and some herbs, and trimming some bushes. I have since filled up our raised planters. This week we've seen the bush pickles (small cucumbers) take OFF and they are dominating the planters, along with the onion (which were easy and fun for the boys to plant but now they are taking up a lot of room!) so I need to move the other herbs and flowers out of there. I've really enjoyed tending this small area, and in the midst of crazy days with the boys, it's always a nice break to go outside, walk with the boys doing inspections and pinching tomato suckers and munching on mint leaves. It's pretty great to live in this house with such a huge sunny yard.

One more

Nonna love!!!