Skip to main content

Let It

Rain..?

Those of you dear readers in our neck of the world will know that the past couple days the word on the street has been Irene. What a peaceful and gentle name for a howling force of destruction. We haven't borne the brunt of this storm's fury, although our little cabin lies directly in its path as it works its way up north. The worst is yet to come apparently. There is a Russian saying, that loosely translated comes to something like this: "this sorrow isn't a sorrow, the real sorrow is yet to come." It's our little way of reminding ourselves that no matter how good life gets, how stable things may seem, there is always a possibility of a lurking storm; ready to come and shock you out of complacency. We take so much for granted, our health, home, happiness, habits, and anytime those are threatened, we fall into shock. Why are we so surprised? And this isn't pessimism, this is just pure fact.

"Sh*t Happens" folks.

The one and only time I was given advice this past year, the advice was, be prepared. Don't ever let yourself get lulled by the norm. Be ready to be strong. Drink your cup of wine, but be aware of the dregs at the bottom. Because for every sunny day, there is a rainy day. For every smile, there is a tear. For every bubbly healthy baby, there is a sick and suffering one. However, the challenge here, the hard part of all this, is that even while being aware, we must be joyful. Not happy perhaps, but peaceful. Still, and collected; calm and accepting. Otherwise we fall into the trap of bitterness, cynicism and despair. And once you get there, it is very hard to get out. There is nothing that can make us feel more helpless, more weak and insignificant then the powerful magnitude of a hurricane. Nature can cower even the most powerful human. (Superheros aside..) So when we examine our frailty and our weakness, the only thing that we can do is throw our trust to God. And in that action, we become strong. Strong enough to face whatever happens, strong enough to pray. And strong enough to be at peace, whatever the outcome of our trials. Let it rain, let it storm, and let it go.

On another note, we celebrated the kids birthdays with a bang on a gorgeous sunny afternoon, and thank you, thank you, to all who came and for all the great gifts! We are truly spoiled by all of you!
Leo is doing stellar, he is holding his head longer and stronger every day, and is even putting weight through his legs. This is very important because the weight resistance helps his bones grow correctly. Unfortunately his PT is still ordering him a stander since babies his age are getting at least a couple hours of standing time a day, while our dude spends the majority of the day on his back. It's hard for me to come to grips with this, harder then you would think, considering all the stuff we have gone through. I guess he seems so normal to me, that anything that underlines his abnormalities is saddening. In other areas he is like any other 12 month old. He plays peekaboo, claps or kicks when you ask him to, and it's really hard to sneak anything past him because he is so aware of whats going on. The moment he hears me making a bottle, or cracking open a food jar he starts squealing with impatience. Same goes for trying to tiptoe past his crib when he's napping. Impossible! The more he develops socially, the harder it is for me see his physical side lagging behind. Granted he is still post-op and healing, but like any other parent, we are impatient. The swelling on his head waxes and wanes with the weather, but I think it is slowly and imperceptibly going away. At any rate, it doesn't worry me so much as it just annoys me. Go away all ready! In a couple weeks he has another MRI quickbrain to check on things, and hopefully I will get a copy of the images this time. Really the last one was astounding, hopefully this one will be even better.
As always, thanks for reading and loving our little Lion dude.



At the bday party: Leo being held by the first person to hold him when he born, our lovely nurse Denise. We love you!


 Godmother+Leo=happy



 Speaking of superheros...


Proud Papa.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The School Bus As Metaphor

A school bus can mean all sorts of different things: dread, boredom, excitement, responsibility, change...it means something different to all of us. I was primarily homeschooled as a kid, and though I preferred that, there was still an element of desire and curiosity for me every time I saw a school bus when I was young.  I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to be part of the school bus world. Of course I didn't have to wonder about it for very long because I did, in many ways, have the ideal education. There was that time I took the winter off from school instead of summer to practice my extra curricular work which was...downhill skiing and snowboarding. Then there was the part-time jobs at the local farms that I was able to do because of my own set and very flexible school hours. To clarify, because it sounds like I didn't do any academics at all in the above two sentences, I did. Lots. Tons. But I did them efficiently and completely independently, e

With Mixed Feelings

So for the past couple weeks my feed has been filled with the "back to school" and "end of summer" and "beginning of parental freedom from their annoying offspring" photos. It's ok, I totally get it. Another year, another back to school pic, another notch in the door jamb, and another chapter of growth and development with junior. Look at him go! Or not, as the case may be for many children. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease control and Prevention) one in six children has one...a developmental disability. A stamp of "not normal" across their foreheads. A number. A check mark in a box. My kid is one of them. I heard a brief segment on NPR that enticingly started out with the title of developmental delays on the rise, a 17% increase over the last twelve years. And though I turned up the volume the segment only talked about how it's probably only due to poverty, and it's only the upper classes that actually pursue diagnosis

The Move

Leo Clement has moved, you guys! The blog is now being hosted by a different platform, and with some awesome new results. Come check it out! All future posts and updates can now be found at the  Little Lion's new digs. Hope to see you there!