Leo Clement

On Tuesday I experienced something that was in some way both very special and horribly heart wrenching. I was present at the funeral and burial of a full term stillborn babe. She looked like a little doll, resting gently in a simple, but lovingly and carefully worked wooden box that her father prepared for her. In continuation of the disparities, it all seemed so wrong, and yet so right, that this should be the way that this precious baby should be laid to rest. How bizarre and terrible! How lamentable, and yet how beautiful. How simply her parents carried her and laid her down in a grove of trees close to their house, and yet how courageously they did it. One can not experience something like this by proxy, I realized, without treading the path of empathy. What is empathy, but the ability to transmit the pain and sufferings of others to ourselves? The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there is many ways that ...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on cats Bright shiny lights and warm cozy hats Blue little sea horses and dangly strings, These are a few of my favorite things!  Art projects and fall leaves Chopsticks and paper and pictures with bunnies   Smiles from mummy and raised up like kings These are a few of my favorite things!  Shiny new vacuums with buttons and hoses Lots of cuddly hugs and kisses on noses Growing so swiftly as if flying on wings These are a few of my favorite things! When the dog bites When the bee stings When I'm feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things And then I don't feel so bad!

Well, our Easter, or Pascha as we call it, was quite a shindig! Joy at Christ's Resurrection was complete with beautiful late night services, family time, and of course, sleepless nights and complimentary colds. All in all it was a wonderfully chaotic time and the kids loved every minute. Notice the three steps up to the ambo: that has been the scene of Leo's tireless stair feats this past week.  It was definitely a week and a weekend of firsts for us and Leo. He went to a restaurant for the first time and sat at the table like a big kid. He spent three days and two nights away from his familiar home and on one of those nights he got woken up and taken to the midnight Pascha service. He was super! He also has stood unsupported for close to five seconds, and on another occasion got his first real thump on the head from the floor because off a misstep. Poor bub has got enough lumps on his head without adding to the collection! I guess th...

No news is good news as they say! All has been well here in Camp Little Lion. Although that blast of weird and wonderful warm weather (Say that five times fast ha!) has gone away leaving boring and cold, but normal March/April weather for us in VT. We are still loving seeing the tenacious little shoots and blooms around the yard, and Leo periodically makes sprints for the door, in hopes of playing in the grass outside. Everything feels like it is waiting, bidding it's time until the reviving warmth comes for good. Leo on the other hand, is frankly done biding his time. After a year spent flat on his back, he has a "been there, done that," attitude and we are basically running just a step ahead of him in trying to keep the harmful obstacles out of his way. Like the stove, or stairs for instance. Ahh the stairs!! Right now they are the equivalent of the magnetic center in the earth, and Leo is a tiny prop plane with no steering or brakes. Lets just say ...

I know, this isn't a new topic is it? It never is, and yet and yet, it still is our problem!! What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again, and hoping for a different outcome? Thanks to Einstein for that refreshing look into the sad state of human mentality. If that is true, then we are all way past the point of where we should be getting carted off to the funny farm. Because we all do the same thing over and over again, convinced that this time, if only this time, it will work. What the heck is wrong with us? Insanity? I don't think so. Lets take fear, again, for example. We've all been scared before. Everyone, everywhere, even if it is self-inflicted through scary movies, or forced upon us by circumstance, unless you have lived your life in a complete bubble, everyone has experienced that gut wrenching, mind shattering fear. Dare I say, that's normal? Here in the US of A, things aren't too bad, not like in Syria whe...

And out like a baby lion??  Our March has started out cold and snowy, but in a manner of days things are starting to feel like spring. (disclaimer: no predictions are made that this weather will stay..it has been known to snow in late April..) It's really hard not to be excited about the possibilities! The potential for great things is what brings a smile to our faces right now.  Soaking in the sun seems to be the most important on the agenda right now.  But.... But sometimes, what is important, gets lost in the barrage of everyday minutia. The chores, the appointments, bills, work, sleeplessness, it all threatens to take over and distract us from the important stuff. Like how a ray of sunshine looks as it dances across your fingers. When was the last time you checked? Or how funny and strange a piece of grass can look on your pants after a bare and sterile winter? Spring is when the earth starts to push energy out...

Here is the recent lowdown on our little lion man. (Long post, sorry, feel free to just look at the pictures...) He is exactly a month post-op today, and his recovery so far has been excellent! Some days it is hard to believe that he just recently had his head peeled open like a orange...  His hair is growing in over his scar and the dissolvable stitches are shedding out. Even though the surgeon said he nipped and tucked the loose skin on his scalp from the last surgery, he still has that silly cowlick. Actually it's more like a cow chomp. The hair is even a different texture there. Weird. But in a good way... Last week we briefly met with his Neurosurg, who was as always, thrilled to see him. She said that the swelling around his eyes might take another month or so to dissipate. We can definitely see an improvement in his right eye and side, though his left side is still puffy. This just underlines to me the fact that his le...