rees genre

There is a reason why you have two ears. Sound attacks your head from all sides and it helps to be able to hear from your right as well as your left. Rowan had a cochlear implant put in his left ear and we opted to go forward with the right ear as well. He had the surgery over a week ago and everything went really well, much like the first. He had a huge bandage on his head again, but it didn’t take too long for him to rebound and get back to his normal busy self. In a few weeks, assuming that he heals normally, he will start wearing the device on the right as well. Like before, it will slowly be turned up in order for him to adjust to the increased input, though it won’t be nearly as dramatic because he can already hear at full volume in his left ear. I’ve had many ask about his progress and he is doing very well. Of course he isn’t quite up to speed with the rest of his peers in terms of language development, but he is catching up. He can identify sounds and link them to ideas. He ca...

…I noticed this strange rock. When I reached down to pick it up, the rock looked at me! It wasn’t a rock at all but a darling little tree frog. He hung out in my pot until it got dark. A few days later we spotted this chameleon in our mandavilla. It was fascinating to watch it change from brown to green as it jumped from our bird house to the green leaves. We enjoyed our little visitors.

September and October is festival season in Charlotte. There is nothing to do all summer and then once the weather cools off, the weekends are full of events. Some of our favorites include the Greek Festival hosted by a local Greek Orthodox church and the Festival in the Park at Freedom Park. This year we were invited to a Renaissance Festival that runs several weekends in October and November. The facility was amazing; it was literally a village that they built with real wooden and stucco structures. The artisan goods for sale were well made to look authentic to the times. They had a dozen stages set up throughout the village, each with performers running constant shows, climaxing with the jousting arena. We had a great time hanging out with our friends, the Gardners. Admittedly, the greatest spectacle was the crowd. Apparently we were under dressed in our modern garb; at times it was difficult to discern the staff from the participants. So if any of my DHS choir friends want to reliv...

Tis the season to get a pumpkin so we decided to hunt for some in a local pumpkin patch. We had a great time checking out the barn animals, going through the corn maze, and checking out the pumpkins… until we realized they were $28 dollars! So as lame as it is to buy pumpkins at a grocery store, I couldn’t resist Trader Joe’s $4 pumpkins instead.

Chris and I ran away. It wasn’t a permanent choice, just a weekend adventure. We enjoyed every minute of it. I worried about the kids and called home and sent text messages to check vital signs. However, there was something strange and wonderful about not having kids for a few days. It was like I had been carrying a 30 lb bag and a 40 lb bag and I got to take them off for a few days. I felt a little lighter. The back seat seemed a little empty and quiet. Doing things seemed a little easier. For example, getting in and out of the car was just that: getting in and out of the car. It wasn’t: pick up the child, put him in his car seat, make first attempt to buckle his seatbelt, push his squirmy self back into seat, succeed at second attempt to buckle his seatbelt with one hand while firmly holding child with second, hand him a sippy cup with water, give him a toy car to play with, confirm that the older child was not trying to drive the car but was in his own seat, remind three times to p...

So we couldn’t have made out trip without a special friend in Charlotte and my parents. They volunteered to watch our boys, making the trip possible. We hurried home from Charlottesville so that we could spend a few days with my parents. This was my dad’s first visit to Charlotte and we hope he enjoyed his stay. I know the boys were excited to have their grandparents here. We had a great time showing them the town and can’t wait for them to visit again!

Going to the local art museum was on my list of things to do and getting a free pass bumped it up pretty quickly. I wasn’t sure how well the boys would do with an art museum. We have been to museums before and although we have the boys under control and they behave well for little people, I always feel like the staff is breathing down our necks and eyeing us as we pass through the galleries. However, The Mint was a lot of fun. They had great activities for kids, like a treasure hunt to find various artifacts located throughout the museum. Davin was really engaged with everything (Rowan’s attention span was a little shorter). I particularly loved the interpretation that he gave this piece: