Dog Days

In the old days, G would wake up on a Saturday morning, crash open my bedroom door, and rush into my bed to snuggle.

This past Saturday, I woke up and there was no sign of G.  Strange.  Until I looked down and found him snuggled up sleeping in the dog bed with Cooper.

I’ve been replaced.
 

Good News, Bad News

Good news.  We got a dog! Cooper is our new “mastiff mix,” chosen for the mastiff’s reputation of being “gentle giants.”

Bad news.  Cooper’s “mix” part seems to trump his “mastiff/gentle” part.

Good news.  G and Joseph lovelovelove the high-energy dog.

Bad news.  We needed to make an unexpected trip to Florida.  PetSmart screened Cooper and we arranged for them to board him… but they changed their minds when we went to drop him off... mere hours before we were supposed to leave.

Good news.  We found a last-minute boarding place!

Bad news.  We had to drive with intensity, rushing to beat a snowstorm, driving 14 straight hours with only two 10-minute breaks.

Good news.    G was a great passenger!  No complaints.  He spent a good deal of the trip using his “phone” and “computer” to be a Dispatcher (“you want 80 snowplows in Atlanta, Mama?”).

Bad news.  We left behind a trifecta of urgent home repair issues.

Good news.   Fixed!  Crisis averted.

Bad news.  During the fix, plumbing issues were discovered.

Watching for the good news…

 

Another Amazing Visit!

Mr Peter flew in for a visit with G! 

G's anticipation before-hand was Too Much.

Me teasing G: What if you don't remember what Mr Peter looks like?

G: Mom.  You know.  I've been dreaming about Mr Peter and I remember.

Me: Yes?

G: Yes.  He has a striped sweatshirt... and a beard... and a smile... and hair.

My first love notes

From G:

I lve you I am soopr bcus it is soopr glab becus you r mine.

I luve you.  I luve you becous you are speshl.


Translations:

I love you.  I am super glad because you are mine.

I love you.  I love you because you are special.

Planning Ahead

From G, over breakfast:

"I have a big day today.  I'm gonna play with Abby on the playground.  I have a lot of friends who want to play with me.  I'm gonna have to tell them - 'Sorry guys.  I can only play with one at a time'."

Dream-Come-True Visit

Last month, I got to tell G that MR JIM was coming for a visit!

There was some nervousness:  "What do you think he'll want to do with me?"  I assured G that Mr. Jim would love to play cars, just like they used to.  Joy!

The visit was wonderful.  It included playing cars and going to the park and eating pizza and visiting a pumpkin farm and going to church together and going out for breakfast!

As the car pulled away, G's tears began.  And turned into sobs.  That went on & on.

This boy loves Mr. Jim.

So glad they got to visit.

G's Eye

Haven't provided an update in a while.  I don't want to bore you with the "same old," but we still need prayer for the "same old."

The eye has some irritation (which could hurt the retina).  Eye drops help the irritation but cause heightened eye pressure (which can eventually lead to blindness)  Eye drops #2 are supposed to lower the eye pressure but haven't been doing enough.  Eye drops #3 have recently been added to the regimen, trying to get that pressure down into a safer zone.  The pressure has been getting a bit lower, but the irritation has been increasing. 

Would love to see healing for this eye.  Thanks for praying!

G's Medical Insurance

I like G’s medical insurance plan.

 

Too bad I can’t keep it. 

 

The good policy we have is being eliminated.  Looks like I can start paying more money for a plan that covers less.

 

Thanks for nothing, “Affordable” Care Act.

 

Appetite

G just turned 7.

He's a lean little dude.

And he ate a whole Chipotle burrito.

All of it.

And then asked for dessert.

Mercy.

At the Playground

G is playing alone.

A family approaches.

Oldest daughter arrives first and calls back to the others: "It's a white mom and a black kid!"

G walks right up to her: "My name is G."

He walks away.

Then he turns back: "I'm Haitian."

And he keeps playing.

Soccer Quote

On our way to a game a few weeks ago, I said: "I hope I get to see you kick a goal."

G: "I only can do that when someone is distracted."

Sweet boy.

G Lost

G let me know that Grace and Isabel won Student Council elections.

Fortunately, G wasn't at all fazed about his loss.  We just went on about our night.

Then... the next morning... Tears.  G cried: "No one voted for me!  I have no friends!  ...  Well, I have four friends.  Just four friends!"  He was really sad.

I didn't like how well he could hide his sadness for a whole night.  I really had no idea how impacted he was.  Will be trying to watch better for those big feelings in the future.

Election Day

G is running for student council.

 

To get on the ballot, each candidate needed to submit two sentences.

 

From G:

1.       I am responsible.

2.       I like to help people.

You’d vote for him, wouldn’t you?

Funny in the Morning

Yesterday G woke with no trouble.  As he stumbled to the shower, he shook his head and said “..another busy day at school....”  As if he’s some 50-year-old on his way to the office.

This morning he made a funny face.  When I questioned him, he explained:
“I’m stretching my lips out.”

“Why are you stretching your lips out?”

“They feel a little bit tight.”

After I laughed, he added: “What?  Everyone does it.”

Really?

Return on Investment

The other night I was talking with G about his great choices of late.  I asked him what he thought made the difference for him.  He responded: “Well, Mr. Peter taught me, and I remembered.”

 

I'm so grateful for all Mr. Peter invested in this sweet boy.

 

Good Choices

G had an unbelievable summer, behavior-wise. 

 

There was the one incident with the locked bathroom door to conceal the broken faucet.  But I kind of chalk that one up to “boy” more than to “lack of self regulation.”

 

Otherwise, his choices have been astounding me.  Like when he asks for gum to help himself calm down.  Or when he calls: “I’m angry!”  Or even when I give him a consequence and he responds by… complying.

 

Not saying we’re perfect.  But we have come a lot closer to healthy.  And it’s very nice.

G-isms

Here's an example of one of my favorite G-isms.

A couple of young girls have been visiting their dad, who's staying in our neighborhood.  G wants to play with them, so he checks in with me:

"Mama, I'll just go and ringbell the door."

That's one way that G uses "ringbell."  The other is when he's actually pushing someone's doorbell.  As he pushes it, he says, "ringbell, ringbell!" It's very similar to "dingdong," but it's all his own.

Love it.

You know that moment...

... when you're up against an end-of-day deadline at work, but you get the call that your 6-year-old is home tantruming, and in talking you discover that he has deliberately locked the bathroom door closed (and the adults there can't get it opened) (your one bathroom that has a shower in it), so you de-escalate the tantrum and hurry back to your deadline, which is quickly approaching because you're leaving early to get to a 4:30 appointment, which lasts a bit long - which was great, but also not good, because you have to feed your child before you go to 7:00 Book Club, so you rush home and start some rice (and receive cheers for rice & beans) (thank you, God, for rice and beans!) and then you work to appropriately discuss the locked-door situation while still POURING into a 6-year-old love tank, and grabbing the Book Club book, when you decide to try fixing the door really quickly - and you get it OPENED!

And then you discover that it was locked to hide the fact that your 6-year-old broke the faucet.

You know that moment?

Hilarity from G

G dictated a letter to Mr. Peter.

 

Midway through, he had me write:

 

Knock Knock.

 

Who’s there?

 

Mr. Joke Man.

 

Mr. Joke Man who?

 

Mr. Joke Man YOU!

 

And that was it.  Rolling around on the floor laughter.

 

Awesome.

Memories

The other morning, I was warned that our air conditioning was broken at work, so I dressed accordingly – a sleeveless shirt that I haven’t worn since being in Haiti.

 

I came into the kitchen to make G’s breakfast.  He greeted me with a BIG smile and came to hug me.

 

“I love your shirt.”

 

"Why?”

 

“Because you used to wear this shirt in Haiti.”