Summer Days

Well, the beautiful summer weather has been pulling me and Norrin outside on a daily basis...which also means I haven't been able to blog as much. I also really wish I had some pictures to show you, but Norrin gets me so thoroughly absorbed into his world that its never a spectator sport. If he's in the dirt, so am I. If he's in the pool, so am I. If he's wearing half his dinner, well, so am I. Todd was out for two weeks on disability. Its been a very slow healing process and its been frustrating, but as slow as it is, he is recovering well. Norrin has learned to be somewhat more gentle with his Da...sometimes. Yesterday was the first day Da was able to get into the pool with Norrin and he was thrilled. He didn't even notice when his Ma ran off to do some chores (I can be pretty sneaky when I want to get something done). We have a small Intex pool from Target which is basically like a huge toddler pool. Its big, but not very deep (it reaches up to Norrin's chest). Norrin loves it...he runs all around, hangs on the edge kicking his feet, plays with the water toys we have in there and despite lots of protesting from his Ma, takes an occasional drink (yuck). Our other outdoor activities have included lots of chalk drawing and harvesting our garden. We already have had a couple of ripe tomatoes and the peppers and eggplants are growing nicely. Most of our strawberries haven't made it...if Norrin isn't picking them before their time, then the birds have helped themselves. This was a good practice round for me. Next year I'll have a better idea of what I like, what we need, what's easiest to grow, etc. I love getting my food from my yard...its such a great feeling of accomplishment. As for Norrin news...hmmm...where to begin? A few days ago, I caught him tap dancing in our upstairs hallway. He had found some coins and stuck them to his sweaty feet and was using them to tap dance. Very creative. He's struggling with his communication every day. He uses a mix of words and sign language and its been getting so much easier to figure out what he needs. Of course, there's many times throughout the day that I haven't got a clue. So, I hold out my hand and I say, "show me". His needs are pretty basic, so his frustration has been pretty minimal. He's also been working on his fine motor skills. Today he saw Ma coloring inside the lines and he worked very hard at staying inside the lines himself. Of course, that's way beyond him at this point, but he took great pride in his ability to keep the crayon working in one section of the paper. Absolutely nothing in a ziploc bag is safe from him anymore. And he knows how to turn on every button, knob or handle in my car. I'm just praying he doesn't figure out how to unlatch his car seat harness. And last, but not least. He loves music and dancing. He will dance to anything and everything and he expects everyone in the room to dance with him. He will forcefully remove you from your seat, if necessary. And he tries to sing. He loves Rocky Raccoon on Todd's Beatles CD and he will attempt the words to just about any song on the radio. Its pretty stinkin' cute. And that's our life at the moment.