When I wrote a week ago I didn’t mention that we had just had a harrowing morning moment with Sarah. We were in Florida for vacation and our first day and a half went quite smoothly, in part because we were exceedingly flexible with our timing and the kids didn’t even need to agree on what to do. Sunday morning we had a scheduled trip to the Everglades and Sarah was not having it. Unfortunately this was at 6am and involved her screaming a lot, to the dismay of our hotel neighbors who knocked on our door twice because of the noise. It turned out that the scheduled trip was cancelled anyway because of the weather, but we didn’t know that until Sarah’s personal storm had passed and we had given up on the plans anyway. Amy and I brought breakfast to the room and then she and Carl went out for a hike in the rain in the Everglades anyway. I stayed with Sarah, who napped for three hours. I don’t know if the need for three hours of sleep was behind her massive upset or if the upset wore her out to that degree. Either way, we (re)learned that whenever possible it is best not to have timed things in the morning. Or maybe at all. Except then the next day the girls went to the scheduled Kids Camp at the hotel and going there was no problem at all.
Difficult moments aside, overall we had a wonderful time. Sarah’s pool time was amazing. She spent all of her time ducking her head under water and moving her limbs and practicing not getting water in her mouth. I would even call it swimming, with a need for some refining of technique. This is huge and amazing. She was wearing her goggles and tossing a dive ring for herself to retrieve. Collectively she spent hours doing this. She also loved playing on the beach, watching the waves. Amy loved the pool time and collecting shells and eating delicious pancakes for breakfast. It was quite windy and there were more gulls and terns and pelicans than I have ever seen on a beach. We made the mistake of attempting to have a snack while on the beach, but were immediately accosted by swarming gulls who wouldn’t leave us alone until I hid the bag of food under my shirt. It was a little scary.
After our time in Florida we flew to Philadelphia, luckily allowing plenty of time before our flight. We had time for the valet parking service to temporarily (30 min) lose our car and for Sarah’s antiseizure meds to set off a security alert that meant a pat-down for me, which somehow triggered another alarm on their chemical-testing wand, which meant taking me to a room for another pat-down, which didn’t set off an alarm. I was sent on my way with the medication.
We had a wonderful time in Philly with Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop and a wonderful time in Wilmington with Grammy and Granddad and uncles B and B. Somehow Santa knew to fill stockings in our hotel but bring the rest of the presents to Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop’s house. It is hard to know how much belief there is in Santa, since the girls also clearly know that they give and receive presents to and from people.
Carl got the girls step-counters for Christmas. At first Amy was walking all over to get more steps. Once she realized the measurements aren’t perfect she got mad and hasn’t really worn it much since. Sarah only wore hers once, but it was a memorable afternoon because she and Amy were running laps around a small track to prepare for the kids marathon in May. They were eager to check their step count after each lap and to outdo the other. Sarah’s stamina was impressive and surprising.
It is interesting how within a person and a day there can be such intensely frustrating moments and such intensely amazing moments.
Amy’s art continues to amaze me. This morning she drew a portrait of her favorite stuffed animal, complete with many specific details. She also became Grammy’s special mealtime helper, in a way that reminded me of my younger years helping at my grandparents’ house.
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