July 2

We went blueberry picking! This is one of my favorite field trips. It was hot and beautiful and we still have yummy berries.

Sarah lost another tooth. It had been loose for a long time and then it was very loose and then it was very very loose and then we woke up Wednesday morning hearing her say, “there’s a tooth under my pillow!” It must have come out right after she woke up. Wednesday night I woke up when I heard Sarah mumble in her sleep. I nudged Mr. Tooth Fairy in a panic to ask if the tooth had been placed under her pillow and if the tooth fairy had come. He had not! But Sarah was no longer fast asleep and her head was right where he needed it not to be. Luckily we had some coins in the bedroom and he devised a plan to bring her a cup of water. While she took a sip he deftly made the switch. Phew.

We had a lovely visit with some good friends who used to be our neighbors a few years ago. Out of the blue Sarah said the name of their dog. No one had mentioned the dog. There was a dog nearby that may have triggered her memory. But no one had said the name of their dog to Sarah in maybe 3 years. What a memory! Where does she store these things?

We also celebrated Carl’s 40th birthday! For this occasion (note: I never spell occasion or occasionally right on the first try) I made a list of 40 wonderful things that I love about him, though of course I could have kept going. One that didn’t fit but deserves mention was when we were in Scotland at Edinburgh castle we were not dressed warmly enough for the incessant cold wind. But we wanted to listen to a knight giving a presentation outside. I huddled behind Carl, using him as a windbreak and he stood as if the wind didn’t bother him at all. He was cold. He just said he decided not to mind it. Chivalry is so not dead.

Sarah and Amy and I played Crazy Eights. Whenever Sarah needed to draw a card she would do so and with great enthusiasm say, “oooh, I got a ____!” It was hilariously adorable. Amy and I were cracking up. Sarah enjoyed our laughter. After a few rounds of this then Amy started doing the same thing. It was one of my best times of not end-gaining at all towards a completed game and being able to really enjoy Sarah’s personality as she played the game.

Ballet class today went well again, though Sarah was definitely even more into walking back and forth and opening and closing doors rather than participating. I had to intervene a couple times when she was going into the supply closet but otherwise I stayed calm and the teacher didn’t seem to mind and Sarah did do a few things with the group.

Sarah has achieved a new level of crazy strength. She can do pull-ups. Tonight she did maybe 10 or 15. She is SOOOO strong!

In general I feel like the universe just continues to conspire in my favor. You want a schooling situation you are excited about for Sarah? Voila. You want a small, relaxed ballet class that is perfect for your children and just ten minutes from home? Sure, here you go. You want to heal from years of tension and all emotional crap stored in your body? Here is an amazing massage therapist with just the right blend of modalities and intuition in walking distance! And he will also come to the house to work with Sarah! During my Jenny-Rise session this week, in my right shoulder and area under my right clavicle I could feel all the tearful, “I can’t do this!” feelings that I didn’t realize were sitting there, but on my left side I felt, “Oh, this is just me, fully me, innately and solidly me.” It was such an amazing moment of feeling what is going on inside me. Because it is of course all me. The left just seems to be in the present moment where the right is holding years of stuff.  Anyway, I am just so deeply grateful for all of the amazing goodness in my life. 

As much love to all of you as Sarah is strong.