January 5

Amy has braces! She picked clear brackets with teal rubber bands holding the wire on the brackets. As you can imagine, her first few days were rather miserable at meal time. Even mac and cheese was too uncomfortable to eat, so she had lots of applesauce and mashed potatoes. By the time school started she was able to do toast if it was cut into small pieces. She won’t be able to eat an apple that isn’t cut for as long as the braces stay on, but I don’t think this will upset her lifestyle. 

Carl and I spent New Years’ Eve in downtown Pittsburgh, staying overnight in a hotel and finishing our date with the last Star Wars movie. This was a tremendously wonderful gift of time from Grandpa. 

At the moment Grandma and Grandpa are in charge, taking the girls to fun new playgrounds and bakeries and the oldest house in Pittsburgh. Carl and I are in California for a wedding, enjoying the gorgeous views and the excellent company of some of our college friends. Carl also got us a fun rental car, reminiscent of the Mustang convertible we rented on part of our honeymoon, when we were also in California. 

Lastly, we have a new phone. Not a new number, just a new phone. The old kind that plugs into the wall and has a coil connected to the part you hold to your head. We wanted something that the girls could use if there was an emergency and they needed to call 911. Our previous phone had number buttons that were too hard to press. The new phone is programmable so you can put a small picture on the button to correspond the programmed number. We haven’t yet printed tiny pictures but I did write the names of select people that the girls can call. Sarah looooves this. Amy has made a few calls and liked it, but Sarah loves going to her office (my desk) to make calls. She often calls Carl or me when we are in a different part of the house (or standing next to her). She also made many calls to Mom-Mom/Pop-Pop and Grammy/Granddad. As Mom-Mom has pointed out, this is an amazing tool for her to connect with people in a new way, a way in which she has to maybe work a bit harder to make sure she is very clear with her speech. This is also good for learning phone etiquette, like how to leave a message and how to say goodbye rather than hanging up on the person. Now the girls might also receive calls, but since the phone doesn’t have caller ID it is back to the old days and sometimes Sarah answers when it is a telemarketer. We have to work on how to handle that too. For instance, recently I was next to her when she answered the phone and I heard her saying that she was me, so I quickly took over. 

For those of you that know Sarah personally, if you would like to be part of Sarah’s phone connection and education by possibly receiving a call, let me know! I will provide a list of numbers for her, because it is also a skill to dial a whole number rather than just two buttons. I will endeavor to be nearby when she calls, but I can’t guarantee it. We do enforce reasonable calling hours. Another way you could participate is to call our home number and ask for me or Carl so that Sarah learns how to say, “hold on a minute, I will get them.” If you don’t want to do any of this that is totally ok. Only do so if you think it sounds like fun.