Changes

Gary and I are back in the swing of things after a nice trip to Washington state.  We spent a couple of days in Seattle before we headed up to Everson to celebrate Gary's grandma's 90th birthday.  We didn't buy a lot whilst we were out there, but I did bring back some rhubarb from Grandma P's garden and made a strawberry rhubarb crumble - delicious! 

My favourite food in Seattle?  We went to Chinatown one night and had a proper Chinese meal.  It's so sad that I have to go to the other side of the country to get some good food!  We didn't have time to get dim sum, but I am going to NYC at the end of August so maybe I'll get some then!  Oh, and I loved the England-like weather in Washington state too.  It was a much-needed respite from the 100 degree heat here. 

We're all 'talk three talk four' here at the Donnelly house.  Most of what Lydia is saying these days is so clear, or at least it is to us!  She's able to hold mini conversations with us, telling us what she's doing, or what we're doing, or what she wants/needs.  It's all quite astonishing.  Even the daycare lady said, 'You know, she talks the most now - we had a whole conversation the other day!  And to think she was the one that we were worried about because she wasn't saying anything!'  So that's either an argument that development just takes its own sweet time, or that the speech therapy made all the difference.  Believe what you want.  All I know is that Adrianna taught me and Gary just as much as she did Lydia.  We learned how to elicit responses, repeat, rephrase, acknowledge, reassure and just talk talk talk about everything.

On August 1, it will be Gary and my 11th wedding anniversary.  We are the best of friends and continue to grow together.  We are always learning patience, love and living in the moment.  Granted, I get on his nerves because I pile all the big bowls on top of the small bowls instead of putting them in order (HA!  If you know Gary, aka Mr. Disorganised, you know this is a strange pet peeve).  He gets on my nerves when he leaves his dirty clothes all over the place!  In the end though, if that's all we have to complain about, we're pretty lucky.

I hope you enjoy this blog post!  I am averaging about once a month these days and we're coming to the end of the book.  I think I'm finally letting go of preemie parenting fears so it's time for a change.  I'll keep you posted on the new blog ideas I have for the future.

Oh, by the way, look me up on pinterest.com.  I don't have too much on there right now, but I do love that site.