This has been the month of major trips and minor injuries. You went up to the Cottage with the Grandparents Lam just before Memorial Day. Originally the plan was for all of us to spend the long weekend up north, but the weather forecast was rain all weekend, so we sent you up during the week instead. You came home on Saturday, and it was nice to have the long weekend at home, even though it did rain much of the time.
The next weekend, you fell down the top part of the stairs at the house. It was Saturday morning, and you and Dad were heading downstairs to play. Arrow was laying on the floor with his feet pointed at the stairs, and you stopped to pet him with your back to the staircase. Then next thing Dad knew, you were falling down the stairs and he was chasing after you. Fortunately, you didn't fall head over heels, but instead down on your belly. I heard it happen and came out of our bedroom in time to see Dad picking you up. We all sat on the steps and you cried for a few minutes, but your only injury was a bruise on your cheekbone that quickly went through the stages of being a black eye. During the week, you had managed to skin up both of your knees, and so you suddenly looked like you had joined a rugby team. Here is the lovely progression from "just a little bruised" to "technicolor glam rock eyeshadow":
You can see that it disturbed you greatly.The rest of the month has been only normally injury prone. A bumped head on the table, or a finger pinched in a belt buckle. Oh, and I did clonk you on the head with the handle of the shovel when I was digging up some tiger lilies and didn't realize you were right behind me. We do a lot of kissing bumps to make them better, although I also stocked up on band-aids again the other day. But I know that for the amount of running and climbing and jumping that you do, we are incredibly lucky that kisses and band-aids are all that we have needed so far.
Your verbal skills continue to develop. You are pronouncing sounds better, and you really make an effort to pronounce words the way that you hear us say them. Sometimes when we're reading, especially the ABC type books, I'll make you look at me and mimic how I move my mouth. I'm not at all concerned about your progress, but I know that's a helpful trick, and you get a kick out of imitating us. You've also started helping us tell your favorite stories when we read them. Before I turn the page, I'll ask you, "What happens next?" and you will either tell me what you think, or give me this funny grin-and-bounce which I think means, "I don't know."
It was the summer solstice this past Monday, but it hasn't felt like summer at all. It's been cold and rainy instead. We had two days that was hot: the first day was about 85 degrees, and the next day it was freakishly hot at 103 degrees. But that seems to have used up our entire summer's worth of heat so far. We put the air conditioners in the windows in preparation for the super hot day, but we haven't needed them since. I flew out to DC for work on weekend, and it was 55 degrees when I got on the plane at MSP and 85 and humid when I got off of the place at DCA. The whole weekend it was a toss up as to what would kill me first: the heat or the walking.
But it's hard to complain about being in DC--it's such an amazing city to visit. I love feeling surrounded by the history of our country. We are fortunate to live here, and I believe very strongly that we must continue the work that so many amazing Americans have done to make the people of this country more free, more equal, and move us closer to the ideals under which the nation was begun. Don't ever let anyone tell you that our country is perfect (or any other country, or anything at all under the sun for that matter), but neither is it worthless or even so terrible. We should not forget that something of quality is only created through hard work. It is easy to help our friends, but it is important to help our neighbors and communities, too. The people of this country have made beautiful, powerful, impressive things. But those things should always serve as reminders of how important we the people truly are.
Right now, you are on another trip with your Grandparents Lam. You left for Madison on Monday, and you spent Tuesday night in Indianapolis with your Grandparents Thorne. We got some cute photos of you and your cousins from Grandpa Thorne already. You should arrive in Norfolk today, for a weekend of visiting with Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena. We miss you very much, so we've been occupying ourselves with trips to the hardware store and eating out at restaurants. Our project while you're gone is redecorating the south wall of the living room, and perhaps moving all of the furniture around if we get that far. We've already to the wallpaper down, but stripping and refinishing the woodwork is what will take the longest, even though we've done it before in the dining room. It feels good to be doing something useful around the house, but it also underscores how much time we have when you're not here. I hope you're having fun, and I'll be glad when you're home to have fun with us again.
Love,
Mom
