Fall Fun-ness

We've done some fun fall-ish things lately...

 

We went leaf hunting!



 

 

We went to the Pumpkin Patch!

 

 

 

This guy captured our attention for a good while!

 

 

We decorated pumpkins!

 

 

 

We went to the Harvest Party!

Super Grover 2.0...and his Mom!

"Fishing" with Cousin Vaughn...er Superman.

This seriously cracks me up. You can see the light go on as to what this Harvest Party deal is all about...

Wait, what...I hit the golf ball and you give me what...?

I can pick any piece I want, right out of this here basket??

Well shoot, I'll just eat my winnings right here!

     Thankful for this time of beautiful changing seasons. Of God's bounty in our lives. For a church that puts on an awesome Harvest Party. And for my personal Super Grover 2.0.  

 

Chopsticks

     We are a multi-ethnic family: I am a first generation American, the daughter of a Dutch immigrant. My son is a naturalized American, born in South central China.  I am tall, pale, have a creative flare and am genetically frugal with money.  I also can not use chopsticks. (Serious put-your-eye-out-material when it comes to eating with sticks.)  The real question of the household is then...can my son use chopsticks?? 

   I brought home Chinese food last night & busted out the sticks...training & real to see what would happen.  The results scared me!

He started with a dip-lick approach with the training chopsticks
(I'm awesome with training chopsticks, by the way. Brought them with me to China to show off my skills...that didn't last long.)

 

It did NOT take long for him to grab the REAL chopsticks.
Mind you...he has never seen me use them.
He is pulling all his skills from what I imagine he saw the first 20months of his life.

Two hand approach with the sticky-rice was valiant but not so successful...

 

One handed!
(Note the FORK in my bowl)

Look at him go!!!

Mission accomplished!!

SOOOOO excited!
Eating just like China Momma does!

I can't tell you how blasted excited I am of my tiny Asian boy. Yes, that he has the fine motor skills to master chopsticks is fantastic,  but also that he has an entire nature-based person inside of him that I still get to discover. That his birth parents & China Momma made a real impact on who he is awesome!  He will grow to have many of my quirks & attributes solely based on nurture, but there (apparently) a whole bunch of incredible in there that I'll get to take no credit for.  Chopsticks are clearly one of those things!

 

“Man who catch fly with chopstick capable of anything.”   

― The Karate Kid

Fall Photos

     Once again, our friend Cassandra of Cassandra Hamilton Photography has captured the awesomeness of God in our lives on film. After some worrisome weather forecasts, we were able to jump in front of the camera during a 45minute dry spell. I love that you can see how much Isaac has grown since our photos with Cassandra in April and last October.  He is much taller, certainly more independent and a bit cheeky...but he is most certainly and forever be my little boy.  Honestly, as a family of two, I was nervous that I would never have any photos with my handsome son...thank you Cassandra for making sure I will ALWAYS have the preciousness of these early years!!

 

(This chair was mine as a toddler!)

 

“Autumn...the year's last, loveliest smile.”  ― William Cullen Bryant

A Momma & Isaac Date

     It may seem a bit silly to schedule 'dates' with my only child, but as I've been watching our end of summer/fall schedule get a little out of control I've been trying to be purposeful and intentional in spending time with my sweet boy. More than just co-existing by running errands or attending medical appointments or squeezing in trips to the park.  I want him to know that he is worthy of my time and focus...and I am of his. (Hopefully, he'll grasp this concept later!)  So...we got dressed up and went to the Symphony!

 

     The Seattle Symphony has a great Tiny Tot Series that introduces toddlers to the wonder of instruments & music.  Isaac LOVES music so I knew it would be fun for him, but I had a BLAST!  It was an interactive session in the small symphony hall, singing nursery rhymes with the accompaniment of a three-piece brass section. We learned about the fast notes that the trumpet can make and the low notes a tuba can make and the funny noises that the trombone makes too. They also played sections of several classical pieces while we listened along. I was really very impressed. In fact, at one point I caught myself tearing up...my little boy, who I knew nothing about two years ago, was now on my lap loving the Symphony; God has given us both such an amazing life. Who am I that I should be blessed with such gift??  

  

Sneaking a selfie after they told us to put cameras away.
True rebels!

With BoPeep, Linda Goose & Lisa Goose our hosts for the afternoon.

     Afterwards we wandered over to Soundbridge, the Symphony's music discovery center. We got to try out ALL the instruments, bang on the different drums, figure out how the bongos are different than the cowbell, and even practice obeying the Conductor (this is VERY important, 'cuz it's just like listening to Momma). Drums are a very key aspect of our lives right now so it didn't surprise me that Isaac took to those. What did surprise me was his skill on the keyboard!  He walked right up, sat on the bench and started tickling the keys up & down the board like he was a pro...???  As far as I know he has never seen or touched a piano so this was a bit of a shock. Piano lessons may be in our future!

Bongos

Snare drum

Playing the bells like a trumpet...why not!

Flat Beethoven
A little creepy, I agree

Without any instruction, he picked the piano sound he wanted.

Seriously??
Who knew?!

Finishing with a bang!

    The best part of any date, OF COURSE, is...ice cream. And since we were pretending to be Seattle yuppies we went for gelato. :) Salted carmel for Momma, raspberry for Isaac.

   It was a delightful afternoon on a perfect, brisk but sunny fall day. I was proud to be on a date with my handsome boy and while he may not remember the specifics of the day, it is my prayer that those little seeds of 'I am precious and special' were planted deep into his heart for harvest later.  We have several more Symphony events planned over the next 6 months and I'm sure lots of fun dates in the middle!
  
   On a somewhat connected note...The Love Without Boundaries Foundation (a ministry providing medical & foster care to children in China) contacted us & asked me to write a little blurb about life with Down syndrome. I told them, it's a FULL life and I LOVE IT!!  :) You can read the final story HERE.