Front Yard

Just hanging in the front yard this afternoon. 

Charlie was showing off some of his newest tricks.  

There's a video below for your viewing pleasure.  

Running Errands with Mom

Bugs and Tummy Bugs

Today Walker is recovering from a quick tummy bug. Yesterday we were en route to Charlie's speech therapy appointment when, BOOM, Walker starts throwing up all over himself.  Poor little guy. So we did a U-turn and headed for home. Speech therapy can wait.

This morning, Walker was feeling much better. So much better that he helped me pick the caterpillars off my tomato plants and made one into a pet. Here is Walker's new friend. You can see him at the bottom of the jar.

Then we spent a little time over at the Positively Fit Lake Highlands day care co-op. Jack took the 6am yoga class and I babysat the late morning class kiddos.  Walker found a very cool guitar!

Here's Walker waiting on the front porch for Daddy to pick him up from Mallory's. We love her big porch swing!  Makes us want one for our front porch!

Jucing and Backgammon

This morning the Power Family joined us for brunch, backgammon and a juicing tutorial.  Lucas and Chris became expert juicers and enjoyed the buzzing produce and yummy juice! 

After we'd all had our daily veggie servings for the day, we dined on fruit salad, plum tarts and cinnamon rolls!  Charlie is thinking, "Hey, where is my lunch?"

Grandma Gail and Chris got Charlie giggling during a round of "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

Then we began a few rounds of Backgammon!

A fabulous Sunday all around!
Thank you, Alison, for once again stepping into the roll of staff photographer!

Angel Swim

The other day I was leafing through "Thrive" magazine, a Dallas publication for families with special needs children. In the calendar section, they were advertising an "Angel Swim" at a nearby water-park.  Two hours of crowd-free play time for kids with disabilities.  So, this morning Jack and I packed up the boys and hit the water slides at 8:30am.  It was perfect.  No crowds, still in the low 90s and no direct sun to burn the bejesus out of our fair skinned Greenman boys. Charlie was sleepy, but really enjoyed bobbing around in the "river". Walker courageously accompanied me down a long twisting water slide. Walker is fearful of putting his head under water, so I promised him he wouldn't get dunked at the end of the slide. Of course we reached the end and were both plunged into the drink. Walker was gasping and smiling and yelling at me, shocked that I'd broken my promise. But I could tell he'd enjoyed himself. It might take me a while to restore his trust though. I wish I'd taken more photos, but we were busy having fun. 

Tonight, Walker and Jack created this train costume for Walker.  Sorry for the demon child eyes, but this was the best I could do with a cell phone camera and a glass of wine in my hands.

Happy Fourth

Charlie has been enjoying a double dose of occupational therapy since returning from Utah.  Cyndi, his OT, has lots of wonderful and engaging ways to get Charlie out of his box. I love this full length mirror she pulled out last week. Charlie can see everything he's doing!  Perfect for self awareness.

Then, Cyndi decided to pull out some chocolate pudding and a "nuk" - a nubby edged stick that's perfect for grabbing and rubbing around your mouth. Charlie uses it as a spoon.

Here is a video that shows Charlie making his first moves towards self feeding!

Charlie was mad when the pudding was gone.

Cyndi always gives Charlie some time on the ball for core strength development.

JULY 4

Luckily we didn't have any big plans for the day, because Jack got a serious stomach bug last night and spent the entire day in bed. Yikes! And Charlie wasn't feeling great either. His first day on the Trileptal was okay, but he had a really hard time digesting it. I think we went through an entire pack of diapers today.  Oye.

Charlie and Daddy spent the greater part of the afternoon sleeping, so Walker and I made our own July 4 fun in the front yard.  Homemade lemonade (Walker's idea) and the kiddie pool (my idea) made for a great time.

The Power of Friendship

The boys and I spent the day with Alison, Aubrey, Chris, Lucas, Evelyn, Reid, Eleanor, Maximus and Augustus Power. Even Grandma Gail stopped by for lunch. It was a marvelous morning and early afternoon. The kids were loud, Walker was a mess, Charlie cried himself to sleep, water was spilled on the couch, and everyone had a really lovely time.

I can't emphasize how important the Power Family is to the Greenman Family. When I take note of all the wonderful things about living in Dallas, these extraordinary people are at the top of my list. They have been an incredible support for us in the darkest of times and always there to celebrate the most joyous of occasions. We're the luckiest people on earth to have the Powers as friends.  Dear, dear friends.  Aubrey snapped these two spectacular photos of Charlie while he was showing off his newest and most miraculous trick. Every time I look at these two photos, I bawl.

And here are a few more from the day...

Walker chatting with baby Gus.

Lucas feeding Charlie - he's got lots of "big brother" experience.

Walker pushing Ella on the swing - even though she doesn't want him to touch her.