He Thinks He's Still Little

Sometimes I mess with Tanner by testing him. Most of the time I don't know what's going on in his little head. It is hard to truly know what he has learned and what he thinks about himself. Recently, I found an old "baby pool" in the back garage and remembered a three year old Tanner standing next to it so that he could splash with his little hands. It was a water toy designed for "hands only" type of play and not for sitting inside. I brought the well made plaything out of the shadows, sprayed off the decade old cobwebs and insect carcasses and filled it with water. Then I let Tanner out into the yard to see what he would do with the "new thing". I'll be darned if he didn't climb into the shallow water as if he were a toddler. He still thinks he's little. So even if the toy is a STEP 2 (for 24 month old) it still withstood a 120 pound 196 month old. Now that's durable.

Don't Mess With Tradition

Every June forever and ever us girls will go on our little bike ride in Logan. The weekend will start by fastening our road bikes to various SUV's and driving to one of our favorite places. We will stay in the same hotel as always and eat at the same Indian food place/gas station where we can buy tikka masala, garlic naan, fuel, aspirin and gummy bears from our waiter. Next we will make a convoy down to the local ice cream shop and talk until it gets too cold. We will talk about tomorrow's ride and how none of us have ridden a bike since last year's ride (except mom, who can out ride us all). Then we'll drive back to the hotel and attempt to sleep, but really it is just like a sleepover party and we giggle and watch TV late into the night.When the alarm goes off the next morning four sisters groan and try to make excuses about how to make the upcoming ride shorter by cheating. But when we finally get to the starting line we realize how lucky we are to ride side by side with a friend, a sister, or a mother.And even though we all return home with tender butts, sore shoulders and sunburned arms, the pain is worth the time we spent together. Bring on LRRH 2015!

LRRH 2014

The Purpose Of The Middle Finger

Three weeks ago I smashed the guts out of my finger. I was left with a painful nub wrapped safely in a rather large and unwieldy splint. During that time I have learned the purpose of having a middle finger. Aside from continually flipping the bird, I lost the ability to do most of the mundane things I do on a daily basis. The most important aspect of having five functional fingers is the ability to grip. Almost every action involves a grip: pulling heavy things, pushing heavy things, lifting heavy things. So in essence, changing, bathing and moving Tanner was an impossibility. Also I found folding laundry, making beds and doing the dishes to be very cumbersome using only one hand. Try washing your hair with one hand. For that matter try washing your hand with one hand. Try it!

So although I can survive using just one hand I am so grateful I have two. After three weeks I am well on my way to a fully functional grasp. Already there is a tiny newborn fingernail growing right where it should and by the end of the summer it may need a trim.