The Seattle area has had several weeks in which we struggle some to beat the heat, but it’s been fun to enjoy more water activites and the outdoors when it’s not too hot outside in the mornings. (Yes, I’m a Pacific Northwest wimp now when it comes to the “hot” weather). Maybe I should take some cues from Timothy who doesn’t ever complain about sweating. 😉 We’ve enjoyed a few of the morning summer concerts in Kirkland nearby and are thankful for the many beautiful parks and playgrounds accessible to us. Timothy is an avid explorer of the outdoors and Grace is a calm and patient observer so it works out well for all. It will be so fun to see the two of them running around next summer and discovering new things together.
Our little girl continues to be a sweet, mellow, happy and giggly. She is rolling a lot and enjoying baby toys and books. Grace also loves seeing and talking to her big brother. I’m delighted to see her bring many smiles to Timothy’s face. It’s one of the cutest things to see her use her little hands to explore her brother’s face when he lays next to her for hugs and playtime. Timothy is still mostly very gentle and affectionate with Grace and is a good sport about all the drool, while she is a great sport about all the toddler squeezes and smooches.
Grace’s surgery was Thursday morning, and it was a point of both built-up anxiety and relief as we ended the month. The procedure went very smoothly and Grace appears to be recovering well so far. We’re grateful for the skilled and kind medical staff at Seattle Children’s Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center close by. They took good care of our baby girl and we were able to return home with her within hours of arriving at Children’s in the morning. My heart was twisted when I watched Grace with the slightly oversized mask squish her face as she fussed a bit before getting drowsy, and had leave her little helpless unconscious body on the big operating with only a tiny hospital gown on her. The Lord was faithful to bring encouragement and peace through His Word and our community, though. It was a short operation and the experienced doctor and nurses were also reassuring and helpful. Timothy immediately give his sister a snug hug upon seeing her emerge from the recovery area with me later and was happy to see Grace doing well. Thank you to those of you who encouraged and prayed for us through this experience!
We continue to enjoy Timothy’s chattiness and activity around here. I’m pretty blown away to hear him use so much new language quickly lately. He likes to practice sentences in both Chinese and English; it’s encouraging to see him understand both so well. We’re also amused to hear him practice his language and talk himself to sleep at night sometimes. Some of the other cute things he does right now involve his ukulele. He holds it upright to play like a cello with a wooden spoon as his bow and he loves to rock out on it as a little guitar like us. Timothy also wanted us to make a big cardboard cross (he calls it “wonderful cross”) so he could stand next to it and play instruments “like church”. He’s an intense drummer these days. On the domestic front, he’s busy letting us know he’s doing things just like Papa or Mama in the little play kitchen. Whether it’s making crepes (complete with generous pours from the maple syrup jug) or cutting up fruits and veggies on his little cutting board, it melts me sometimes to watch him working away like a little man! The children and I also visited Remlinger Farms in July with classmates from toddler group. Timothy enjoyed the little kid rides and rode a horse for the first time. While he was on horseback, we also watched the much larger horse in front of us drop a huge steaming pile, making that the most memorable part of riding horseback for him, of course. He also distinctly remembers the spot on our car where a bird left a present earlier this week when we returned to our car after a summer concert. And so the potty talk fixation begins… 😉
Papa Andrew is smitten with his lovely daughter so our photo gallery is quite large this month. =)
