Be careful what you wish for, again

Language skills have always been a big component of Leah's IEPs. This year's goals include some remedial conversation skills. It can be an arduous job to convince Leah to talk when she doesn't have to; asking questions is a fairly recent phenomenon. ("What's that?" was cause for celebration.) The ability to put together two or three exchanges with another person might tactfully be described as an emerging skill.

In Hamilton fashion, this skill is choosing to emerge in unusual ways. A little while back, Leah and one of her therapists came upstairs after a session. I chatted with Monica for a few minutes while Leah pulled out a stuffed Maisy she has had since she was a baby. Maisy comes and goes, forgotten for chunks of time before finding favor again, usually right about when Leah's sixth sense tells her we are thinking about including Maisy in our next trip to the Salvation Army. Monica, whose home is not yet overrun with small children and enormous quantities of toys, was unfamiliar with Maisy. (If you've ever seen the cartoon version on Noggin, you might agree with the adage that ignorance is bliss.) So she asked Leah, "Who's that?" Leah replied, "That's Maisy." Monica commented that she had never heard of Maisy, and I was beginning to tell her about the children's books and aforementioned Noggin show, when Leah decided to continue the conversation. She told Monica, "Maisy's picking her nose."

When we were done laughing, I noticed that Leah had, indeed, positioned Maisy's hand on the black tip of her nose. Touche.

Rookie no more

Kevin takes this uncle thing to heart. He gave Maddie some jamming pointers when she got her new guitar for Christmas:


... He showed flair as a puppeteer later on:


... And, in the ultimate act of family love, did not appear to mind when two four-year-olds planted themselves on his lap while he was trying to have a few quality moments of communion with his Nintendo DS:


However, for pure goofiness, he could still pick up a few pointers from Auntie Heather:


Who constructed this stunning self-portrait/piece of performance art/tribute to bows with the scraps from Christmas morning. Martha Stewart (who, with a bevy of assistants, could have turned these into an elegant, festive centerpiece) would be quietly horrified.

The real marital aid ...

Heather thought this shirt could save Colin a lot of breath. Looks like Julie agreed with the wardrobe choice ...

... though Julie was the first to use it when she gave Colin two copies of the same book!