Joy of Love – 3 – Then and Now
Yes, it’s the eighth of the month and I’m just getting to #3 in my photography lesson. I really am not a good “project” person, although there is a reason for this delay that goes beyond simple procrastination and life getting in the way.
Today’s, well, the third lesson in this project was “then and now”. Since today is exactly one year from the day when I first saw Etta’s face, obviously, she is the subject of today’s project.
A year ago I received Etta’s referral! Oscar and I were at the Anaheim airport waiting for our flight home from Disneyland and when I went to check to see that my phone was off I noticed that I had missed calls from my agency. Part of the reason for our quick trip away was that I was going stir crazy from waiting for a referral I had thought would come months ago, so it was a shock to see that I had missed the call not once, but twice. I hurriedly called my coordinator back and was just able to download this photo, which I stared at for the entire flight.
And here she is today (or yesterday, actually) . . . to say she’s changed a little is an understatement. Isn’t she the cutest little girl ever?*
*I’ll accept answers in the negative only to concede she may be tied for cutest girl ever with your little girl.
Our Multipurpose Celebration
So much for my posting while we were away. Turns out that Disneyland with two toddlers and two grandparents in tow was more eventful than anticipated. I barely even managed to snap a dozen pictures.
We ran off last week for a whirlwind tour of the happiest place on earth. Grandma and Grandpa came out from the frozen tundra of Oklahoma, somehow managing to quickly get rescheduled onto a flight when their first attempt to get here was derailed by the blizzard. Literally minutes after they arrived at the house, we jumped into a minivan and started our seven hour drive to Anaheim. The kids were amazing, especially Oscar. Etta had a tougher time, since she’s not a big fan of television, so we couldn’t entertain her with Olivia or other cartoons. When we got to the hotel, Etta was ready for bed, but Oscar kept screaming that he wanted to go to “house!” Took me forever to realize that he was demanding to go to Mickey Mouse’s house, which is how we had described going to Disneyland.
Both Oscar and Etta loved their weekend getaway. Etta is a bit young for many of the rides, of course, but did she ever love Small World. Actually, I think that was both of the kids’ favorite ride in the park. Oscar expanded his horizon this year and added Mark Twain’s big boat ride to his list of favorites, as well as Nemo’s submarine (shocking, since he seemed to hate it when we were on it, but raved about it to a little boy we met at dinner). His go to rides from last year, the rocket ship and Dumbo, are still up there with Small World. His Disney experience, though, was far, far different this year from last year.
I don’t think I’ll ever really understand how Oscar used to experience the world. He obviously can’t explain it, but now that he can actually see and has the words to express a bit of what he’s seeing, it’s becoming clear that his life is significantly different than it was a year ago. Even if I hadn’t been able to see how engaged he was, the sheer number of times he said “wow, look at THAT” would have tipped me off.
I’ll spare you the images of a terrified Etta looking in horror at what, to her, must have appeared to be two gigantic rats and massive squirrels attempting to grab her and show you Etta being silly.
We had a fabulous trip to Mickey Mouse’s house, where we were able to celebrate Papa and Grandma’s 45th wedding anniversary, almost three full years of my being a mom, Oscar surviving my parenting for that long and something so important it deserves its own post, so you’ll have to wait for it. I only wish we had been able to stay another day.
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Etta’s Hats
Where I’ve Been
