Family Benefit

We are hours from our kinfolk family, but we're also surrounded by family. Dad has felt the "family" for a while now. Mom felt the family today.

I already told about the benefit lunch. (gray shirt & cowboy hat in the photo is the firefighter whose family the benefit was for) Well this afternoon, we dropped David off with some of the family. Another firefighter's family who wasn't able to go to the benefit kept David so that we could go. I'm not sure how well he did... but either he did ok, or they didn't tell us everything. He was fussy, screamed during their church service, and I heard him screaming when I got to the door to pick him up! It's probably good for Mom & David both to get a break from each other, though. We haven't really been apart in a while.

When we first arrived back at the Pub, it was not my cup of tea. I just don't see the attraction of going to a very small building that is over crowded with people spilling beer and blowing smoke in your face. The music when we got there was OK, but between the music and all the people - and it was packed! - you couldn't hear each other talk with out screaming into the other's ear. Maybe you wonder why I went in the first place. Because it was family.

Not sure which band was playing when we arrived. When their set ended, the cake auction began. It felt a lot like the FFFF back home. There were probably at least 50 cakes, and they all sold for at least $25 each. Several sold for over $200 each! This is when the feeling of family started creeping in. Nobody in their right mind wants to eat a $200 cake, but this wasn't about eating cake. Many of the cakes that were sold were donated back. Dad helped a group of FF haul cakes over to the Salvation Army after the auction.


In the next set of music, a band whose members are FF played - The Strays. (photo left) They were pretty good, too! We finally relocated to a better spot by the front door - much cooler with a draft coming in the door, which also helped blow the smoke away from us. And actually, there's weren't too many people smoking. From this point on, I really enjoyed the evening!




When they were done, there was another auction for some goods that had been donated - stone crosses, artwork and metal art. Again, Dad helped by holding up a very heavy metal artwork while the bidding took place. The largest metal piece sold for $750!




The next set included another FF band, Clearwater. (photo left) They were awesome! Steel guitar, electric fiddle (that guy was AMAZING) - they played a little swing, some Bob Wills, some Texas country, Great Balls of Fire, and a few other styles. Very, very talented musicians - and they tore it up on their finale!!! Next up was a pair of college students who regularly play at the Pub, then a guy from Mineral Wells who regulars as well.

At this point, Mom had to go pick up David. We got Dad something to eat & brought it to him. It was too loud, too smoky and too rowdy to take David inside at that point, so Dad met us outside. The stage is just inside the door, so we stood outside where David could see Gary P. Nunn playing his guitar. While standing outside, Pub workers moved the cones directly in front and a large bus carrying Charlie Robison pulled up out front. He's married to one of the Dixie Chicks & we wondered if she might be inside, too! In a few minutes, Johnny Bush & his wife pulled up in his mini-van.

Well, Mom took David home and Dad got to stay for the rest of the concert, so here's his report: Gary P. Nunn was followed by Johnny Bush, who sang Green Snakes on the Ceiling. Charlie Robison concluded the evening with El Cerrito Place, New Years on the Border, My Hometown, and Lights of Loving County. (photo left) The other FF (from all 3 shifts, but mostly B-shift) were horsing around with each other having a good time. This is the first time I've gotten to socialize with most of them off-duty. A few staff from the ER and AirMed1 were also present.

Mom again: I met firefighters & their wives, saw some I knew already, met hospital staff that Dad also works with (mostly ER people) and met some retired firemen. It was the first time someone wanted to shake my hand because I was married to a firefighter. While it was cool to have the big acts show up, it wasn't about them - the house was packed to show support for a fireman's family. And I felt like these people would have come out if it had been us who needed the help.

UPDATE: Dad reports that over $10,000 was raised for the family!

Sunday Morning

David's teachers put a note in his bag each time he goes to church. It tells us what he ate for snack, diaper changes and has a place for comments. This morning's note said, "David has improved so much since his first day! We love watching him." I was so proud!

After church, David had another first. We went to a "pub" for lunch. It was a fish fry benefit to help a fellow B-shift firefighter (and his teacher wife) with medical bills due to his infant daughter's rare blood disease. She will be starting chemo soon and I don't believe that is available in this town. David enjoyed the neon lights, pool balls and liked the catfish even more than the french fries!!! (after it cooled off)

The food was so hot when it came, I was breaking stuff up & blowing on it while David was frantically signing that he wanted more to eat. I'd blow & blow, dip it in ketchup, give it to him. He'd pop it in his mouth & you could tell it was still hot as he chewed with his mouth open really wide, (reminded me of Grandmama eating hot food), all the while signing "more, more". We finally got him full after everything cooled!

There were tons of firemen families there. Fire trucks & ambulances pulled up to pick up lunches to take back to the stations. And there were lots of other people there, too. I was pleased to notice from all the dressed up folk that the location did not deter the church crowd from coming out to support the family. I think it would have where we used to live. I heard an older lady say this was the first time she'd ever been in a bar. Well, I can't say as I remember ever going to a bar, either!

We're back home for naptime, now. Mom & Dad go back for the benefit concert later this afternoon. David is going to stay with an A-shift firefighter & his wife and their 3 year old son.

A Fireman's Wedding

Tonight, David attended his second wedding - Michael & Sandra. (David's first wedding was when he was about 2 months old.) Michael was in Dad's rookie class at the FD. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures of them. Here's their first dance.



David did really well. He ate almost an entire McDonald's cheeseburger before we arrived!!! He enjoyed running around during the reception. He was especially drawn to the dance floor, with it's bright flashing lights, and he really loved the mints... the blue ones, green ones and pink ones. He wouldn't eat the white and yellow ones (which looked almost white). Alan said the white ones were a little bit stronger flavored, so I guess David knew what he was doing!

This is Casey (another one from their class & who we lived with for a while) and Jerica. They also sat at our table. They're getting married in September.

What fireman's wedding wouldn't be complete without a fire truck? Well, this one wasn't planned! Well into the reception, the fire alarms started going off. This was in a hotel - all the alarms in the hotel were going off! Michael looked to Dad & Casey. They all just kinda threw their hands up in the air! (They've never had this happen while they were off-duty!) The hotel was evacuated & it was a false alarm, but Engine 5 made the call to check it out. Dad did help with the evacuation. He propped exits open, then walked through the main part of the hotel to look for any visible sign of fire. David got excited when he saw the fire truck coming. It was dark outside, so the lights were really eye-catching. He waved real big as the truck pulled in. By this time it was about 9:30, so we just came on home. What excitement! Plus it was a different ceremony anyway - Mormon/Catholic.

My Handsome Alpha-Bit Boy

Here's David doing a little touch & feel reading, while looking so handsome in another adorable outfit from Aunt Jana!




And enjoying his Alpha-Bits...


In case anyone doubted my previous comment, I took the following picture, comparing actual Alpha-Bits to those on the box!

Deformed Cereal

Finally back on to post more pictures!

We've been staying busy the last few days. We've decorated the porch with sidewalk chalk, played outside, and Mom is trying to become a speech therapist, so we've done lots of practice on that, too! It's very tiring work, by the way, for an introvert.


David has this thing about Alpha-Bits... He loves them more than Cheerios, BUT he prefers the whole letters. I don't know if you've seen Alpha-Bits lately, but they're not the cute little ABC's you see on the commercial!!! They're deformed with lots of broken pieces. Sometimes you can tell what the letter is supposed to be. And David prefers those.




At this point, when my big boy was trying to help himself to more, he still had a plateful of broken pieces!









Here's an update on the flower that was opening earlier this week. It is so magnificently fragrant!!!

He's grown so much...

Here is David entertaining himself while getting a poopy diaper changed. My normal comment: Isn't he adorable????






Can you believe that? (from July 29, 2004) I wish more of the changing table was showing, so you could see a bigger difference. David has always enjoyed the time he spends on the changing table. Now, he's almost too long to fit on it anymore!





This outfit Aunt Jana gave him for Christmas is absolutely adorable! I love the shirts with monkeys on them. When I told him "monkey" and pointed to his shirt, he patted it & pulled it out so he could see it better while grinning ear to ear! It was so cute!

Beautiful Spring Day

Does it seem confusing to tell a toddler that 15 different flowers are all called "flower" when they don't look anything alike?!?! Anyway, this one is now opening up in the front flower bed. Luckily, it was out of David's reach. I think this is a regular hyacinth just starting to open.




While David was napping, I snuck out into the back yard to see if the vinca was blooming more. I still think these little blooms are pretty.









Fluff patiently waited for me to fill his water bowl. Someone had turned it upside down yesterday! Isn't he a handsome cat?






Aunt Wee, you were right... can you see the aphids in the photo? There's also a ladybug, who was acting really excited, too! I hope he's got some more family & friends around somewhere! We'll have really fat ladybugs!

Flowers & Guitar - Is he a hippy?

Just realized I didn't get any pictures of that adorable face today. Sorry about that. You'll have to live with the adorable rest of him! : ) Anyway, here is David examining the new grape hyacinths in the front flowerbed. These are not the bulbs from Grandmama's house - those stayed in the ground at the old house. I put these out last fall. This particular flower is now about half that size...

This evening, I said, "David is in charge of the bird seed." Dad replied, "How is David in charge of the bird seed?" Well, he helps pour the seeds into this feeder, then he plays with the seeds every time we go out the front door. Before walking away, he always touches the yellow center of that white flower you can see right beside his head! Then I leave the blinds up about a foot and when we hear the birds on the porch we can watch them through the window. Sparrows, house finches, and doves eat on our porch. The cats also enjoy the view.

How cute is this??? David enjoys watching Dad practice his guitar and Dad lets him play it some, too.


At left, Dad was holding the chords and David was strumming the strings. He seemed to be enjoying a different chord every time he strummed! Just before I took this one, David switched to pushing the strings down like Dad.

My Little Pianist

I can't think of David ever having seen anyone play a real piano before. He's got one of those xylophone ones with 5 keys on it. But when he sat in front of this piano, he put both of his little hands on the keyboard like he knew what he was doing! He both banged and picked at the keys.

My ears were surprised when I heard him hitting the highest C, then the lowest C over & over. On his little xylophone, he would do the same thing with the highest note & the lowest note. Then he started playing the higher F#. He played that note a few times, then looked at the keyboard for a few seconds, then without wavering, played the lower F#. Coincidence??? I don't know....

Notice in the photo above where his right hand is... Now, below, look where his other hand is! If you're not familiar with the keyboard, he's got both hands on the set of 3 black keys in both octaves.


Now, if you know David, you know he's very bright (of course) and very loving, but he doesn't talk much. The speech therapist at WTRC wants to put him in group therapy once a week, but she didn't know of a group to put him in, so it may take a while to get together. We've set up a screening with ECI for another evaluation. That initial meeting will take place on March 13 because she was on spring break next week.

Please, do not post a comment that says, "Don't worry, he'll start talking when he's ready." And especially do not tell me, "He'll start talking soon enough, then you'll wish he would shut up." Heard them... You're not having an original thought if that's what you're thinking. I have decided that when David starts talking, I will not wish he would shut up, I will be thankful for every word he says. Now I may have to remind myself that every so often, but that's my decision.

I just finished reading a book called Late-Talking Children by Thomas Sowell. I'd recommend it to anyone who has a speech delayed child that you can tell is otherwise very bright. I'd also recommend it to anyone who knows/loves a child like that - therefore I'm recommending it to everyone who reads this blog. I found it at the library. David seems to fit into the pattern he found among these children. I've also started teaching him more sign language, which he's doing pretty well at picking up. I'm thankful for the class that Momma & I took in ASL at TSTC that summer (and that I still had the book!).

You're also welcome to go to this page to read more comments from other parents of late talkers if you think I'm getting carried away with this. I know David is smart. I do not think anything is wrong with him. But being around other kids his age, I've seen the difference. And by reading these other people's comments, I see that I'm not alone.

Are they all this cute?

Sometime I look at him and get overcome by how adorable he is. Do all parents feel this way? Did my parents feel this way when I was his age?

Tonight we went to Wednesday night church for the first time since David has been born! Mom went to Dobson's "Essentials of Discipline" class and David went to his class in the same room with the same teachers as Sunday morning. They said he did wonderfully!

We stopped by to visit Dad at the fire station on the way home. He was excited from a 2-alarm structure fire he'd just gotten home from! And we taped him on the 10pm news again!

I can't believe I have no comments on the Enchanted Rock entry!!