If trees could scream

The Ari Report

Ari has been getting better about saying and waving bye--to everyone but me, still. Mary took her on some errands with her on Tuesday, and she said Ari was was waving and saying bye to everyone around. Last night, when we left for our nightly walk, she said bye to Tony. On our walk, and we ran into a couple neighbors of ours who were walking to Price Chopper. We all walked together for a little while, and when they left, we all said bye--of course, they said big goodbyes to Ari, and I encouraged Ari to say bye to them, but she just stared. A couple minutes later, when they were well out of earshot, Ari started chanting "bye bye bye bye," waving her hand both at herself and at no one in particular. You can definitely tell she's saying "bye" too--she loves to say the "b" sound, but last night, she was definitely saying "bye" not just "ba-ba" or "buh-buh."

Ari and I made a short excursion to Target last night, to get diapers, but since the diapers are so close to all the clothing, I couldn't resist the gravitational pull, and soon found myself perusing the clearance racks. I actually did look for a winter coat for her (which will soon be a necessity), but they only had a couple, and nothing really struck me. But the clearance rack marked 75% off? That definitely got my attention. And I got a couple steals. A pair of gray pants in size 2T--with an adjustable waist, which is a must for my skinny girl--for only $2.48. Then I got a 2-pair set of pajamas (2 T-shirts and 2 shorts) for $3.24. I couldn't pass up good deals like those. I even snagged a couple pairs of shorts for myself for less than $5 apiece. I know short-wearing season is over, but they'll be good for next summer.

I've been working on brushing Ari's teeth at bedtime, as part of our routine. Our doctor told us we could use either a toothbrush or a wet washcloth to clean her teeth, but now that she has all her molars in, it doesn't seem like a washcloth will do the job anymore. The first time I used the toothbrush with her (a few nights ago), I decided to take it slow, so she wouldn't freak out. I got it wet, then handed it to her to let her feel it and play with it. To my slight surprise, she put it in her mouth--a good sign. The second night, she did the same thing, and I grabbed onto the end of it and wiggled it around in her mouth a little. She squirmed and pulled away--but it was more like she was ticklish, not annoyed. Last night, I persisted a little more, and I'm pretty sure I got a couple good swipes at her molars. Again, she resisted a little--I think it was a combination of it feeling weird in her mouth, as well as "I want to do it myself" syndrome. I'm really pleased with our progress though. I was bracing myself for a battle, but she seems to be taking to this toothbrush idea really well. Now I just need to teach her to say "ahhh" and open up her mouth nice and wide so we can really get those chompers clean.

Other News

A friend of mine recently got deployed to Iraq. He and I actually graduated from high school together, and then he and I ended up at the same college, so Tony knows him and we both know his wife. Anyway, he's an Air Force chaplain, and this is his first "tour" (or whatever you call it) over there. His wife, also a friend of ours, has been sending out updates on how he's doing, etc.--which is really great. It's one thing to know you have a friend over there, but it makes it seem more real when you get regular updates on how things really are. She recently forwarded an e-mail from him that included a "wish list" of items they he and his men would like to receive. They have a place on base called the Airmen Ministry Center--a place where the guys can go and hang out, watch TV, play games, etc.--and my friend is looking for supplies to stock the place up. He mentioned specific things like those powdered drink mixes that you can add to water bottles, individually-wrapped snack foods, coffee and hot chocolate mix, toiletries, even CDs and DVDs, batteries, stationery, etc.

After I read the e-mail, I thought it sounded like a great project for our teen group, so I passed it onto Tony, and he talked to the teens about it last night in teen group. He said the teens sounded really excited about it--they plan to make up a letter to mail out to all the teens and their families, and they want to decorate a box in red, white and blue camouflage to collect donations. We've set a time limit on this project, and we hope to mail it out around the middle of October. I'm so excited about doing this, and I'm happy the teens are excited about it too. To me, this isn't about politics or whether or not you agree with the war--it's about helping out a bunch of guys who need some love from back home.

On a side note, it any of you, my dear readers, are interested in getting involved, I would be more than happy to pass on more information to you. You could either send items to me to include in our big package, or I could give you my friend's address and you could make up your own package.

Jack Handey QOTD:

If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.