Blessings on my birthday

 I just celebrated my 45th birthday.  We had cupcakes with candles and when I blew out my candles, Miles asked, "So did you make a wish?"

I lied and said yes, but really, I hadn't even thought about it.  I have nothing, really, that I wish for.  I'm content.  I thought about it and decided that I would take stock of all that I had and all that I was grateful for.  Here's my list:

1-    My body-  I had spinal meningitis at six months old and my mother feared that my body would fail me.  It didn’t, and for that, I am extremely grateful.  I am grateful at 45 years old to have a body that will still run for three miles, hike up a mountain, scale a rock face, play with my kids, dance with my husband, fight off disease, and appreciate so many pleasures of life.  My body has carried babies without too much complaint and performs the duties of modern life. 

2-    My husband, Jeff- I found the right man for the job.  A great father, a great friend, a partner in every sense of the word.  He has supported me in my joys and sorrows and knows how to cheer and comfort.  He thinks I’m more beautiful now than when I was 22.  I am so, so grateful.

3-    Miles- my first born, my beautiful boy, who taught me that parenthood explodes your heart and your world.  He is full of laughter and energy, fantasy and exploration.  He keeps me playing and pretending.

4-    Milagros- my last born, my miracle.  Just when I had given up hope, she came to me.  Headstrong, sweet, adorable and adoring, she adds so much to our family.  Thank you.

5-    All of my wonderful friends, near and far, those who are in contact all the time and those I don’t get to talk with as often as I would like- but especially Leeann Borton-Harvey.  She has been there holding my hand through the best and the worst, my sister-by-choice, an inspiration.  She is nothing less than awe-inspiring.  All her accomplishments make my jaw drop.  And she does it all with grace, humor, beauty, and compassion.

6-    My mom- She taught me how to be human, how to be compassionate, how to be a teacher, a cook, a mother, and a strong woman.  She encouraged my independence, even when it was scary for her. 

7-    My dad- He was a traditional breadwinner of his time.   He provided us with all of the opportunities he didn’t have himself.  While not the super-involved dad my husband is, he was unfaltering in his love for me and let me know it his entire life.  He could fix anything, build anything, and, when I was young, he was my superhero.  I miss him all the time.

8-    My oldest brother, Evan- He taught me how to play softball and touch football, he took me out to the college bars when I was just sixteen, he taught me that I could have a rational, amiable conversation about politics with someone who had a different viewpoint.  He was financially conservative but socially liberal, a kind hearted person who was curious about everyone.  I miss him all the time, too.

9-    My middle brother, Emil- A dry sense of humor wrapped in deep compassion, he is a great doctor, father, husband, and brother.  He is my remaining connection to the past that was my family. 

10-My job- I am so grateful to do something I really enjoy, that betters the world, that pays enough for my family and me to live in relative comfort and to never need for anything.  I also get summers to live my life and enjoy my family and friends. 

11-My great colleagues- I work with some pretty awesome people.  They are dedicated, wonderful teachers; they love their students (most of their students), and are really invested in working as a team.  We have administrators that treat us like professionals and support and value our work.  But most of all, I’m grateful for Sandy Pugliano who is my other half, doing the important literacy work we are both so passionate about.  She has taught me so much about leadership, vision, and organization (yes, really, Sandy!)

12-Being born in this time, in this place- As a white woman in the US, I have freedoms and privileges that are unthinkable in other times and places.  My world is not perfect, but I am quite aware of how blessed I am to be who I am, right here and right now.

13-Coffee- the elixir of the gods.

14-Modern medicine- I’m grateful for antibiotics and x-rays and laparoscopic surgery and C-sections for those who need them and MRI’s and mammograms and immunizations and all the other things that have saved millions and millions of lives.

15-Technology- While much of it is a time wasting pain in the ass, I’m grateful for the tools to keep those spread apart close together and the ability to pick and choose what I want to use to entertain my children and myself when I want to do so.  My cell phone is an extraordinary tool.

16-My ex-es- Yes, I am grateful for them, as they have all shaped who I am and have guided me into my happy relationship.

17-Being burglarized- While I don’t want it to happen again, being burglarized gave me a chance to try on my perspectacles.  Nothing that was taken couldn’t be replaced or given up without too much pain, no one was hurt, and it reinforced my belief that money is best invested in experiences that cannot be taken away from you.

18-Izabelle Rhea- my baby that left too soon.  Another experience that I would rather not ever repeat, she taught me that all people walk around with hurts that we can never know, so be kind.  Compassion and love took on new meaning when I lost her.

19- The ocean- I’m grateful for the life sustaining force that it is.  I’ve always found the ocean very healing and I also have great respect for the danger that is inherent in it.

20-Household appliances- What wonders the washing machine and dryer are to a parent!  What a miracle, the dishwasher!  Even the lowly coffee pot, mixer, and food processor are jaw dropping magic makers!

21- A really comfortable bed- We bought a Temper-Pedic a few years ago.  It’s one of the most expensive things we own and worth every penny. 

22-Music- A good song can turn my mood around.  How do societies exist without it?

23-Inexpensive, widely available books- I love my library but bookstores are my weakness.  I love a new book.

24-“This American Life,” “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me,” and “The Daily Show.”  Without these, I would have no knowledge of the outside world.  As far as I’m concerned, Jon Stewart is a god.

25-Chocolate- self-explanatory

WOW!

Oh, wow!  I just found out that the story I put up on the last post is going to be published in a book called, Three Minus One.  This book is a project that will hopefully help support and be a companion to a movie, "Return to Zero" about stillbirth and baby loss.  Please look for both the movie and the book.  I hope that it will open the conversation about pregnancy and infancy loss.

The Turn

One of the wonderful things about being a teacher is summer vacation.  But what many people don't know is that summer vacation is often filled with trainings for teachers.  Often, they are not particularly valuable, but I've just finished a writing workshop institute presented by Columbia University's Reading and Writing Project.  Absolutely fabulous.  While we learned to teach writing, we also had a chance to work on our own.  Here's a piece I wrote during that time.

The Turn

I leaned back on the uncomfortable exam table until I was flat on my back, exactly the position the doctors advise against when one is seven months pregnant.  The technician squirted the warm, viscous gel on my belly and began to move the sonogram wand around.

            “She’s still breech,” she announced. 

            I had been going to yoga class, practically living my life upside-down, trying to get this baby girl to turn head down.  My husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for three years, ever since Izabelle.  After more losses than I care to recall, we finally had a healthy pregnancy that seemed to be sticking.  But she was breech.  And I really didn’t want a C-section.  So I tried everything from inverted moves to playing music to shining a light at my belly. 

            “I know this is going to sound a little crazy,” said Sandy, my doula, “but let me suggest something.  You haven’t done anything to prepare for her.  Maybe this baby knows you’re not ready yet.”

            She was right.  We hadn’t decorated her room or washed her clothes or unpacked the new stroller we bought, even though our son begged for us to try it out.  Some voice in my head told me that if I didn’t acknowledge this baby, I’d be less anguished, less disappointed if something horrible happened. 

            So I invested.  That weekend, I bought a crib and asked my husband to put it together.  We got a changing table and I decorated the walls with butterfly and flower decals.  I washed her newborn clothes and put them in her closet.  As I folded those impossibly tiny pieces of clothing, I began to talk to her.

            “Baby girl, I have a story to tell you.  You had a sister, Izabelle Rhea, who once lived where you are now.  I was twenty-four weeks pregnant when I learned that her heart had stopped beating.  That was the most tragic day of my life and no one can explain why it happened.  I miss her so much but I’m so happy you have come to me.  You are not a replacement for your sister but you do complete our family.  With my age and all of the babies we have lost, doctors told me I’d never have another baby.  And yet, here you are.”  My face was wet with tears as I slowly and methodically ran my hands over my bulging belly.

            “So I’ve decided to name you Milagros Ziva, my brilliant miracle.  I love you so much already.  I’m looking forward to the moment when I can see your face and hold you close in my arms.”

            Something changed that weekend.  I suddenly felt lighter, like I could walk better, more comfortably.  I could also feel her hiccups lower in my abdomen.

            “That sounds about right,” my OB told me at our next appointment.  “Let’s see where she is.”

            And, there, on the sonogram, was my beautiful miracle, head down and ready to go.

The Road to a Miracle

It's been awhile!
I was just looking at the last post and Miles was such a baby.  Now he is a big kindergartener! 

It's been hard to know what to write about as the hearing issue is now a non-issue and it is hard for me to publicly brag about my family.  But I was inspired by another friend's blog to share my experience.  So here goes.

I posted on the blog about the death of our baby, Izabelle Rhea, stillborn at 24 weeks.  Since then we have had many pregnancies and many losses and I wanted to share my experience to end the silence around baby loss and to provide hope to those who might be going through something similar.

When we were given the green light after Izzy, we got pregnant again and were quietly hopeful.  We did the same prenatal testing that we had done with the other babies and were told at the nuchal translucency that we had a very high risk for Down Syndrome.  We then went ahead with the CVS and the results came back positive. 

What I am about to disclose is not open for comment or debate.  We chose to terminate the pregnancy.  This was not an easy decision for me.  I wanted this baby so very much but I had to think about the effect on the whole family, not just what I wanted.  I knew from experience the amount of doctor time, the therapies, the intervention from a minor disability like Miles'.  I couldn't imagine the chaos that would ensue with a baby with greater disabilities.  And I couldn't face the risk that carrying such a pregnancy might mean- greater chance of stillbirth, greater chance of death during childbirth, greater chance of heart conditions.  And then there was the responsibility I would be asking Miles to take on when Jeff and I die.  So we terminated.  And I grieved.

We decided to take a few months to heal, emotionally and physically, and then try again.  We became pregnant quickly but this time it ended in a miscarriage.

We tried again.  (By this time, I was almost 41.)  All seemed to be going well.  At my 8 week appointment, my doctor didn't find a heartbeat and told me to expect to start bleeding in a week or so.  A week later, nothing was happening and I was just feeling sicker and sicker.  So I called back, went in for a blood test and received some scary news.  The doctor believed it was either ectopic or a molar pregnancy.  I quickly went back and a molar pregnancy was diagnosed.  For those who don't know what a molar pregnancy is, it is when the sperm meets up with an egg that does not have a nucleus.  The sperm then multiplies its own DNA and grows in a grape cluster like fashion.  It can have devastating results.  Once removed, it can grow back in a cancerous form.  Often women of my age are suggested to have hysterectomies.  The doctor who examined me told me that I would never have another baby. 

The surgery was scheduled and the results were good.  I then had to wait one year before I could even think of pregnancy.  Six months later, after reaching a zero HCG without intervention, I did some research and then went to see a fertility specialist about the possibility of another baby.  As I was waiting for her to come into the exam room, I realized it was the anniversary of Izzy's birth.  I was emotional.  After taking a look at my ovaries, she told me there was absolutely no reason I should not be able to have another baby.  She prescribed some progesterone for the last half of my cycle and sent me on my way.  I also decided to start acupuncture again.  I had some set backs- one ectopic pregnancy that was easily taken care of with some methotrexate and two very early miscarriages. 

This post wouldn't be called "Road to a Miracle" if it didn't have a happy ending.  In October of 2011, right after Halloween, we got a positive pregnancy test.  I went in soon for blood tests and then ultrasounds.  I knew not to expect much at 5 weeks but there, on the screen, was a fluttering little heartbeat.  And it was still there at 6 weeks, and 7, and 8.  I was transferred to a regular OB and got some extra screening with the Maternal Fetal Health folks.  Lots of appointments.  Lots of ultrasounds.  I was meeting with the MFH doctor for the first time, when, again, I realized it was Izzy's Day.  We did the AFP and the nuchal translucency.  It came back with 1 in 600 chance of Down Syndrome and 1 in 1000 chance for any other chromosomal abnormality.  Those are excellent for a woman of my age.  We also did an amnio and all came back normal.  Of course, there was drama.  I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, she was breech until 34 weeks, and I had PUPPS, a horrible pregnancy related rash, that lasted the last three or four months of the pregnancy.  It was all worth it.

Introducing Milagros "Millie" Ziva, born July 28, 2012, one and a half months before I turned 43.  Milagros means miracles and Ziva means brilliance.

Because of my gestational diabetes, the doctors told me they would induce labor if I didn't give birth before her due date.  Though I was having contractions, I ended up being scheduled for induction just as she hit 40 weeks.  I asked if the doctor would start with breaking my amniotic sac to see what would happen and, since I was about 3 cm. dilated already, she did.  Almost immediately I was in full labor mode.  Jeff called my doula and I was laboring in the tub by the time she got there.  Soon I felt like it was time to check how dilated I was.  A nurse checked and I had one more centimeter to go.  They told me not to push but that was incredibly hard to do.  When I got the go-ahead, I tried one push lying on my side but that didn't work for me so they got me up and onto the birthing stool my doula, Sandy, had brought.  Once I was there, with gravity working with me, Milagros came right out.  The labor took three hours from when they broke my water until they pronounced the birth.  6 PM on the dot.

Millie is now 4 and a half months old and a wonderful baby!  She is smiling and laughing.  Miles is a very proud big brother and liking her much more now that she can interact with him.  She's crying less which he also likes.

And Finally...

Some more cute photos and video from the summer:

 

Digging in the Garden

My husband was also productive this summer.  Mostly, he was working on his online program (www.sonicfit.com), a music theory and ear training program, but he also dug up all the ugly stuff in the garden and planted pretty new flowers, an herb garden and tomatoes.  We got a new gas grill and got rid of the small climber that Miles never used anymore.  Miles had a great time getting in on the digging.

The Summer of Ignored Promises and Other Ways of Being Productive

At the beginning of the summer, I swore that I would make full usage of my gym membership, blog more and get back to my love of cooking.  Well, I did none of those things and yet I feel like the summer was a success.  Instead, I got back to my love of rock climbing, cleaned out our garage and did a lot of bodywork (acupuncture and massage).

Miles was also a terrific reminder of so many fun things that I had put to the side when I got married and had a kid.  He saw a video of scuba divers and wanted so much to be able to do that.  I told him that he was too young as of now (he's not even really swimming yet) but that we would get some snorkeling equipment and he could do that.  Getting him his own equipment inspired me to get out my old scuba gear.  I showed him how to swim down with the snorkel and clear out his breathing tube.  He really took to it and is very comfortable floating with his face in the water, breathing through the snorkel.

He has also shown interest in rock climbing.  When we go anywhere that has an easily climbable rock, he is quick to want to scramble up.  So I made plans with a rock climbing friend to take him to the gym and give him his first experience with all the gear.  I'm really excited!  I hope he loves it!

We had our first camping expedition to Big Basin Redwood State Park.  Miles has been wanting to go camping since he first read "Fred and Ted Go Camping" over a year ago.  We planned just one night so that if he liked it, we would leave him wanting more and, if he didn't like it, we wouldn't be tortured by an unhappy child.  The results were fantastic.  While he really didn't like the windy drive to the park, he loved the whole camping experience, including hiking/biking the trails, making a campfire, toasting marshmallows and wearing glow sticks at night.  We are planning to go again before the summer is over, maybe even bringing along a friend and his family.

As we got to the park and were heading to the park headquarters to check in, something prompted Miles to say, "Mommy, I love you so much."  Of course, I told him how much I loved him.  This interchange was overheard by a woman walking by who turned and said, "Oh, that is so cute!"  I could only nod my head.  That's my boy.

Final Placement!

Since I have been so remiss with posting, I see that I never mentioned Miles' IEP meeting with our school district.  After all the assessments, which took forever to get done as everyone was on summer vacation, I got a phone call from the Special Ed. department letting me know that Miles was not going qualify for going to the county's hard of hearing preschool program.  This was a moment of both joy and panic as it meant that he was doing so well that he didn't need the program but it also meant that we now had to scramble to find a preschool for him.  Luckily, we were able to find a local program that we liked.  We had to take three days a week until they had a full time spot open up but we were able to coordinate with our daycare provider from the year before.

The IEP meeting caused me no end of stress as it started with the determination of whether or not he even qualified for special ed. services.  In my mind, I was screaming, "WHAT?!? Do you not see the hearing aids he wears in his ears???  Do you think we do this for fun???"  But finally someone said that he would not be able to meet his full potential without support, so he qualified.  Then the director told me that to receive speech services through the district, we would have to bring him to the school during school hours.

"Do you not understand that we are both teachers?  How are we supposed to do that?"

Happily, the speech therapist that would be working with Miles said that she would arrange a way to come to his preschool to work with him there.  And she has.  Miles loves her and has made enormous progress.

While I'm pleased with how things turned out, I'm annoyed that they couldn't work out the details any earlier.  When the whole process began, we asked that decisions be made earlier rather than later as Jeff and I had to be able to hit the ground running once the school year began.

All in all, Miles is thrilled with his new school, he is making lots of hearing friends and is doing great!

Been so long...

A friend commented that I've been off the blogging wagon.  True enough.
I originally started this a blog to talk about the issues of raising a child who is hard of hearing but Miles has made such progress that it is almost a non-issue.

That is, if you don't count the trips to the audiologist, the worry over ear wax and ear infections, IEP's and inattentive Special Ed Departments.  But, really, it has been smooth sailing.  Miles is starting to be very aware of pronouncing his "s" sound and is working so hard.  He is almost 95% intelligible by strangers and his vocabulary is coming along nicely.

So I guess now I get to turn this into another blog about how wonderful my family is.

I have been surprised by how much of a boy Miles is turning into.  These days, he is all about setting things on fire and putting them out, making things explode and shoot out.  We recently went to a birthday party at Pump It Up (a party venue that has inflatable jumpy houses, slides and other entertainment.)  While the girls were all about the slides, the boys were all about these air cannons that were there.  The cannons were air powered and shot out these Nerf type balls that wouldn't cause any damage if one were hit.  Miles would have spent the entire two hours in there.  We finally convinced him to give the slides a try and, after some trepidation, he was hooked.

He is also all about the roller coasters.  We went to Disneyland this spring and he made his mama's heart sing by taking quickly to the "big" roller coasters.  Now that he is 40 inches tall, he can ride on Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain.  He had no fear.  I was amused to see that it was rides like Roger Rabbit that freaked him out.

But he is also his daddy's boy.  We went to see Jeff conduct a local choir recently and it was the first time in awhile that Miles got to see his daddy in action.  Miles was really impressed and surprised me by being a great audience member through a full hour of performance.  When we got home, he wanted me to conduct him singing and then wanted to switch roles.  When Jeff arrived home, Miles wanted to try on Jeff's tuxedo.

My Most Wonderful Husband

Right around the Fourth of July, Jeff was going to take Miles to the farmer's market.  As they got ready to go, Miles pulled out his hearing aids, telling Jeff, "I want to be like you, I want to be like you." 

Hearing this just about broke my heart.  But Jeff didn't skip a beat.

"You are just like me.  You look just like me.  You love music like I do.  You have blond hair like I do.  But I wear glasses and you wear hearing aids."

I love that man more and more each day.

Here I Am!

I have been very remiss in my blogging.  It must mean that life is getting good.  Or just very busy.
In April, my brother came into town.  He lives in Hong Kong and the last time I saw him, my father was dying.  Before this trip, he and his wife had yet to meet Miles.  That gives you an idea on how long ago it was.  He came to the Bay to run in the Big Sur International Marathon.

We met up with Evan on Thursday when he came to our house for dinner.  Miles and I met him in the driveway where he proceeded to become one of Miles' favorite people by giving him a present, a colorful octopus from Sri Lanka (my brother travels the world).  Miles showed off his biking skills by riding down to the park and then impressed Evan with his strong throwing arm by tossing back some softballs from the girls practicing on the baseball fields.  Evan secured his position as "great uncle" by throwing Miles around and tickling him until he was red in the face.

We got to see both Evan and Cheryl again on Saturday when we drove down to Carmel where they were staying for the marathon the following day.  Miles was thrilled to go to the beach, though it wasn't as warm as the day we went to Santa Cruz.  We walked on the shore, explored the pretty downtown and then went to Point Lobos for a hike and some baby harbor seal watching.  The mamas were out having their pups and warming themselves in the sun.

On our way home, we stopped in Santa Cruz at a Mexican restaurant we have been to with friends.  There was a table of women next to us who, by their conversation, were obviously teachers.  As they got up to leave they stopped to fawn over Miles.  One commented on his hearing aids and said that she was a teacher at a school that had deaf and hard of hearing program.  I asked her which one.  She said, "Oh, it's in Santa Clara," which made me ask again, "Which one?"  When she told me the name of her school, I said, "That's the school we're hopefully going to send him to for preschool."  Of course, that set off a long conversation about the program and how wonderful the teachers are.

As a side note, Miles' Early Start teacher had to be a little aggressive to get the assessment process into play.  I'm hoping we don't get closed out but they are sending someone to begin the evaluations in about two weeks.  Space in this program is surprisingly limited.

We went to see the ENT at the end of April as Miles was showing fluid in one of his ears again.  Both tubes were working their way out of his ears so we needed to do the whole process again.  While we were there, I mentioned how loudly he snored and that he seemed to always have a runny nose.  "Ah, sounds like adenoids.  We could do the scope but we might as well just do it while he's out during the surgery."

Mid-May, we went to Lucille Packard Children's Hospital where Miles got himself a new pair of ear tubes and was unburdened of his abnormally large adenoids.  He now sleeps silently and there is no sign of snot!

Mama's Boy turns into Daddy's Boy

Miles has always been a mama's boy. For the first months, he got all his nourishment from me so this made complete sense. We started to notice that Miles believed that Daddy was for fun and Mommy was for comfort. Then there came a time when Jeff would go to attend to Miles' needs and he would send him away, wanting me. He would want me to carry him even if Jeff offered to, he would want to hold my hand or sit in my lap, even if Jeff was there.

But there is a new shift in his personality. Two days ago, as we all got home from work and daycare, I watched Miles follow after Jeff as we marched around to the front of the house. Jeff absentmindedly pulled a piece of ivy leaf off the fence as he walked. Miles, walking behind him, did the exact same thing, imitating his daddy.

Later in the evening, Jeff was using the electric drill/screwdriver to get some screws out of a piece of wood and, of course, Miles wanted to watch. Jeff warned him not to get too close as the drill could be dangerous and showed him where he had cut his finger. As we went upstairs to get ready for bed, Miles went straight to his little tool kit, got out the drill, and started "working" on his crib. Then he showed me his "ouwie" where he too "cut himself with the drill."

The funniest thing is that Miles is now starting to make the distinction between boys and girls. He knows that he has a penis and daddy has a penis. The other day he asked me if I had one. So begins the birds and the bees conversations...

Hearing test

We went for Miles' mid-year hearing test today. His hearing is generally stable but he has some fluid in his right ear which knocks that ear from mild-moderate to moderate-severe. The tubes we had put in last year in February are starting to come out, the right one may be completely out, so now we have to go through the whole process again; ENT then possibly another tube surgery.
We also had his first transition meeting for preschool yesterday. We are pushing for an oral/auditory program they have in Santa Clara but we'll have to see if there is room. I'm willing to consider other options but everyone involved has agreed that the district's special education preschool would be inappropriate for Miles.

Moments of Spontaneity

Some of the best moments in my life have been spontaneous; moments of little planning and big exploration or learning or discovery.

Jeff's 40th birthday was last Sunday. I had tried to press him into some kind of celebration. Dinner with friends? A party? But, while he wanted to mark the occasion, he didn't really want to make a big deal of it. So I was very pleased when he woke up Sunday and said, "I want to go to the beach. Miles, you want to go to the ocean?"
And, of course, Miles was game.

We packed up what we thought we would need and headed south to Santa Cruz. Equipped with stroller, sunscreen, a little food and drink, bathing suits and a credit card, we set off, not quite sure where we were headed except to the ocean.


It was a marvelous day, sunny, not too hot but definitely warm. When we got there, we followed the crowd to the Boardwalk and checked out the rides that would be appropriate for Miles. But when he saw the ocean, Miles knew what he wanted to do. We headed down to the beach, took off our shoes and headed into the ocean to get our feet wet. At first, Miles was unsure that he really wanted to get wet. After a few times of dipping in his toes as the waves rolled in, he was ready to change into his bathing suit and get in. He had a great time running in and out of the waves with Jeff and there was a lot of laughing and splashing. As we got wet in the ocean, we walked along the beach towards the pier. It was about lunch time so we made it onto the pier and looked for a place where we could grab a quick seafood lunch. We ate outside in the sun and then got Miles in the stroller for a little snooze.

We walked up the hill to where we could watch the surfers while Miles slept. When he woke, we continued up the coast to where there was a paddleboard competition. Then we headed back down the hill to the Boardwalk where Miles got a chance to pilot his own helicopter. I wasn't sure that he was going to be happy having to ride on his own but he was smiling ear to ear as he figured out how to make the helicopter go up into the air.

With all areas of fun covered, we headed home for dinner. Miles took a bath, we ate leftovers for dinner and then finalized Jeff's birthday with some cake and a candle. It was one of those days that I will hold dear for a long time.

Miles and the Firefighters

Last Saturday we were looking for something fun to do so we decided to have a picnic dinner in the park. We rode our bicycles down to a local park then Jeff went to pick up some food to eat while we were there. During our time at the park, a few firetrucks went by with lights flashing and Miles went running after them, so excited to see the trucks in action.

As time went on and the sun began to set, we decided it was getting cold and dark so we should head for home. We started getting back on our bicycles and Jeff and Miles were ready to go before I was. As I was putting on my helmet and rolling up my jeans, the trucks were heading back in the other direction, lights off now. Jeff asked if it was OK with me that they zoom off ahead to see if they could watch the trucks pulling into the station, only a few blocks away.

When I caught up to them at the station, the trucks were back and the guys were outside, talking with a firefighter who invited us in to see the station and get on the truck. To our surprise, Miles said that he didn't want to (I think he was a little overwhelmed by the idea). The firefighter suggested that we come back in the morning when it was warmer and Miles had gotten some sleep, promising that whoever was there would be happy to show us around and let us take some pictures.

We got a few blocks away and, of course, Miles changed his mind and wanted to go back so we talked him through what would happen the following day. We were surprised he went to sleep, he was so excited.

But the following day came, and after doing a bit of grocery shopping, we rode our bicycles back to the fire station where two of the nicest guys showed us the different trucks and engines, showed Miles the equipment that firefighters wear during a fire and talked with us for awhile about how they do their shifts. They gave him a new helmet, a few stickers and a coloring book. We are all huge fans of the fire department!
Here are some videos of the day: