The One About The Arm

After nearly eleven years of a unique parkour lifestyle with questionable skills for risk assessment, our sweet boy experienced his first ever bone fracture.  His ulna and radius are broken.  Given his extremely high tolerance for pain, we were not entirely sure how hurt he was, but several X-rays confirmed the need for setting the bones under anesthesia.  He's now in a splint for a week, followed by a check-up and then a cast.  He's expected to make a full recovery with healthy bones that will continue to grow.  True to form when not feeling well, he's resting calmly as he allows his body to do its healing.

Singing Her Song

Home school has been at its finest here with a birds nest (despite my best efforts to discourage them) in our front door wreath.  Apparently our covered porch is desirable real estate in the avifauna of our tree-lined street.  Little one has enjoyed observing the process from egg to bird close up which is great... even though I'll probably have to repaint our door when this is all said and done and the chicks have flown the coop.

Little one is known to process what she has learned in her own hands-on ways and she recently drew an entire bird family and then crafted them a nest in a little basket that she carried around with her for a while.  At the same time we were learning about the needs of all living things, such as water, food and air and connecting this information back to our plant and animal friends in nature.

While Little One can recite the list of needs during a structured lesson or even when asked about it out of context, she was a bit stumped when I questioned her about her little paper bird family in the basket nest for whom she had provided care in the form of kisses, songs, and walks.  "What do these little birds need to survive?" I asked.  After a moment of thought came a clear and confident response, "They need mommy."

Baby bird

It doesn't matter if we're studying science or art, for my youngest child the story always condenses and connects to a single thing.  She always finds her way back to mothers, the devastating loss of her first mother and the subsequent gain of a new mother, the love and care of a mother or the lack thereof, and the indefinable qualities of mothering and being mothered.  Her earliest experiences have led her to believe that without the protective and devoted wings of a mother our physiological and safety needs cannot be met, so if she were revising Maslow's hierarchy, having a mother would be at its base.

Little chick, I cannot heal your primal wound, but my wings are yours for as long as you need them.

A bird does not sing because it has an answer,

it sings because it has a song.

- Maya Angelou

IAC 539-542 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 539 which was held on January 13, 2022:

1) US dossier from January 2022 referred an identified waiting child

2) US dossier from January 2022 referred an identified waiting child

3) US dossier from January 2022 referred an identified waiting child

4) US dossier from January 2022 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 540 which was held on February 10, 2022:

1) Spanish dossier from January 2014 referred a female child aged 7 years and 4 months

2) Canadian dossier from April 2018 referred a brother and sister aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health status

3) US dossier from June 2021 referred a brother and sister aged 8 years and 2 months and 12 years

4) US dossier from October 2021 referred an identified waiting child

5) French dossier from December 2021 referred a male child aged 10 years and 11 months with features in health status

6) US dossier from December 2021 referred a female child aged 1 year and 4 months with features in health status and a family history

7) German dossier from December 2021 referred sisters aged 10 years and 9 months & 12 years and 7 months

8) US dossier from January 2022 referred an identified waiting child

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 541 which was held on February 17, 2022:

1) Italian dossier from May 2014 referred a female child aged 4 years and 11 months with a family history

2) Italian dossier from September 2017 referred a male child aged 10 years and 6 months with a family history

3) Luxembourg dossier from October 2020 referred a male child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

4) US dossier from June 2021 referred a female child aged 1 year and 7 months with features in health status

5) Italian dossier from December 2021 referred a male child aged 9 years and 10 months with features in health status and a family history

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 542 which was held on February 24, 2022:

1) Italian dossier from December 2014 referred a male child aged 12 years an 10 months

2) French dossier from December 2015 referred a male child aged 2 years and 5 months with a family history

3) Belgian dossier from April 2018 referred a male child aged 5 years and 4 months with features in health status and a family history

4) US dossier from September 2020 referred a female child aged 2 years and 10 months with features in health status

5) Italian dossier from September 2020 referred two brothers and a sister aged 11 years and 6 months & 8 years and 5 months & 10 years and 6 months

6) US dossier from February 2022 referred an identified waiting child

Middlers' Masquerade Ball

 

Reading 2021-22

My littlest home schooler is a decent reader.  You can't drive around town without her reading every sign.  I've heard her read entire stories out loud to her baby dolls.  She reads song lyrics for karaoke and she reads print ads to tell us what we should be buying.  She also navigates herself online to explore areas of interest.

But woe if we try to target reading for school.  There's a psychological block to the task that I believe was caused by the reading instruction she received while attending public school.  I'll never know exactly what happened, but it made her averse to reading on command.  In addition to combating the emotional history associated with reading for academics, we have a strong visual learner who, despite her dyspraxia, thrives by creating cues for herself as she processes information.  So, as she moves through academic material, we have to leave room and time for her to apply her preferred learning style, whatever it may look like.

A text she read with ease,
marked up as she worked her way through it.

Spring On The Farm

A year ago, our city friends gave up their urban life to become farmers in the hills of Kentucky.  Yesterday, we had the chance to visit them and see the their animals, including the spring babies.

As always, little one brought her sincere enthusiasm to the entire experience.  She held the turkey chicks, collected eggs, fed the goats, watched the lambs be bottle fed, and cleaned the barn.

While middle kiddo kept a wise and respectful distance from the farm animals, big girl's favorites were the eight Schnauzer puppies.

Dinner was delicious: lasagna with farm raised pork sausage and creme brulee prepared by our friends and a salad with a home made dressing from us.

And then we were sent home with some more house-made pork sausage and all of the eggs Emilia had collected.

It was a lovely and educational visit.  We hope to be back.

Easter 2022

After two years of Easter with just the five of us, we had a fun weekend hosting extended family, including my mom who's here from Germany, for a brunch on Saturday followed by a special breakfast and egg hunt on Sunday.

Our traditional Easter eggs dyed with onion skins.

.

German streusel cake made by Oma (aka my Mama).

Books, a mug and candy for each of our girls,
bacon and a button for our boy.

This girl loves backyard hunts...

... as well as examining her loot.

Happy Easter!