So Griffin had, what I think, was probably his first ever dental visit today.
He did fantastic... other than biting the tar out of the pediatric dentist. I guess we could have taken him on base, but we found a pediatric dentist that is AMAZING off base... Dentistry4Kids in Landstuhl shout-out! Dr. Torres-Ramirez is the heat when it comes to relating to kids and making them feel as comfortable as possible when in an uncomfortable situation.
She gave us some interesting facts today. First, she said that due to the pH of saliva in children with Down syndrome, they won't develop cavities! I like the sound of that! No cavities means no needles and no drilling, thus fewer tears and more enjoyable trips to the dentist! I will have to do some research on this, but if it is true, that is pretty amazing! Makes me wonder why scientists haven't figured out a way to change the pH in every one's mouth... but then wouldn't that put dentists out of business? LOL! Actually, I just read on the ADA website where there is some research that suggests the occurrence of cavities is less, but nothing confirmed solidly. Bummer!
Next she said he has large "bumps & mountains" on the back part of his tongue, but I cannot remember what she called this. I think it started with an F, but I cannot find it online. She said this was common in kids with Down syndrome and it wasn't a huge issue.
She said he had some crowding and tilting of his teeth, but this was all fixable. She did say that we need to watch for abscesses though, as children with Down syndrome are more prone to have their teeth abscess. I don't like this! :(
The biggest thing that she said was that he may have Ankyloglossia, he's tongue tied. This is where the muscle that is under his tongue is really tight, and prevents him from learning the full range of motion, thus delaying his speech. Couple this with low muscle tone & you have a recipe for drastic speech delays. Don't get me wrong, he will babble, but making words is something we have only assumed he does. For example, during our orphanage visits, he would mumble "papapapa" and growl "mama", but there is no telling if that's what he was really meaning. He would say what the nannies said was "paka-paka" which is bye-bye, but it sounded mostly like an excited mumble to me. That's the extent of it. He understands a lot more than he says, that's for sure. This could be the cause.
She said that many think this is not a big deal and to do nothing about it, but she said we could give him 2000 speech therapy appointments and he still not progress because of this. After doing her research, she feels that clipping this muscle to relieve the tension is the best method. She is going to speak with our developmental pediatrician after our appointment to develop a course of action on this subject. He will also get a proper dental cleaning after that developmental pediatrician appointment... AWESOME! His breath, while 100% better than the orphanage breath he had, still doesn't smell the best. LOL! He has what I call hot breath! :)
Anyway, he did very well and the dentist is amazing, so no complaints on today's appointment!
See ya'll later!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
If Only....
Last night, I was thinking... Griffin learned the concept of signing during 2 snack times... probably 30 mins of time. If he learned to sign 'more' that quickly, can you imagine how much he would know if he had been given a chance for the past 3 years? Today, I told him 'no' and he shook his head 'no'. He is already understanding English. We have a lot of catching up to do!
So, I had another "ah-ha!" moment today (as Tiffany would say ;-). If I wash faces, brush teeth, and fix hair while they are still strapped into their highchair, life is MUCH easier!!! (I can already hear my mom gagging. Don't worry Moma...they were done eating and the high chair is completely clean. ha) I don't have to chase Little G down! Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!
Another "ah-ha" moment... I need to put the pack and play in the garage with some toys so that I can take one little one downstairs and into the pack and play, go back up, get the other, strap him/her in, and then go back for the one in the pack and play. I made the mistake of carrying them both out and letting Little G roam free in the van while strapping Griffin in. Bad decision. I had to crawl through the back of the van to capture her. I'm definitely going to be doing this ASAP.
My arms are killing me! Getting them in and out of their car seats is taking it's toll on my biceps. I guess doubling my normal load is catching up with me! Well, carrying both of them downstairs yesterday equaled over half my body weight so that probably wasn't that smart. I'm learning, y'all!
I have mastered the art of getting dressed and ready for the day in 15 minutes! Amazing, huh? Well, that's if I take my shower the night before. Which means my hair is pretty bad in the morning...but Chris always says that I look my best when I'm natural! I'll let y'all decide. ha ha
So, I had another "ah-ha!" moment today (as Tiffany would say ;-). If I wash faces, brush teeth, and fix hair while they are still strapped into their highchair, life is MUCH easier!!! (I can already hear my mom gagging. Don't worry Moma...they were done eating and the high chair is completely clean. ha) I don't have to chase Little G down! Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!
Another "ah-ha" moment... I need to put the pack and play in the garage with some toys so that I can take one little one downstairs and into the pack and play, go back up, get the other, strap him/her in, and then go back for the one in the pack and play. I made the mistake of carrying them both out and letting Little G roam free in the van while strapping Griffin in. Bad decision. I had to crawl through the back of the van to capture her. I'm definitely going to be doing this ASAP.
My arms are killing me! Getting them in and out of their car seats is taking it's toll on my biceps. I guess doubling my normal load is catching up with me! Well, carrying both of them downstairs yesterday equaled over half my body weight so that probably wasn't that smart. I'm learning, y'all!
I have mastered the art of getting dressed and ready for the day in 15 minutes! Amazing, huh? Well, that's if I take my shower the night before. Which means my hair is pretty bad in the morning...but Chris always says that I look my best when I'm natural! I'll let y'all decide. ha ha
***Disclaimer, okay, I did tease my hair. maybe. :-)***
Monday, July 9, 2012
And He's Dancin'!
So...last night, Griffin had to have a bath at 10:00pm due to an explosively gross diaper. Gag a mag! It was so bad that Chris and I had to tag team it. And that's all I've got to say about that, except for the fact that he loved his bath and is just so stinkin' (pun intended) cute that I could squeeze him to pieces.
Well, the bath must have relaxed him because he slept so well (and we do normally give him a bath at night, but usually around 6:00). This morning started Big G's drama club and I had to get both of the little ones up before 8:00. My day started at 6:00 so that I could have some quiet 'me' time and drink my fake cup of coffee in peace, while sporting a migraine. <sigh> At 7:00, I went in to get Griffin and he was wide awake and all 'giggly bits' so he immediately stood up and reached for my hands and started dancing side to side. So adorable! So I sang him a song and let him dance it out and then made our way downstairs to the egg that I scrambled for him. I must say that I'm crazy proud of this little kid. Mercy, he has come so far in such a short time! His signing has drastically decreased his food frustrations. Now, if I could only get him to use his own hands to sign 'more' and we will be golden!
At 7:30, it was Little G's turn to rise and shine. I had to wake her up but she was happy, too. She tossed her paci into her crib like a big girl and made our way to her scrambled egg. I also put a box of raisins on each high chair and let them feed themselves.
Thankfully, Big G can pretty much get herself completely ready except for her hair...and if you've seen her long hair, you will understand why. She was pretty excited about drama camp and she even packed her own lunch which helped me out a lot.
We made it out the door at 8:15, plenty of time to get there by 9:00. Awesome! On the way in, I noticed that they added a Java Cafe in the lobby of the theater. Oh yeah, this week just got so much better! Once we made our way to the group, the instructor introduced herself to me because she knew who I was. She was on the scholarship committee who chose me to receive a 1/2 scholarship to the Lactation Conference that was here 2 weeks ago. I felt that Griffin needed me much more than I needed that conference so I gave the scholarship back. She was so kind and encouraging to me. I cling to every act of kindness and every kind word because it gets me through and keeps me going. She told me that Mom2Mom is gathering Griffin a gift since I could not attend. Yeah, I got teary.
Home-snack-play-lunch-discovered that Griffin knows that plugs need to be plugged in and it aggravated him tremendously that his Roomba was unplugged. Every chance that he could get, he would cruise/bear crawl over to the Roomba and try to plug it in.
At 12:15, we made our way back into the van to get Big G. She had an awesome time! She said that they played a lot of games and is looking forward to going back tomorrow.
So on the medical front of things...Griffin has his cardiology appt on July 12th. His GI referral is in and we are waiting on them to schedule it. They are going to admit him to the hospital (off base) so that they can do endoscopy and observe him overnight to make sure that he handles the anesthesia well. (yeah, that's going to be pretty hectic and stressful. Hopefully the hubs can get 2 days off.) But anyway, this GI appt will determine if he has Celiac Disease. Really dreading that diagnosis, but honestly, I think he has it. It would explain a lot. I hope I'm wrong, though!
As of right now, the hubs just walked in the door and the little ones are sleeping. He bought me a bag of Chunky Chips Ahoy so I'm about to chow down.
Toodles!
Well, the bath must have relaxed him because he slept so well (and we do normally give him a bath at night, but usually around 6:00). This morning started Big G's drama club and I had to get both of the little ones up before 8:00. My day started at 6:00 so that I could have some quiet 'me' time and drink my fake cup of coffee in peace, while sporting a migraine. <sigh> At 7:00, I went in to get Griffin and he was wide awake and all 'giggly bits' so he immediately stood up and reached for my hands and started dancing side to side. So adorable! So I sang him a song and let him dance it out and then made our way downstairs to the egg that I scrambled for him. I must say that I'm crazy proud of this little kid. Mercy, he has come so far in such a short time! His signing has drastically decreased his food frustrations. Now, if I could only get him to use his own hands to sign 'more' and we will be golden!
At 7:30, it was Little G's turn to rise and shine. I had to wake her up but she was happy, too. She tossed her paci into her crib like a big girl and made our way to her scrambled egg. I also put a box of raisins on each high chair and let them feed themselves.
Thankfully, Big G can pretty much get herself completely ready except for her hair...and if you've seen her long hair, you will understand why. She was pretty excited about drama camp and she even packed her own lunch which helped me out a lot.
We made it out the door at 8:15, plenty of time to get there by 9:00. Awesome! On the way in, I noticed that they added a Java Cafe in the lobby of the theater. Oh yeah, this week just got so much better! Once we made our way to the group, the instructor introduced herself to me because she knew who I was. She was on the scholarship committee who chose me to receive a 1/2 scholarship to the Lactation Conference that was here 2 weeks ago. I felt that Griffin needed me much more than I needed that conference so I gave the scholarship back. She was so kind and encouraging to me. I cling to every act of kindness and every kind word because it gets me through and keeps me going. She told me that Mom2Mom is gathering Griffin a gift since I could not attend. Yeah, I got teary.
Home-snack-play-lunch-discovered that Griffin knows that plugs need to be plugged in and it aggravated him tremendously that his Roomba was unplugged. Every chance that he could get, he would cruise/bear crawl over to the Roomba and try to plug it in.
At 12:15, we made our way back into the van to get Big G. She had an awesome time! She said that they played a lot of games and is looking forward to going back tomorrow.
So on the medical front of things...Griffin has his cardiology appt on July 12th. His GI referral is in and we are waiting on them to schedule it. They are going to admit him to the hospital (off base) so that they can do endoscopy and observe him overnight to make sure that he handles the anesthesia well. (yeah, that's going to be pretty hectic and stressful. Hopefully the hubs can get 2 days off.) But anyway, this GI appt will determine if he has Celiac Disease. Really dreading that diagnosis, but honestly, I think he has it. It would explain a lot. I hope I'm wrong, though!
As of right now, the hubs just walked in the door and the little ones are sleeping. He bought me a bag of Chunky Chips Ahoy so I'm about to chow down.
Toodles!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Griffin's Gotcha Day Video!
Okay, so I'm going to try to post this, and hopefully it will work! I really think this says more than we could ever put into words ourselves! Like the adoption itself, this video is an expression of love, one of commitment to God, our family and our son. We are so grateful to all of the people around the world who helped us bring Griffin home, to a forever family! That $0.01, $1.00, $10, $100, $1000 you gave helped ease the financial burden incurred by our family. That prayer you sent up was answered when at times it seemed like this process was teetering on the jagged edge of failure. Trust me, God knows what he is doing... his timing, his plan, they are PERFECT!
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
The Results Are In!
Chris's View-
I have to say, I was excited about this, but I'm a stat geek... guess that explains my love for fantasy football!
I put out the challenge the day before Independence Day, to take the US Citizenship Quiz from the Christian Science Monitor. I wasn't sure what kind of participation I would get from this, but I must admit, I was impressed. I got scores from 25 people, ranging from 16-65 years old. The results were kind of surprising to me. No one above the age of 26 failed or were borderline (I considered anything from 60-70 borderline). Of those below the age of 26, 3 failed and 6 were borderline failures. The worst failure was a senior in high school (and yes, I asked permission if he minded me giving out at least this much information about his test). The average of all scores was a 79%. I found it odd that there was such a gap in the scores... nothing in the 70's. There were 17 males & 8 females who submitted scores. Last stat, before I bore ya'll to death, no female failed, but there were 2 borderline.
Overall, I think we are doing "okay" in knowing our heritage as Americans, and what makes our country tick. There is quite a bit of room for improvement though. For those who did not take the quiz, if you would still like too, feel free. You can access it HERE. I may go back and revise the chart if I get enough score submissions.
Maria's View-
We had a great mini-vacation and all of the children had a great time! Griffin handled his new surroundings like a champ and just kind of went with the flow. He loves people watching so there was quite a bit of that to entertain him. He also did pretty well at the restaurants. He still had moments when the beast within would try to break through but he did extremely well at keeping his frustrations under control. Very, very proud of him.
All of the children loved our time at the lake, especially Little G. Once she got over the shock of the cold water, she was in heaven. That little girl is fearless! Which is kind of scary. You really have to watch that one.
Big G and I sat out on the balcony with the rest of our friends and watched the fireworks, while giving the men their own balcony to hang out on. The 2 littles were in their pack and plays during the fireworks but Chris said that Griffin watched the fireworks through the glass door. It was CRAZY loud because we were so close to the launch site so it was best that they were inside.
On our last day, Big G and I were able to sneak out and have a mommy/daughter breakfast date and I just love having that one on one time with her. I always remember the days when I was a child, my mother and I would walk a mile together after dinner. I LOVED doing that and miss it so much, along with all of the sounds and smells of a humid Mississippi evening. I even miss the smell of the mosquito truck. Honeysuckles. Crickets and frogs. Fireflies. Childhood. <sigh> Okay, focus, Maria! :-)
ANYWAY. Our vacation came to a sudden end when both Chris and I independently felt that we should head home during the night instead of waiting until morning. Thankfully, we were both on board because 15 minutes before arriving home from the 6 hour drive, Little G started vomiting, and she continued all night long. Bless her heart. I have no idea what happened but she was completely better this morning. I'm hoping that the food she ate just didn't agree with her and all of us will be safe. I don't have time for a stomach virus!
I'm so proud of Griffin today. He is signing 'more' like a champ! I cut up 2 chicken nuggets and gave him a Mandarin cup and he signed 'more' for every bite of it... However, I had to lightly hold his wrists to remind him to sign it...but he will also sign 'more' by making my hands do the talking. Either way, he is signing it and he knows what it means. Doing it independently will come in time. You should see the look on his face now that he knows that 'more' means that he gets more food. His eyes light up every time! There is a look of joy, mixed with control, and determination. Love it. It goes a little something like this: I hold my hands out on the tray of his high chair with the plate balanced on my lap and ready to spoon something into his mouth. He has the option to grab my hands and sign. I hold them out there and ask, "Does Griffin want more?" and I will wait. I'll keep asking him, and eventually it's like a switch will flip and he will grab my hands and force my hands together so that I'm signing more for him...Then I will praise him and he will light up! OR...If he doesn't grab my hands, I will lightly put my fingers around his wrists and that reminds him to sign it. So he usually will take control and sign it himself. He was doing so well and I had one bite left on his plate. I made the decision to show him that there was only 1 left so that he wouldn't think that I was punishing him or something when the food suddenly disappeared. Well, he didn't like that at all, but I knew that I needed him to know that. So he cried and fussed but I didn't give in to giving him that last bite until he signed 'more'. It took a long time for him to ask for it but when he did, I praised him, and he was just as happy as could be. Very proud of him!
But anyway, there is a cup of fake coffee and an episode of Swamp People calling my name!!!
Goodnight! :-)
I have to say, I was excited about this, but I'm a stat geek... guess that explains my love for fantasy football!
I put out the challenge the day before Independence Day, to take the US Citizenship Quiz from the Christian Science Monitor. I wasn't sure what kind of participation I would get from this, but I must admit, I was impressed. I got scores from 25 people, ranging from 16-65 years old. The results were kind of surprising to me. No one above the age of 26 failed or were borderline (I considered anything from 60-70 borderline). Of those below the age of 26, 3 failed and 6 were borderline failures. The worst failure was a senior in high school (and yes, I asked permission if he minded me giving out at least this much information about his test). The average of all scores was a 79%. I found it odd that there was such a gap in the scores... nothing in the 70's. There were 17 males & 8 females who submitted scores. Last stat, before I bore ya'll to death, no female failed, but there were 2 borderline.Overall, I think we are doing "okay" in knowing our heritage as Americans, and what makes our country tick. There is quite a bit of room for improvement though. For those who did not take the quiz, if you would still like too, feel free. You can access it HERE. I may go back and revise the chart if I get enough score submissions.
Maria's View-
We had a great mini-vacation and all of the children had a great time! Griffin handled his new surroundings like a champ and just kind of went with the flow. He loves people watching so there was quite a bit of that to entertain him. He also did pretty well at the restaurants. He still had moments when the beast within would try to break through but he did extremely well at keeping his frustrations under control. Very, very proud of him.
All of the children loved our time at the lake, especially Little G. Once she got over the shock of the cold water, she was in heaven. That little girl is fearless! Which is kind of scary. You really have to watch that one.
Big G and I sat out on the balcony with the rest of our friends and watched the fireworks, while giving the men their own balcony to hang out on. The 2 littles were in their pack and plays during the fireworks but Chris said that Griffin watched the fireworks through the glass door. It was CRAZY loud because we were so close to the launch site so it was best that they were inside.
On our last day, Big G and I were able to sneak out and have a mommy/daughter breakfast date and I just love having that one on one time with her. I always remember the days when I was a child, my mother and I would walk a mile together after dinner. I LOVED doing that and miss it so much, along with all of the sounds and smells of a humid Mississippi evening. I even miss the smell of the mosquito truck. Honeysuckles. Crickets and frogs. Fireflies. Childhood. <sigh> Okay, focus, Maria! :-)
ANYWAY. Our vacation came to a sudden end when both Chris and I independently felt that we should head home during the night instead of waiting until morning. Thankfully, we were both on board because 15 minutes before arriving home from the 6 hour drive, Little G started vomiting, and she continued all night long. Bless her heart. I have no idea what happened but she was completely better this morning. I'm hoping that the food she ate just didn't agree with her and all of us will be safe. I don't have time for a stomach virus!
I'm so proud of Griffin today. He is signing 'more' like a champ! I cut up 2 chicken nuggets and gave him a Mandarin cup and he signed 'more' for every bite of it... However, I had to lightly hold his wrists to remind him to sign it...but he will also sign 'more' by making my hands do the talking. Either way, he is signing it and he knows what it means. Doing it independently will come in time. You should see the look on his face now that he knows that 'more' means that he gets more food. His eyes light up every time! There is a look of joy, mixed with control, and determination. Love it. It goes a little something like this: I hold my hands out on the tray of his high chair with the plate balanced on my lap and ready to spoon something into his mouth. He has the option to grab my hands and sign. I hold them out there and ask, "Does Griffin want more?" and I will wait. I'll keep asking him, and eventually it's like a switch will flip and he will grab my hands and force my hands together so that I'm signing more for him...Then I will praise him and he will light up! OR...If he doesn't grab my hands, I will lightly put my fingers around his wrists and that reminds him to sign it. So he usually will take control and sign it himself. He was doing so well and I had one bite left on his plate. I made the decision to show him that there was only 1 left so that he wouldn't think that I was punishing him or something when the food suddenly disappeared. Well, he didn't like that at all, but I knew that I needed him to know that. So he cried and fussed but I didn't give in to giving him that last bite until he signed 'more'. It took a long time for him to ask for it but when he did, I praised him, and he was just as happy as could be. Very proud of him!
But anyway, there is a cup of fake coffee and an episode of Swamp People calling my name!!!
Goodnight! :-)
Stomach Virus or Something...
Hey y'all! We will get back on track with blogging soon. We are back home now. Our little G has had a stomach virus or something. Please pray that the other ones don't get it!!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Fireworks vs Firecrackers
Chris's View-
So, the kids really gave us a run for our money today!
Fireworks were pretty good last night. We had rooms overlooking the firework launch site, so we had a great view. I was shocked that there weren't more people there though. They had some fireworks that when they went off, it was like a fully automatic machine gun! They were awesome & the highlight of the show to me. Only problem I had with the show was their choice of final songs. Usually, it's some super patriotic... God Bless the USA or something... not here, not at Edelweiss! What did they choose? Bridge Over Troubled Waters! WHAT?!?!?! Look, I like Simon & Garfunkel as much as the next guy, but come on. As the finale at an Independence Day firework show? It was a very choral version too, not even the original! LOL! Both kids were falling asleep on us early, and Griffin watched some of the show from the safe, quiet crib in our room. Little G slept right through it!
It was quite the opposite of sunshine & rainbows for the Solomon's to begin our day today though. After I got up, I walked down to the buffet place here in the hotel to see if I paid for some buffets, if I could just load up a couple To-Go boxes for the kids and bring them back to the room to eat... yeah, no dice on that one! So, I had to go back up to the room, get the entire family ready for the day... at 7:30 in the morning, some vacation huh!... to go down to the buffet to get breakfast. We get the kids seated & me & Gracie go get the first plates for the table. Usually, it is Griffin who has food issues... today, it was Little G. I could hear her acting out across the restaurant. She was LOUD! When we got the food there, she started eating & quieted down, but she eats A LOT faster than Griffin, and when she is done, all she wants to do is get out of the high chair, so it frustrates her. Griffin ate a lot for breakfast... made us worry, since he ate a lot for dinner last night, and even on Miralax, he hadn't gone on his own in 3 days. After we all ate, with Little G fussing at us, we made our way back to the room.
We planned on meeting up with the Copous family to go swimming today. We got in our swim suits and got ready to leave. Griffin was tooting all morning, and they were B. A. D.!!!! Big And Deadly! They are the worst smelling toots I have ever smelled, and this coming from a guy who has stunk his own self out of an RV! LOL! Anyway, it seemed like the girls were all up under our feet. Everywhere we moved, they were there getting stepped on. Big G wasn't listening when we talked to her, in fact, doing the exact opposite of what we told her many times. I finally had to get down on her level so we could look each other in the eye while I told her that it had to stop. Honestly, I think she & I were just synced on wave lengths today... every move I made, she made the same one. I noticed this in the elevator after dinner tonight. I tried to move one way, and she was in front of me with her back to me, so she couldn't have seen me move, but it was like she mirrored me! Crazy! Anyway, as soon as we start to leave the room, Griffin wets his diaper... and it's a Little Swimmer, so it all leaked out, into the seat of his stroller... actually THROUGH the seat of his stroller, on to the hallway carpet. So, after another diaper change, we are finally off.
We met up with the Copous family and headed over to the artillery kaserne that is located near the hotel and hit up Subway for sandwiches. I also stopped in the commissary and grabbed some water and juice and stuff. We went to Ebisee, which is a crystal clear lake at the base of the Zugspitz (the highest mountain in Germany). It was a great time, besides the rocks tearing up my feet. The water was beautiful and frigid, but your body got used to it real quick. The kiddos were throwing fits left and right though. Griffin really didn't like the cold water too much, so Maria sat on the "beach" (can you really call it a beach if it's gravel?) and played with our little man, while I focused mainly on Little G. Big G played a lot with the Copous kids & Papa Joe. They even went paddle boating. After a long day in the sun though, our energy was zapped.
We ate dinner at a Mexican place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen called Sausalitos. It is great food, but the service tonight was horrible. It took 15 minutes just to get the high chairs for Little & Middle G's! Then, Little G was throwing her paci all over the place, and trying to steal Griffin's raisins, and "crashing" her stacking cups (her speech therapist taught her to crash the tower of stacking cups after she builds the tower) so cups were going everywhere. Finally the food came and we ate. Little G tried to trade Griffin all of her chicken for his french fries! It was too cute! Of course, when she was done, she was ready to get out of there. As we left, that's when it happened... Griffin's big meals & Miralax finally caught up with him and he destroyed his diaper... and spilled out on to his outfit. It seems to be every time he goes he messes up his outfit. We have been using Huggies, so guess it's time to try another brand. The orphanage used Pampers, so we are wondering if the leg elastic is tighter on Pampers, thus preventing these blow-out situations. It took every wipey we had to clean our little man up.
Needless to say, the kids have been little firecrackers today... with short fuses & dangerous explosions! Maria is out getting a coffee to unwind (and apparently is getting her ears pierced by some karaoke singers at Zuggy's Base Camp). I am sitting in a dark room typing this blog, since the pitch black room is the only way they would lay down & go to sleep. I am about to go to sleep myself!
See ya'll later!
Maria's View-
Yep, Chris just about said it all! LOL! Despite the fussiness and the exhaustion, we are having a blast and it's great to be together.
Today is actually 1 month since Chris busted Griffin out of the orphanage!! Hard to believe that it's already been a month! So happy for our little guy!!!
Something so cute that I just have to share- Every time I take Little G out of her stroller, if I don't immediately start to unbuckle Griffin, she starts signing "All Done"for him, by waving her little hands all over the place and then she starts trying to unbuckle him. Well, Griffin will start waving his hands around too, copying his little sissy. She is going to have him signing in no time!
Love and Hugs!!
So, the kids really gave us a run for our money today!
Fireworks were pretty good last night. We had rooms overlooking the firework launch site, so we had a great view. I was shocked that there weren't more people there though. They had some fireworks that when they went off, it was like a fully automatic machine gun! They were awesome & the highlight of the show to me. Only problem I had with the show was their choice of final songs. Usually, it's some super patriotic... God Bless the USA or something... not here, not at Edelweiss! What did they choose? Bridge Over Troubled Waters! WHAT?!?!?! Look, I like Simon & Garfunkel as much as the next guy, but come on. As the finale at an Independence Day firework show? It was a very choral version too, not even the original! LOL! Both kids were falling asleep on us early, and Griffin watched some of the show from the safe, quiet crib in our room. Little G slept right through it!
It was quite the opposite of sunshine & rainbows for the Solomon's to begin our day today though. After I got up, I walked down to the buffet place here in the hotel to see if I paid for some buffets, if I could just load up a couple To-Go boxes for the kids and bring them back to the room to eat... yeah, no dice on that one! So, I had to go back up to the room, get the entire family ready for the day... at 7:30 in the morning, some vacation huh!... to go down to the buffet to get breakfast. We get the kids seated & me & Gracie go get the first plates for the table. Usually, it is Griffin who has food issues... today, it was Little G. I could hear her acting out across the restaurant. She was LOUD! When we got the food there, she started eating & quieted down, but she eats A LOT faster than Griffin, and when she is done, all she wants to do is get out of the high chair, so it frustrates her. Griffin ate a lot for breakfast... made us worry, since he ate a lot for dinner last night, and even on Miralax, he hadn't gone on his own in 3 days. After we all ate, with Little G fussing at us, we made our way back to the room.
We planned on meeting up with the Copous family to go swimming today. We got in our swim suits and got ready to leave. Griffin was tooting all morning, and they were B. A. D.!!!! Big And Deadly! They are the worst smelling toots I have ever smelled, and this coming from a guy who has stunk his own self out of an RV! LOL! Anyway, it seemed like the girls were all up under our feet. Everywhere we moved, they were there getting stepped on. Big G wasn't listening when we talked to her, in fact, doing the exact opposite of what we told her many times. I finally had to get down on her level so we could look each other in the eye while I told her that it had to stop. Honestly, I think she & I were just synced on wave lengths today... every move I made, she made the same one. I noticed this in the elevator after dinner tonight. I tried to move one way, and she was in front of me with her back to me, so she couldn't have seen me move, but it was like she mirrored me! Crazy! Anyway, as soon as we start to leave the room, Griffin wets his diaper... and it's a Little Swimmer, so it all leaked out, into the seat of his stroller... actually THROUGH the seat of his stroller, on to the hallway carpet. So, after another diaper change, we are finally off.
We met up with the Copous family and headed over to the artillery kaserne that is located near the hotel and hit up Subway for sandwiches. I also stopped in the commissary and grabbed some water and juice and stuff. We went to Ebisee, which is a crystal clear lake at the base of the Zugspitz (the highest mountain in Germany). It was a great time, besides the rocks tearing up my feet. The water was beautiful and frigid, but your body got used to it real quick. The kiddos were throwing fits left and right though. Griffin really didn't like the cold water too much, so Maria sat on the "beach" (can you really call it a beach if it's gravel?) and played with our little man, while I focused mainly on Little G. Big G played a lot with the Copous kids & Papa Joe. They even went paddle boating. After a long day in the sun though, our energy was zapped.
We ate dinner at a Mexican place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen called Sausalitos. It is great food, but the service tonight was horrible. It took 15 minutes just to get the high chairs for Little & Middle G's! Then, Little G was throwing her paci all over the place, and trying to steal Griffin's raisins, and "crashing" her stacking cups (her speech therapist taught her to crash the tower of stacking cups after she builds the tower) so cups were going everywhere. Finally the food came and we ate. Little G tried to trade Griffin all of her chicken for his french fries! It was too cute! Of course, when she was done, she was ready to get out of there. As we left, that's when it happened... Griffin's big meals & Miralax finally caught up with him and he destroyed his diaper... and spilled out on to his outfit. It seems to be every time he goes he messes up his outfit. We have been using Huggies, so guess it's time to try another brand. The orphanage used Pampers, so we are wondering if the leg elastic is tighter on Pampers, thus preventing these blow-out situations. It took every wipey we had to clean our little man up.
Needless to say, the kids have been little firecrackers today... with short fuses & dangerous explosions! Maria is out getting a coffee to unwind (and apparently is getting her ears pierced by some karaoke singers at Zuggy's Base Camp). I am sitting in a dark room typing this blog, since the pitch black room is the only way they would lay down & go to sleep. I am about to go to sleep myself!See ya'll later!
Maria's View-
Yep, Chris just about said it all! LOL! Despite the fussiness and the exhaustion, we are having a blast and it's great to be together.
Today is actually 1 month since Chris busted Griffin out of the orphanage!! Hard to believe that it's already been a month! So happy for our little guy!!!
Something so cute that I just have to share- Every time I take Little G out of her stroller, if I don't immediately start to unbuckle Griffin, she starts signing "All Done"for him, by waving her little hands all over the place and then she starts trying to unbuckle him. Well, Griffin will start waving his hands around too, copying his little sissy. She is going to have him signing in no time!
Love and Hugs!!
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