Passing the Time

Everyone wants to know how our NO TV summer is going (by everyone, I mean 4 people).  And I must say it's actually going rather well.  The boys have re-learned how to play and use their imagination.  They have built towers, made forts, been reading more, and this...

This is the deconstruction of an old DVD player. 

 Kept them busy for hours.  

Next week I am going to have them put it back together. ;)

Milkshake Monday

The boys and I are conducting a scientific experiment this summer.  There will be data gathering, sampling and even charts and graphs.   Our goal: to find the best milkshake in town.  Every Monday afternoon we will venture out to gather our data (within a 30 mile radius)  (Radius is a fancy science and math word.   It's important to use the proper technical grammer when recording your data).  We had our first fact-finding mission yesterday at Oberweis Dairy.  

Our highly technical data recording system.   

Gav had the cookie dough.  I have taught him well. 

Ryder ordered the mint chip.

In our nine years on living in illinois we had never been to Oberweis, even though it is a pretty popular local dairy.  And I must say it was pretty darn good.  Very homemade like.  I think it will be hard to top.  But in the name of science we must continue on this quest.  We can not come to a conclusion until all the facts are in and the numbers have been totaled.  I'll keep ya posted...

I am the meanest mom ever

That's the word on the street, anyways.  You see, we're trying a little experiment on the Berry children:  No screens this summer.  Which means, no TV, no computer, no Wii, no Netflix.  I know!   How will they survive?!  How will I survive?!

As a peace offering, we did purchase them this toy.  It has already made us very popular in the neighborhood.

We're one day into this experiment.  So far, so good.  They haven't really missed their beloved TV yet.  Bust ask me again next month and the answer may be different.  Heck, ask me tomorrow and I may already regret this decision.

FAQs

How is Wren doing? 
In a word, great!  It has pretty much been a seamless transition.  It has been nearly 2 months that Wren has been home and things could not have gone better.  Hallelujah for answered prayers!
Does she talk much?
Yep.  She is picking up new words all the time.  She likes to repeat everything we say to her.  Just a few of her newest words:  stinky, boogers, chicken, bounce and bottom.  Yeah, I'd say she has the vocabulary of a typical 2 year old.  She also loves to sing and be sung to.  
Why don't you blog more often?
Well, I am lame.  And my camera is currently broken.  And no one wants to read a blog with no pictures.
How are the boys doing?  
They generally like having a sister.   Although, she has ruined a lego creation or two.  And they do have to keep their ruckus to a minimum when she is taking a nap. Gavin loves making her laugh.  Ryder loves to get her out of her crib in the mornings and will even feed her breakfast.  But will still not even consider changing her diaper.  She has those boys whipped.
How is her medical history/health?
We had very little information about Wren when we got her referral back in October.  We received one slip of paper that had some blood work results and another sheet listing the vaccinations she got in Ethiopia. We knew that she was basically healthy, just malnourished. Since she has been home she has been to the doctors office 84 times.  Our doc wanted to test her for everything under the sun,  including to see what  antibodies she had (to see if the vaccines she had in Ethiopia were effective) so she had about a dozen blood samples to give, 5 stool sample, and a urine sample that we still have yet to collect (have you ever tried to collect a urine sample from a diaper wearing toddler?   It's not possible.)   Thankfully all her blood work came back normal - her vaccines took, so she is all up to date.  She did have parasites, but we got that treated with some simple antibiotics.
As I'm sure you've noticed, Wren has wart-like growths on her head.  These are molluscum warts.  They are fairly common in children that have weak immune systems and we noticed some other children in the orphanage had them too.  We have been to the dermatologist and there really isn't much we can do to treat them.  They can be frozen off, but with her skin tone, there is a good chance that would cause scarring.  The doc gave us a cream to use, but most likely we will just have to wait out the virus that causes them.
Have you learned how to do her hair?
I have been studying and planning and buying.  I got the tools, the products, the instruction.  Now I just need a willing participant, and Wren is definitely not willing.  She cannot, will not sit still.  I can barely get her hair parted before she squirms away.  I have managed to do some puffs a few times and even some flat twists.  I do really love her curly hair in it's natural state.  It's so soft and has such a pretty curl pattern.  So most of the time we go natural, and she rocks a cute headband or barrett.

That's it for now.  I'll reward your efforts for reading this forever-long post with a bizarre picture from a few weeks ago.

Wren, sitting on the potty (trying to collect that urine sample), reading daddy's thesis.