Spring Teaser

Andrew's birthday is coming up at the beginning of March. When you ask him, he will quickly show you that he will be four fingers old. One of the things I have learned in these past four fingers, is that Andrew's birthday triggers an anticipation of Spring for me. I have usually, by this point, been given a sneak peak or two of the coming season and begin to anxiously await the time when tulips, dogwoods and even evil mosquitoes remind me of new beginnings. Andrew has taken this time, in the run-up to his birthday party next weekend, to help stuff goody boxes for the other children that will be in attendance.

The up coming season also reminds me of the resilience of life. The way it emerges on the other side of frost and adversity, to dare to thrive once again. This fortitude is personified in the children like Noah, who are born with that little something extra and must work a little harder to achieve some of things we take for granted.  We got to meet some of these children and their families this weekend at the Down Syndrome Association of Memphis and the Mid-South new parent brunch. Along with brunch, this gathering also included a therapy session, which touched on some of the techniques used by physical, developmental and speech therapist, which are so important to the early intervention needed by our little ones. As you can see, it usually consist of focused play time used to reinforce good habits...and apparently a little kissing, because all these babies are ridiculously cute.

While Noah was participating in the therapy session, Andrew, along with the other siblings, were doing crafts projects in another room.  This other room also had a play kitchen that Andrew and Noah discovered after the sanctioned festivities were over. Andrew made tea on the grill while Noah did the dishes, sorta.

As the first beams of daylight poured into the upstairs windows, Sunday promised to be a gorgeous day, and it did not disappoint. We had day filled with fun activities. But first, we had to spring Noah from baby jail.

Once sprung, Noah went to Babcia and Jadek's house to practice driving his getaway car.

One of the main highlights of the weekend was trekking out to Shelby Farms in celebration of the amazing weather, and trying our hand at kite flying. At the time, Agnes and I were high fiving and congratulating each other on our superb kite flying aptitude. Later however, we agreed that the unusually windy conditions had more to do with our success. This fact was further punctuated by Andrew's effortless ability to fly a kite despite never receiving any formal training.

Although Noah was amused by the kite flying, he again educated us on how to really enjoy a beautiful day, when one is handed to you. You just have to relax, and let the Memphis air blow through your hair. At only a year and a half, he already knows how to be content by just being.

Goodness Nose

Now a days, Noah is pretty much splitting his time between cruising, crawling and creeping. Sometimes though, his enthusiasm outpaces his burgeoning abilities and he takes a tumble. Apparently his little nose is no match for the protective rubber safety mats at the playground.

Other than trying to rein Noah in, we spent most of the weekend eating. Ash Wednesday is next week, and while Poland doesn't have a Fat Tuesday, they do have Pączki day. Pączki, pronounced punch-key, is deep fried dough, generally filled with a sweet filling. Needless to say, these things are delicious. I ended up spending Saturday afternoon with sticky fingers and spiked blood sugar. Luckily, it's only once a year.

One thing is for sure...don't steal Andrew's pączki.

Our other food themed event this weekend was Soup Sunday. Soup Sunday is the annual event that supports Youth Villages where you can go to the FedEx Forum and sample soup, bread and desserts from over 60 Memphis area restaurants. Noah didn't go this year because of conflicts with nap time, but Andrew was ready with spoon in hand.

Even though it's called "Soup" Sunday, Andrew was able to score some pizza and bouncy house.

Agnes and the boys got a slightly extended weekend since school was out Monday. The weather was nice enough to take in some Botanic Gardens.

As you can see his nose is already getting better. On a final note, I saw the following news story the other day:


http://www.wmctv.com/story/16997773/germantown-basketball-player-has-both-fans-and-opponents-cheering


I don't know if Noah will want to play basketball, but he could already play varsity in clothes hanger throwing.

Tick Tock

Time...it's inevitable I suppose. The seconds continue to tick by as the Earth hurls through space in its path around the sun. Time doesn't care that my boys are growing up at what seems like a blurry streak before my eyes. Nor does it care that I would like to be as strong, fast, and less doughy as I was in my twenties. I certainly don't think I'm old, but it's actually starting to seem like it could be a possibility one day. At first I let this worry me, but as it slowly becomes a reality, I'm noticing that the positives outweigh the negatives. There are the obvious things, such as having far more wisdom and a higher net worth than twenty year old Taylor, but one advantage went unnoticed until recently. A friend of mine, who is also thirty-one like me, and I went to play basketball this weekend. We walked into the gym and as I began to stretch and warm up, (definitely something my younger self felt was unnecessary) I looked around and began to take in our would be competition. They were sprinting effortlessly up and down the court, jumping with ease and recovering from twisted ankles with a slight grimace and about 8 seconds of "walking it off". As I looked on with envy, that slight pang, where you realize you aren't what you used to be, began to set in. At first, all my fears were confirmed. They ran circles around us as we panted and held the stitches in our sides. But after a while, without noticing, something strange happened. We tied it up. Then we pulled ahead. Finally we won the game. Me and the three other "old guys" on my team had sent these young kids packing. And it didn't stop there. We went on to win two more games in the same manner. The young guys would pull out to an early lead, we would adjust and they would continue making the same mistakes until someone would call out the score, and they would shockingly realize that they, again, had been beat by the "old guys". I was thinking about our victories on the drive home and I began to recognize that the wisdom of only an additional decade had a profound effect on all aspects of my life, not just basketball. I am more able to avoid the big mistakes and focus my efforts on the areas that deliver results. I pulled the truck into the driveway and slammed it into park, ready to run inside and tell Agnes about how we dominated on the basketball court. I was high on winning; high on wisdom. I threw open the door, jumped out and realized...I was lying on the grass. My exhausted legs had crumpled in protest as I exited the truck.

Oh, to be twenty again.
...

One thing that does not get better with age, is a dish washer. The old one came with the house, and while it was still functional, it was beginning to show its age. Luckily for me, my grandmother finally did something for herself and changed out most of the appliances in her kitchen. This meant that I became the proud owner of a like new, 4 year old dishwasher. If only I could find someone to help me install it.

Half way through the install, my other helper showed up. He's not quite as hands on as his older brother, but he will give you a two thumbs up, for a job well done.

Sunday we had dinner at Agnes's parents' house. What was on the menu this weekend? Pierogi, Polish dumplings, stuffed with a potato filling.

Notice how Noah is so excited about pierogi, that he is lovingly stroking Andrew's hair.

Agnes asked me to take the following picture because it was the most perfectly shaped pierogi.

After eating far too many of these delicious creations, Jadek and Andrew relaxed in front of a fire.