Genius

Do you know Natalie Merchant's song "Wonder"?  I love it...it is one of those songs that just rings of Dakin to me when I hear it.  Especially this week.  Here is the chorus:

'O, I believe
Fate smiled and destiny
Laughed as she came to my cradle:
"Know this child will be able"
Laughed as my body she lifted
"Know this child will be gifted"
With love, with patience and with faith
[He]'ll make h[is] way.'

I am now proud to say that I am the mother of a not-quite-four-and-a-half-year-old who can READ.

Yep.  Read.  He has known his letters and sounds for a while now, and on Wednesday we put it all together.  He read.  He sounded out words like 'fat' and 'box' and 'mom', and the more he did it, the less he had to sound out: he was sight reading them. 

So someone just needs to call up Harvard and tell them that Dakin is coming.  In 14 years: get ready.

(Still no USB cord...sorry for no pics!!)

Hide And Seek

Guess what I got to do on this dreary, rainy day?

I got to play hide and seek.  With Dakin.  He hid, I sought and vice versa.  All of this was accomplished with the help of his powerchair, which is very good at driving now.

It may seem like a small thing, but this is pretty amazing to us: he can drive himself into a room, turn around, come out...do what he likes.  INDEPENDENTLY.  It is life changing for both him and us...of course I keep an ear on him, but he can explore without me having to hover over him.

It. is. incredible.

So we used that newfound independence to play hide and seek.  He loved it, though he didn't quite get the concept: as I was 'searching' for him, I would say, "Where is Dakin?" To which he would give away his location by answering "I'm in here!"

I posted it on Facebook, but I must reiterate here: I have done so many amazing things in my lifetime: swam with dolphins, hooped with fire, had my first kiss in Paris, lived abroad...the list goes on and on.  But playing hide and seek with my sweet boy makes the top ten most breathtaking moments of my life. 

(No pictures: I apologize, but I need a new USB cord for my camera). (Also: I need to note a few things here so I don't forget them, as I know they aren't written in his journal.  1. He used to say 'yeah yeah' for yes, and 'noi' for six.  Don't know why.  2. He has said some highly amusing stuff lately that I wanted to record: I accidentally bumped his head transporting him from his room to the living room the other day ((he has gotten so long!!!)) and later on he told me to 'Hug and talk about my poor little head.'  Then the same day he was helping me make Valentine presents and I was having a ribbon issue.  He, never one to like wearing socks, said, 'Take off [my] socks and talk about the problem.' It was just so...grown up sounding. And hilarious. 3. He looked on the kitchen counter and saw the bananas--he said they were 'snuggling', and outside the other day he wanted to follow the neighbor's bulldog because Dakin was 'afraid he might fall'. )

Dakinisms

In the last 6 months or so, Dakin has REALLY caught up on his speech.  He is more or less exactly where he should be now, and it is so fun to hear him articulate his thoughts.  Here are some of the gems of late:

(Playing with rubber bands, he had them stretched and said they were swimming.)  I said, "It's swimming?"  He said, "Rubber bands don't swim!"

(With his nurse, watching videos on the iPad.  One of them doesn't want to load) J: "I don't think it's loading, baby." Dakin, pointing to circular thing on the iPad that runs when it's thinking, "See that thing?  That thing means it's LOADING." (evidently said in a tone that made Jane feel stupid...he has quite a bit of attitude).

Me, checking diaper: "I think you're wet." Dakin: "I think I'm don't."

Dakin: "Don't tickle me.  I like kisses better."

And the best one: "Mommy, I love you a lot." Me: "I love you a lot too." D: "I love you one more."

He has also recently threatened to put me in time out for saying the word crazy, and on December 26, he said "I love you" spontaneously to me for the first time...it was awesome.  Now I get to hear it all the time!

Trash for a Cure Fundraiser!

HI!  It's been a while, I know...but one of my New Year's Resolutions is to be better with blogging.  And so here is the first attempt at keeping that promise.  So....without further ado...

TRASH FOR A CURE.

What is this, you ask?  Only the easiest and most perfect fundraiser EVER.  See, there is an awesome company called TerraCycle that will take hard-to-recyclables and upcycle or recycle them: things like Malt-O-Meal cereal bags, etc.  And they will GIVE YOU MONEY for said items.  .01-.02 cents per item to the charity of your choice.  They even pay the shipping so you can get the items to them.  This is a win-win all around!  Money for charity, they get stuff for their products, and the earth doesn't have to take a bag that will NEVER.EVER.ROT.

This project makes my heart sing!

SO: Trash for a Cure.  We are going to gather hard-to-recycle items to send to TerraCycle to raise money for SMARD research at the Jackson Laboratory.  Now, 2 cents may not seem like much, but if we can make this big, it can make a real difference in finding a cure for Dakin. 

Anyone can help, anywhere in the country!  Are you interested?  Here's how!

1.  You can choose an item group to gather (talk to friends, host a drive through a church or scout or any kind of other group), get a bunch of it, and send it in to TerraCycle through our group account (again, TerraCycle pays shipping, so this is free!!)

2.  If you are local to the East Texas area, you can choose to gather or host a drive for all of these items and give them to me and I will ship them!

If you are interested in organizing a drive, I will have flyers available early next week--just let me know!

SO WHAT KIND OF ITEMS CAN WE GATHER?

You can choose any one or more of the following, or all of them if you are local to the East Texas area!

1.  Candy wrappers: individual candy wrappers, large candy bags, and multi-pack candy bags.

2.  Cereal bags: Malt-O-Meal, Three Sisters, Bear River Valley, Isabel's Way, Sally's brand cereal bags, and any other bagged cereal.

3.  Oral care items:  toothpaste tubes, toothpaste caps, tooth brushes, floss containers.

4.  Drink pouches: aluminum drink pouches, plastic drink pouches.

5.  Personal care and beauty items: lipstick cases, mascara tubes, eye shadow cases, shampoo bottles, conditioner bottles, bronzer cases, foundation packaging, body wash containers, soap tubes, soap dispensers, lotion dispensers, saving foam tubes, powder cases, lotion bottles, chapstick tubes, lotion tubes, face soap dispensers, face soap tubes, face lotion bottles, face lotion jars, eyeliner cases, eyeliner pencils, eyeshadow tubes, concealer tubes, concealer sticks, lipliner pencils, hand lotion tubes, hair gel tubes, hair paste jars.

So, as you can see, there is a TON of stuff from which you can choose to collect if you are out of town, or all of them in the East Texas area.  And remember, all the proceeds from this fundraiser will go to SMARD research at the Jackson Laboratory.  Trash for a Cure is an easy, eco-friendly and fun way to cure SMARD!  I hope you will join us as we help collect Trash for a Cure!

Any questions:  email poundoutsma@gmail.com

Jingle Bell

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Tree Farm

Again...so behind.  Oh well.  I am attempting to catch up before the end of the year!  So we dug out our trusty old fake Christmas tree on Black Friday--the day we usually set it up--only to find it was missing two legs.  Uh, no.  So we decided to head out to a tree farm and get the real deal. 

This little tree farm was absolutley perfect.  It was cold that day, but sunny and beautiful, and Dakin (kind of) enjoyed getting a tree.  Here is Dakin with Mommy and Nana.

 I wanted a nice pic of Dakin in front of the trees, but he just wouldn't smile.  I only got this half-smile when I told him that Santa doesn't come to boys who don't smile.  (TERRIBLE.  I KNOW).

 Dakin's favorite part was watching me saw down the tree.  See how cute and little ours is??  Since Nana is here and occupying the part of the living room where we would ordinarily put it, we got this little guy to go on the table. 

This was such a neat experience.  The people at the farm were lovely, the day was beautiful, and Dakin got to see where Christmas trees come from, grown on a local farm.  Loved it!!  And we will definitely be making this a tradition from now on!



Strolling for SMARD Sponsors

So, Strolling for SMARD was, like, 2.5 months ago. Yeah.  I am a HUGE slacker.  I have been incredibly busy with the Disney trip and all the holidays, but that doesn't excuse me from talking about the amazing sponsors that helped us raise FIVE THOUSAND dollars for SMARD research.  Here are the others I didn't mention before.  I hope they know how very, very grateful I am to them. 


Camille's Sweet Treats (AMAZING pies, custom cakes and yummy stuff!): (903) 653-1078
Elegant Tan & Boutique (Spray tans, tanning beds and boutique with SUPER cute stuff!): (903) 653-1501
Top Nails: (903) 295-7488
Tire Barn: (903) 297-1890
5S Rentals (Party and event rental--they provided all our tables and chairs for free!): (903) 295-6666
Papacita's Mexican Restaurant: (903) 663-1700
El Rincon Mexican Restaurant: (903) 295-0506
Brookshires White Oak: (903)-297-9896
Kindred Kreations (custom, handmade jewelry!): Facebook Page
271 Wreckers/Auto Salvage (If they don't have what you need, they will find it!): (903) 845-4265
Velvet Moon (Boutique with amazing home decor and clothing!): (903) 297-9580
Shipp's Marine (Maritime supply store): (903) 845-3246
The Cutting Edge (Hair salon): 903-295-0735