Blen is 2!

Blen turned two years old yesterday! Daddy, Joel, Blen & I celebrated with a picnic at Millenium park. We chased seagulls - Blen would spot one, then ask: "Ready?" & we'd run until the gull had a narrow escape. repeat. repeat. This activity brought Blen & I to the splash pad where she fearlessly ran through water tunnels and waited for large buckets of water to fill and spill to the ground. Luckily the water never poured directly on her head, while she's fearless, 23lbs isn't much to withstand that torrent!

We ended the evening at home eating cake with our neighbors, Mary(7), Alan(3), Timmy(1.5), & Makenna(9). Blen's cake was covered with her favorite treat, fruit snacks.

She also celebrate in style this past Sunday with her cousin Brandon who turned 8. The whole family was there & Boompa led the singing. Blen blew out all candles & after two re-lights, Brandon held her back so he could blow & make his wish.

Thank you, El Shaddai, for this precious gift to us.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl. And many more...

May moments

One world, One Heart, & Hair

I'm(Wendy, which will be made clear soon)so proud to announce I 'did' Blen's hair today! Did as in 2" twists extending from her scalp. My goal was the seven sections ended to look like a crown of hair (kinda like she had a headband on, but of little ponies instead) all thanks to my girlfriend Kristie-proud mama of Ethiopian beauty, Tarikua(TARR-Rea-Kwa), who shared a utube link to African hiarstyling. btw, Blen does NOT thank Kristie.
Many African American women have threatened our lives if we destroy Blen's hair. Apparently Shiloh?, Brangelina's African dtr, has hair that is dried & fried, I'm starting to appreciate the complexity of this hair, so foreign to mine.

My dad currently has home health aides as well as Hospice nurses that visit daily. All are amazing African American women with hearts and humor that brighten his day. My mother has inquired to each of hair tips, and guidance. It's great we women can all universally bond over this. That brings us to the picture you see with this post. I was visiting my parents(as was my Aunt & Uncle from Colorado) when Grace, a gorgeous Hospice nurse full of smiles and open arms, arrived to help my dad. She saw Blen and exclaimed, "Oh looky here, you're doin good, momma, her hair looks just right". I had an African American woman in an store specializing in various hair care products once tell me, "honey, y'all think greasy hair is a bad thing, when our hair looks greasy, it means it's healthy and we're doing something right!" So, this compliment from Grace was outstanding. I mentioned to her I was mainly putting a barette or two in the sides of her hair for now since it was too short for much else. She immediately said, "well, let's see". We spent the next 20min putting microscopic ponies in Blen's hair, stopping only b/c I ran out of everything I had; the little rubberbands, then barrettes, then clips. Blen cried so hard John woke from his post work-weekend slumber and thought she was in need of medical attention, which, ironically, Grace could've gived. Instead, she said, "don't worry, she'll cry, but you keep it up 'cause you don't want her to get tender-headed". Really? Isn't that a nice way of saying, "she needs to learn how to suck it up"?

During our styling/Blen's tirade, my Uncle Ken took video. Hours later, after Grace had left and shared her hairstyling expertise, he said, "that was so wonderful to see. I couldn't have imagined two women from such different backgrounds sharing such a wonderful thing. I hope soon, my reaction will be unheard of, that race, culture, won't matter, it will be natural to everyone to interact like that and share simple, basic, moments like that". I learned awhile back my great uncle was racist, I never heard any of that firsthand, but what a long way my family has come.

So, today, Blen screamed and writhed in my torturous grip. I eventually strapped he into the highchair. Early on she began pleading for daddy, who was running errands. Even fruit snacks didn't distract her. After ~45min and re-doing each small twisting 'braid' at least 3x,we were done. Immediately, she reached to hug me and wouldn't losen her grip(maybe hoping to prevent any more attention to her hair). I called my mom to share my amazing accomplishment. Five minutes into our conversation, Blen had fallen fast asleep. This was shortly after 11am, she doesn't usually nap until ~2pm. It's safe to say we were both exhausted.

Well, I'd better go wash my hair 'cause it is getting greasy after nearly two days. Then today I need to buy more product for Blen's hair since it's not greasy enough most days. It's comforting to know, in this crazy world, women can always bond over hair.

Fearless & Fancy

Ah, summer. Blen is enjoying it all. She loves playing outside (since day 1 home, even the snow didn't slow her down). Her favorite water activity is to be 'dunked' under water, "(a)gain" and "(a)gain", also to be pulled around like a motorboat. She's also mastered bubble blowing.

She is a typical kid - you can never push her long enough on the swing; sand goes directly on her hair-in buckets; she can't reach the peddles but still rides her ticycle and big wheel down the sidewalk-chasing her brother; she loves to climb up the ladder to our treehouse, then sits on top of slide and says "weeee" until she is acknowledged -then slides down and starts again; she loves to "smell" flowers-blows on them instead of breathing in; she tolerates going for bikerides on a seat behind dad, but quickly begins kicking him, often, when she's "all done".

Her vocabulary has grown considerably. She'll now repeat almost any words requested. She continues to be a good eater and sleeps ~12hrs each night.

She daily asks for her "pretty" - a barrette in her hair. Whenever she is told she looks/is pretty, she'll immediately point to the side of her hair the barrettes typically sit. While her "pretties" are just that, she has no idea what a beautiful girl SHE is. I continue to melt whenever she smiles and those smiles are happening more frequently each day.