Summer Gem

She can be a super sweet little gal when she and I have all afternoon to play together!

Edie's First Piano Recital

Edie started taking piano lessons in late October. We are lucky to have a wonderful piano teacher and neighbor, Sayuri, just two houses down the street from us. I was worried that Edie was starting too young, and in truth she probably could have waited a year or two, but it's been great to have her learn. I have watched her begin to read and play notes and use both hands, and realize how much coordination it requires. I bought the last piano book I had been playing when I stopped taking lessons and decided I need to keep playing to keep my brain functioning!

Sayuri held a recital for her students a week ago. There were over 20 people and Edie was the youngest (and least experienced) student, and she was selected to play first. Chris and I could see how nervous she was when she saw the crowd and realized what was about to happen. I thought she might back down or make me sit with her. But she found her composure and walked up, sat down and played. Short and sweet!

It was a long day at the beach....

Gemma's First Graduation

Gemma began attending a toddler playgroup/day care in September. This amazing program has been run for years by a woman named Dieke, and everyone refers to this program as "Dieke's House." Dieke runs her group to match the public school calendar (a HUGE bonus). Six children, all 2-years old, attend M-W-F and six different children attend T-Th. I am always in awe of Dieke - she manages these wild toddlers with complete love and a firm hand. She lets them draw, paint, and practice all kinds of crafts. She helps them master puzzles, songs, and dances and exercises. She reads to them and lets them play outside in her lovely backyard whenever the weather allows it. And, if that wasn't enough, Dieke feeds the children incredible hot lunches (she bakes her own bread!) and helps potty train them. My goodness, I would love Gemma to stay with her for another year or two!

Initially, I was nervous about sending Gemma to Dieke's House, wondering how she would cope being away from me and with a group of five other children. That lasted about a week. Gemma has blossomed under Dieke's care, and has made great strides in sharing, cooperative play and impulse control. Gemma will always remember her sweet playgroup friends: Emma, Clara, Julianna, Noah and Henry.

Last week, Dieke held a "graduation party" for the kids. She helped the children make caps and gowns and then both groups of children got together for a potluck lunch with their parents, and they each received their diplomas. And, get this, Dieke sewed these adorable dresses for the girls and the shorts and matching shirts for the boys.

I don't think I need to add how much we will miss Dieke.

Happy Father's Day

Chris had hoped to go fishing on Father's Day, but the weather looked stormy and he didn't want to risk going down with the ship (see previous post) so soon. The girls thought that a good game of miniature golf would be just the thing. So, we headed down to good old Wild Animal Lagoon in Yarmouth. I think we were the first customers of the day!

The Agony and the Ecstasy

Let me tell you a bit about Gemma. I describe her in the following ways: spitfire, relentless, hilarious, rambunctious, infuriating, extroverted, stubborn, determined, friendly, inquisitive, life of the party, future Mayor of Newton, and, the word I use most often.... EXHAUSTING. I don't know whether it's because I am pushing 50 or pushing my personal kid tolerance limit with 3 children, but I am counting the days until kindergarten. And there are over 750 of them.

But to provide a more detailed update on Gemma - she has almost finished her year at Dieke's House where she has become fast friends with the five other children she sees everyone Monday, Wednesday and Friday in her toddler playgroup. Gemma is a popular with other children, but can be a bit of a terror when she doesn't get her way.


She has matured so much over the past year, however, and does share nicely (most of the time), and she loves to be around other children, especially older children (all of the time). She started a bit slowly with her verbal skills, but she blossomed almost overnight and now speaks in paragraphs - as in she never stops talking - and she has great pronunciation. She is very physically active and is not afraid of much. Because she hangs out on the elementary school playground so much, she quickly eschewed the preschool equipment in favor of towering slides, monkey bars and big kid swings where she never feels she is pushed high enough. She loves to play with boys as well as girls, and proudly walks down the halls at Edie's school calling out her hellos to other students, teachers and even the principal. The fifth grade girls love her.


Gemma is on the small side, but not nearly as petite as Edie was at this age. She eats pretty much anything, but she favors things like strong cheeses, olives, foie gras, rich sauces - you get the picture. She has been known to eat a 1/2 pound of lox in one sitting. She even eats all kinds of vegetables which causes Edie to avert her eyes, since Edie is veggie-phobic for the most part and hates to see her little sister shame her.

The days with Gemma are long, but never boring. She will fight to get the most out of each day... and I do mean fight. She squirms and complains and laughs and talks until the minute she passes out into a dead sleep. Ah, it is blissful once she falls asleep. I almost leap for joy! But amazingly, when I hear her voice call out for me too early in the morning, I am still excited to go and greet her and see what she has in store for us. She is so much a light of our lives!

The first words I heard this morning

We spent the weekend at the Cape. This morning, Edie and I slept in late together and when we were waking up, she turned to me and said: "Do you know how I sometimes think about my adoption? I think I was a missing piece to a puzzle, and someone found the puzzle I belonged to and matched me to it." Wow.