Cont.

Luke:  Oh, I went down south for to see my Sal, singin' Polly Wolly Doodle Lemonade!.....Mom, what does Polly Wolly Doodle Lemonade mean?

Me :  I'm not sure, but I think it's actually Polly Wolly Doodle All the Day

Luke:  No, it's definitely Lemonade.  I like this lemonade song, but it's pretty silly.

One-of-a-Kind

For those who spend any time with our family, you know that our sweet little Luke can sometimes be quite a challenge.  Along with his fun, sports-loving, happy side, there is a shy, scared, won't-let-go-of-my-leg side that can try our patience.  To be perfectly fair about this particular character trait, he comes by it honestly, as Clayton and I are both of the rather shy sort ourselves.  Luke is full if silly little quirks, like biting his nails until they bleed, putting on five pairs of socks at the same time, talking in his own language, and hoarding his belongings under the blankets in his bed (although I've explained to him many times that they are his toys and books to begin with, and they will still be his on the bookshelves and in the toy bins).  We have only met one other two-year-old with the passion for tennis that Luke has, and the two of them were quite a sight:  hitting balls back and forth to each other at the tennis courts with the seriousness of a championship match in a Grand Slam.    On the lighter side of things, this age of toddler-turn-preschooler has got to be the best for hilarious sayings and mispronunciations.  Luke's latest funnies include:  (1) hand sanitizer = "hand appetizer"  (2) spaghetti = "super-ghetti"  (3) "I don't think I can go in the potty until my peanut grows bigger like Dad's"  (4) ice cream = "scream"  (5) "We can't leave the pool yet; I'm smokin' hot still!"  Sometimes I think his way of saying something is so cute, I don't have the heart to correct him, and other times he says something incorrectly just because he knows I'll laugh.  I love how he calls Audrey "honey" just like I do, how he sings to himself when he's supposed to be sleeping in bed, and how he yells at me to "run faster!" when I'm dragging my heels while pushing the kids in the jogging stroller.  His oddities remind me that we all have our own, and he definitely helps me appreciate the little things in life.  Of course, we wouldn't want to leave Audrey out of all of this individuality appreciation business.  If any one-year-old I know has personality, she does.  She automatically dances whenever she hears music, even hymns at church.  She loves trying to do whatever Luke is doing, and she can definitely hold her own during a sibling spat.  Her few words (like "Dad", "Yes", and "Uh-oh") are said with such inflection, it just makes me want to burst out laughing.  If things aren't going her way, she throws her head back with her hand on her forehead, oozing all the drama she can muster.  Although her new-found walking skills are cute in and of themselves, I will miss her bum-in-the-air "crawl," where she only touches the ground with her hands and feet.  I'm sure all kids have their own uniqueness, but each one of ours is definitely one-of-a-kind. 

 

Adjustments

No one in our family is very good with change.  This is being written by the girl who broke into tears just before beginning middle school and high school, along with numerous other events.  Needless to say, moving from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to the suburbs of Detroit was a big change.  We immediately wanted to run away from the quick-paced, drive fast (and far), no more Superstore, big-city atmosphere.  Come on, it takes a little while to get used to the turn-right-to-go-left thing called the "Michigan left."  Luke and I (Audrey is a tough native Detroiter) had the easy adjustments, while Clayton was not only in a different country and city, but in a new medical system with different measurements, abbreviations, lingo, and types of cases (Ex.: he saw more gunshots here in one day than in 4 years in Canada).  He dove in like a pro, but he seemed to have lost what exactly it was about Medicine that attracted him in the first place.  Time passed.  Our beautiful little Audrey was born, overcoming initial medical problems and leaving us with an overwhelming feeling that we have a lot to be thankful for.  We made friends.  We sampled local restaurants, played at nearby parks, and dreamed of the day when we would move far, far away from Detroit.  Around our year anniversary of moving here (June), we started to realize that a lot had changed since the year before.  Almost unbelievably, Clayton's work schedule did improve.  He was actually starting to like being a doctor!  Our amazingly beautiful lake-front park opened for the season, complete with beach, pool, splashpark, etc.  Loving and generous families visited and tried not to comment on the tiny bathroom, and they paid for us to visit them.  As we walked down the streets near our house, we started to really appreciate Grosse Pointe for what it is:  a wonderful place to raise a family.  Aside from being so close to Detroit city limits, Grosse Pointe is almost like a world apart--a safe, tight-knit community where you bump into friends every time you go into the grocery store.  That being said, you had better be looking your best at the grocery store.  Wikipedia.com says of the area, "Grosse Pointe has been frequently referenced in television, film, and literature, often as an icon of wealth and luxury.  Grosse Pointe is known for a very preppy lifestyle, including dress, auto, and homes.  The classic 'preppy/old money' style is extremely popular in the area."  Popular culture might explain things a little bit more:  Jeffrey Eugenides's popular novels The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex were both set here, as was the film Grosse Pointe Blank.  The pilot Maggie McConnell from Northern Exposure was from Grosse Pointe, along with preppy Brad from Nickelodeon's Hey Dude (one of my favorite childhood t.v. shows).  If you aren't familiar with any of those, don't worry.  You can just imagine us sticking out like a sore thumb with our flower-beds filled with weeds, lawn chairs on the front porch, lack of private school uniforms in our children's closets, and no membership to the yacht club.  However, we are really starting to feel a growing fondness for our temporary home.  Our plans and dreams still include moving far away, but we plan to enjoy ourselves while we're here, and I'm sure we'll miss it a lot when we leave.  

Summer in Review

Just in case you missed it, here is a quick recap of what we've been up to this summer:  backyard fun, Missouri in May, zoo trips, beach, pool, splash park, touring church sites in July, Montana in August, Audrey's first birthday.  Aaaaahhhhh, summer.

      

                        

Taking the Plunge

I swore I wouldn't do it, and now I've gone and done it!  I started a blog.  Well, hopefully this will give me a place to show off all the cute pics of my kids to anyone who wants to see.