Surgery and the return of Bear-Bear

Genevieve had surgery three weeks ago to correct a deformity in her left thumb. It went shockingly well, so much that, not a tear was shed from the time we entered the hospital to when we arrived home. God was so good to spare Genevieve from a traumatic experience! The surgeon informed us that she apparently walked herself into the O.R. and even laid herself down on the operating table before being put under. Pretty amazing, this girl is! Apparently she is such an extrovert that she'd go and hang out with the strange-looking grown-ups in green pajamas and masks, rather than stay with her own parents!

As you can see in the picture, her little hand had to be wrapped up until the stitches healed. Unfortunately, about an hour of getting home from the hospital, with her hand still totally numbed up, Genevieve deftly unwrapped it, and plucked a stitch right out. Back to the doctor we went!

And through it all, you know who was always there for Genevieve? (Assuming her Almighty Father in Heaven, of course!), her trusty and faithful Bear-Bear. . .. A floppy little pink bear whom Genevieve sleeps next to, shares her breakfast with, puts under her shirt and pretends is her unborn baby. And dear Bear-Bear, though Philip and I couldn't, accompanied her into the operating room and comforted her when we couldnt. I'm deeply grateful for him, though he causes me much trouble. . . . i.e. losing approximately one hour of my every-day searching for him under our couch cushions, in kitchen cabinets and our bushes outside when he's been misplaced.

Poor, dear bear-bear...We lost him at the orthopaedist's office just two weeks after Eve's surgery. I really cant even go into the details of how heart-wrenching this was for Genevieve, because its possible I'll start crying (again). But amazingly, after a week of searching, I found a new and identical Bear online!

We told her he would be arriving in the mail, and as we ran today to the mailbox to get him, Eve began chanting as we went, "I tiss Bear. I tiss Bear" (Her "k"s come out as "t"s.) :-)

And here's their sweet, long-awaited reunion:

A joyous day indeed!

Books and Music

Marielle attempting to impart her love of books on her baby brother.

A few weeks ago, Marielle began expressing a desire to "fly into the book" she is reading. This girl loves books, to be sure. And I think she reads them not just for the enjoyment of a good story, but also as direct fuel for her imagination. Yesterday, as we were reading Blueberries for Sal, which is illustrated in black-and-white, she very seriously informed me, "Its just a book; if you fly into it, it wont be black-and-white anymore".

Lately in her pretend world, Marielle has take on the roles of:
-an "angel of the Lord"
-a brave, young girl who walks on a high-wire (we can only hope that she keeps reality in check with this one!)
-a princess-wife (a phrase she coined herself),
-Mary-the-mother-of-Jesus (thus her doll has permanently taken the name of Jesus, in which someone is regularly wondering around calling out, "Where is baby Jesus!?";
-various older girl cousins whom she greatly admires;

-and often goes to a "land of horses called Christophi", and rides her favorite horse that she calls "Chumby".

Marielle also is spending much of her days donned in hand-me-down ballet costumes, and had the honor of attending her first dance class with her cousin Isabelle, on a bring-a-friend day. She was so full of fierce joy when she came home that she was actually speechless. Everytime I asked her about it, she would grab me and hug me choke-hold around the neck, but not utter even a word about it! I'm assuming she had a life-changing time at this ballet class.

Marielle has very eclectic taste for her dancing-music. From "Everything that has breath praise the Lord", to "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure, she is often found dancing wildly and hopping around the room with remarkably-fast and coordinated footwork that seems more akin to Irish folk dancing (think Riverdance) than actual ballet. Recently during her weekly dance to the aforementioned "Friday I'm in Love" she called out vehemently, "This is what Ballerinas LOOOOVE to Dance to!". . . . I'm inclined to agree..at least the ballerinas in this household. :-)