Dryer Fire ---

On February 12th our dryer caught fire and threatened to burn the house down.

Jonathan was scheduled to work a third shift that night.  When he checked the dryer he noticed that his clothes had not quite finished drying, so he put them back in and pressed the button to start the dryer.  Immediately he heard and arc of electricity from the back of the dryer and the motor stopped.  He could see a whiff of white smoke from the back, so he looked around the back but could not see anything.  He checked the inside of the dryer but still did not see anything.  He felt the back of the dryer but felt no heat.  He let Jannai know what had happened, though she was already half asleep.

Jonathan went upstairs to put his shoes on and then came back downstairs to get his tablet from Eliza before leaving.  When he came downstairs he noticed about an inch of black smoke covering the entire ceiling.  Looking over at the dryer, he saw that it was engulfed in flames.  He ran closer for a moment to see how bad it was.  The flames consumed the tumbler and all the clothes within, as well as many of the clothes that were on top of the dryer.  The flames where already coming about two feet off of the dryer.  Jonathan ran to the bedroom to tell Jannai and Eliza to get out of the house.  At first they didn't know what he meant, as they were sleeping, and Jannai told Jonathan that she didn't know what was wrong with the dryer (remembering what Jonathan had previously said).  Jonathan started yelling, "I don't care, there's a fire!  Get out of the house!"

Now Jannai and Eliza noticed the smell of the smoke and got out of bed.  Jonathan asked if we had a fire extinguisher, but we did not.  Jannai started drawing water for Jonathan as Eliza went to wake Ella Grace.  Being upstairs, Ella could not yet smell the smoke.  When Eliza told her there was a fire, Ella said, "That's nice," and rolled over to go back to sleep.  Eliza then told Ella if she didn't get out of bed immediately she would punch her in the face.  At this point Ella evacuated with her sister.

With Jannai's assistance, Jonathan made four trips up and down the stairs with pitchers of water in each hand to put on the fire.  The first couple didn't seem to make much difference, and even though Jannai had already called the fire department, Jonathan felt that the fire would quickly consume the entire house if he could not get the fire down some.  The smoke was the biggest problem, and although he ran close to the ground and held his breath as much as possible, it was quickly becoming a lost cause.  On the final trip downstairs, out of breath, Jonathan gasped a few times involuntarily, but did not feel any oxygen coming in to his lungs.  As he exited the basement for the last time he ran straight into the computer table because he could no longer see through the smoke.  Running up the stairs he began yelling at Jannai to get out of the house immediately.  He tipped on the upper part of the stairs, but forced himself to continue up and out of the house.

Once outside, Jonathan looked inside the windows to see if the fire was spreading, but could not see any flicker of flames.  He wasn't sure if the smoke was just to thick to see it, but hoped that he had gotten the fire down enough to momentarily stop it's spread.  He knocked on the landladies door to inform her what was going on in case she needed to evacuate too.  She offered for the children to come over so that they wouldn't have to be outside in the cold.

When the fire department arrived there was so much smoke even on the first floor that they needed respirators to go inside.  They were able to extinguish what was left of the fire without needing their hoses.  This was a good thing because the layout of the house would not have lent itself to using hoses as the stairs are half way through the house, and the bulk head from outside to the basement is on the backside of the house (away from the street) and on the the clear opposite side of the dryer.  The firefighters hooked up large fans to the doors and began blowing the smoke out of the house, checking the oxygen levels with their instruments.  They were even good enough to remove the dryer from the house and put it in the backyard for us to dispose of later.


The EMT's took Jonathan's vitals and found his BP was 160/110 and pulse was 111.  Though his oxygen saturation was a normal 100%, as a precaution they gave him an oxygen tank and took him to L&M Hospital for smoke inhalation.  He already had a slight case of bronchitis so it was difficult to tell how much the smoke was causing him to cough or how much was the bronchitis.  He was checked out and showed no signs of carbon monoxide poisoning so he was released after an hour or so.

We were allowed to return to the house that night and despite the residue smell of smoke there was surprisingly little damage to the house, only a small burn mark on the sheet rock next to the dryer remained.  Even better was some friends who heard of the fire had a used dryer they were looking to get rid of and offered to give it to us, so we had a new dryer not two days after the fire.

The grey on his head is natural, the grey on his back is not.

We had let the fire fighters know that we didn't know where the cats where and they assured us that cats are very good at getting themselves out of harms way and that they would turn up eventually.  That night we found three of them, Fiesty, Georgia, and Cuddles, and the next morning Ciara showed up.  It appeared that none of them had left the house, and Fiesty was even found in our bedroom downstairs.  Apparently the smoke never got bad enough that he felt the need to move from where he was, though he was covered in soot, adding fire to the already long list of things that he is not afraid of.

After a few days, Jannai realized that four feet from where the dryer caught fire is our store of emergency water, about 20 gallons worth, that we'd been saving for our Disaster Preparedness Plan.  In the panic of the moment, it never occurred to anyone that we hadn't needed to run up and down the stairs to get water, all the water we could have possibly needed was sitting right there!

All in all we were quite happy with how everything turned out, as we quite possibly could have lost everything.  We also appreciated how well the family worked together in crisis and how resilient everyone proved to be in the following days.  Not that we needed any reminders on how important life and family are, but it was good to know that we were all here for each other.

Jonathan's Patriots jersey that was in the dryer at the time the fire started.

The fuse box right above the dryer.  You can see the burnt cobwebs.

Jannai celebrated Jonathan's Spidey-sense with a balloon.

The only damage done to the house.

Jonathan with raccoon eyes after unwittingly rubbing them with soot covered fingers.

Blizzard of 2013 ---

We were treated to our first blizzard in ten years, though this one was much more significant than the one of 2003.  Jannai is the only one who remembers the Blizzard of '78, which she remembers as being worse, but for everyone else this is the most snow they've seen dropped by a single storm.

The severity of the storm was particularly noticed when the power went out around 6:30 on Friday evening, as the storm began to intensify.  For us, no power means no heat as well.  The outage took out our entire block and the one next to us.  Groton Utilities was not initially sure when the power would be back up as we were the first ones to report it to them.  With the power out, we began to notice what we thought to be lightening in the distance, a rare, but not unheard of, weather phenomenon.

Jonathan took a walk around to see if it would be better to stay put or evacuate while we still could. While walking around the block, a power line shorted out overhead about ten feet ahead of him. At that point he decided it was probably best to head back indoors.  On the way, another power line shorted out in the distance, giving off a beautiful blue, green, and yellow color, followed shortly after by a shockwave that sounded like gun blast that ricocheted around the city.

Jonathan driving home from work Friday afternoon.

The family decided to stay put as the roads were still drivable, and the power was back on within two hours.  Thanks to the insulation of the house, the temperature inside and not yet dropped by a single degree.  The family was asleep while the worst of the storm hit.

Jonathan got up at 5AM to get ready for work.  It took two hours to shovel the driveway to the point that the car could be driven over the snow as there was simply too much snow to remove it all. Even this took two hours of work, and twice snow plows came by and blocked the entrance off again. There was an ice boulder that could not be broken up, about three feet wide.  Jonathan had to shovel around it and roll it out of the way. Even after all of this, Jonathan still had to rock the car back and forth several times to clear the car of the driveway.

This is still before the worst of the storm hit.

It wasn't until Jonathan got on the highway and saw the digital display on the Gold Star Bridge that read "All CT Roads Closed" that he realized there was a driving ban.  To keep from getting stuck in the snow, he reached speeds of 40mph until the car began hydroplaning on the back end of the bridge.  Route 32 was fairly drivable, although he did come across a snow plow that was stuck in a snow bank while another snow plow attempted to tow it out.

The back roads were a different matter, however, and Jonathan was thankful for the anti lock brakes. There was really only enough room for one car at a time, which became problematic when a truck with a plow came the other way and forced Jonathan to pull one side of the car into a snow bank to make room for it to pass. Thankfully the car was easily freed and he could continue, however the very next hill was the toughest of the road and it took three attempts to cope with it, twice sliding back down the way he had come. On the third attempt, the tire and skid marks left from the previous two attempts were helpful in maintaining some kind of traction, though it still took the cars full power to will it up the hill and navigate around a turn at the top.  Elated by the small victory, Jonathan was disappointed to find that the road he works on wasn't even plowed, making it physically impossible to drive.  The car was abandoned, parked on the side of the road, out of the way.  Jonathan hiked the remaining mile on foot, which was difficult as the snow came up to his knees.

Once at work, Jonathan would be there for the next 25 hours (sleeping when he could get the chance) until the roads were clear enough for relief to arrive. He was finally able to get home Sunday morning.

Eliza spent most of Saturday outside, having snow ball fights, building snow fitters, sledding, shoveling, and sleeping over at a friend's house where she watched Mary Poppins for the first time. She had a great time.

Ella Grace, and Jonathan, battled a head cold and mostly started inside, although she did get out to do some shoveling. She and Jannai enjoyed a day of doing their nails and relaxing.

On Monday, a little stir craziness began to set in, so the family went out to The Shack for breakfast and then did some shopping in New London and the Crystal Mall.  The roads were fairly drivable, and a rainfall all day helped to start washing some of the snow away, but there was a lot of compacted snow so dense that the plows could not get under it with their plows.

The corner store, we found, had run out of gas and we purchased their last gallon of available milk.  Other staples, like bread, were also noticeably absent. We're still not sure when school will resume, as it has already been canceled for tomorrow. Also, there is more snow predicted for this week.

What we here in New England call a "dusting".

Working Together ---

Ella Grace has found a new interest in cooking. She's been making us deserts which we've been enjoying. Today she made a chocolate mousse cake and later some grits for lunch. Eliza helps as long as it holds her attention.


On 11/15 the whole family enjoyed a Family Game Night (hopefully the first of many) with our Bookstudy Group. Mommy and Daddy got to introduce more of our friends to the Apples to Apples game. It wasn't too popular the first round, but after people got into it everyone enjoyed it greatly. Ella Grace had a great time playing with the adults and Eliza spent time taking orders and serving drinks, something she likes doing.

Ella Grace and Eliza had their first parent/teacher conferences and both are doing very well at school. Eliza is taking to reading with ease and enthusiasm and is already sounding words out as she sees them in day to day life. Ella Grace will soon need to decide where she would like to go for Middle School. Teachers have already invited her to come back to the Magnet School in her spare time to teach, particularly some Chinese words.

We have been over-run by cats! Each family member now has their own cat. Eliza adopted Greyhound, who has grown from kitten to Goliath-cat in about a month and a half... and he's not done growing! Ella Grace adopted Cuddles, who looks like Greyhound's kid brother, and Daddy adopted Cierra, Cuddles sister. It's all worked out as the cats have plenty of company to play with and Cuddles and Cierra engage in epic day-long kitten battles all over the house.

Daddy took a short trip to Florida this week to see Grandpa Erik and Grandma Liz and had a wonderful time. It was raining the first half of the day he was down, but he didn't mind as just being able to relax and have no worries for a day was better than any good weather. Grandpa
Erik says that Daddy looks a lot like Grandpa Karl which made Daddy happy. Daddy also saw a picture of Grandpa with a look on his face that Eliza has all the time. Very cute.

The tough economic times are, of course, having an effect on the family, however it's teaching all of us reliance on Jehovah, as we know times will get much worse before they get better. He has well trained his servants and in many ways the difficult times are only serving to draw us closer to one another.

Difficult Times Hard to Deal With ---

Sorry, no new pictures this time. Affairs have been too numerous to stop and document them. First of all Mommy was in yet another car accident last Friday and is still recovering from it to some degree. She was back to work the next Monday, but not without pain. There were no broken bones resulted from the incident, just broken cars. Both were totalled. Mommy had procured a ride to work from a co-worker and long-time friend and as they were headed to their destination they were cut off by a car that illegally attempted to cross through the intersection. Their car struck the offending car, a caravan, in it's right-side sliding door. The front of the car Mommy was traveling in was badly damaged, her side taking the brunt of the impact. Air-bags were deployed.

Daddy spent most of the day running between taking care of Mommy and providing for the kids, though help was received from Naughny-Na who took the kids for some time in the evening. Mommy spent most of that day and Saturday resting under the doctors orders. Saturday Daddy, Ella Grace, Eliza, and Naughny-Na spent at the carnival which was in town and had a great time despite the grey and damp weather. The entire family pulled together and got through the crises, each handling it in their own way.

Last week Mommy, Naughny-Na, and Daddy helped Ella Grace pull through a project she had fallen behind in at school. It took some time but in the end it was completed on time and Ella Grace was happy with the results. We still await a grade from the teacher, but regardless of what it ends up being we are proud of Ella Grace for sticking through a difficult assignment and for getting it done on time despite all the difficulties we experienced.

Through all of this Mommy's van was in the Grasso Tech automotive shop receiving much needed repairs. It took about a week and a half during which the family did well using and sharing our one remaining car, the Civic. The van is back with us now but will require some further work.

We also adopted a baby bird for about a day. It had fallen from it's nest and we suspect it may have hatched premature. We had it for about a day and were preparing to take it to someone who would know how to care for it, but sadly it died before we had the chance. From what little we learned it's an enormous amount of work to care for a baby bird, it's a full time job and very complicated. It's a credit to Jehovah's design that birds are able to do easily what is difficult for us acting only on the instinct he gave them.

In Memory of Hickory ---

It is with great sadness that we inform everyone of the passing of Hickory, one of our beloved cats.

Hickory had been diagnosed with diabetes and after several months of trying to treat it we realized that he was not getting any better and that we were only prolonging his suffering. We made the painful and difficult decision to put him to sleep so as to ease his pain.

Hickory was a good cat who liked to get into trouble when he wasn't spending time with his brother, Happy. Hickory was taken in by Mommy from a bad home when he was a kitten. He tended to be shy and often didn't like strangers, but was loyal and attached to those he knew and loved. He loved the kids and became more outgoing once they were born. Hickory tended to Mommy when she was pregnant and was always patient with the kids when they were younger, tolerating them as they learned how to care for a pet. Hickory also spoke for Happy often as Happy doesn't meow for himself much.

Our landlady was nice enough to allow us to bury Hickory in our backyard. The family often goes out to the grave to say goodbye. He is dearly missed.

Pictures of Hickory here

John, Lisa, and Layla visit Groton! ---

Wednesday through Sunday we had a lot of fun with the Yarmosh's; John, Lisa, and newest member Layla. Layla takes after both parents and we couldn't help but notice that she has John's smile.

They arrived Wednesday afternoon, Daddy and John stayed up that night playing around with Civilization just like old times. Later on they got Daddy's computer and John's computer playing Civ together (one upstairs one downstairs) to complete the reminiscence of times gone by.

Thursday was kind of a lazy day as everyone caught up on rest and got situated. The meeting was a lot of fun as the friends got to meet Lisa and Layla and we could introduce some of our newer friends in the congregation to our long time friend.

Friday we enjoyed breakfast at Oh Boy's! and took our first trip to the mall, which Lisa enjoyed. Later on in the day we enjoyed Smokey Bones for dinner. The women got great deals shopping at The Christmas Tree Store as the men window shopped Best Buy and Border's Books.

Saturday John and Daddy got haircuts while Lisa and Mommy enjoyed a morning out in service. Daddy was beginning to feel fatigued at this point, which would culminate in him getting sick that night. Mommy, Eliza, and Layla would all come down with something before long. We shopped some more at the mall as Uncle Micah joined us, catching up with his long time buddy. That night we hosted a gathering of friends including the Bliven's, Champlain's, Bailey's, and Benson's, as well as Sister Martin. Uncle Pepsi brought Scene It, a DVD board game, and everyone had a great time, even John who suffered an accidental black eye during the night!

Sunday there was one last breakfast with friends before the Yarmosh's headed back to Pennsylvania. Thanks to the Internet John and Daddy can still play Civilization together. Everyone had a great time and we are making plans for another visit sometime this summer.

Pictures here!

The Family Pulls Together ---

The last few weeks have been difficult for everybody, but as a family we've been getting through our various trials and have enjoyed each others love, company, and support.

First there was Grandpa's heart attack. Everyone was supportive and understanding as Daddy spent many a day at Yale New Haven Hospital with Grandpa, Grammie, Auntie Rissa, and Uncle Map.

Grandpa was brought to the Pequot Walk-In by Grammie and Uncle Map were he received medication in an effort to open his blocked artery. That having failed, Grandpa was then flown to Yale via the Lifestar helicopter and received a stent to open the artery. It was determined that a triple by-pass would be necessary to prevent another attack from happening in the near future. These proved to be trying days for the family as Grandpa was in a lot of pain but everyone held up and held together through it. It was impressed upon Daddy and Uncle Map that they needed to look at their own health condition more seriously.

The family enjoyed a visit by Brother Brainard, our substitute Circuit Overseer while Brother Crispen was away. Daddy had a great day out in service with Brother Brainard and felt the love and support of the congregation through the difficult times. The whole family, including Naughny, enjoyed a morning out in service with Sister Brainard as well.

Ella Grace received new glasses for reading and watching TV and has been enjoying them. She did not get them in time for her first talk but she didn't seem to need them as she did a wonderful job with it. She was relaxed and natural while giving it with Mommy and seemed as though she had been giving talks her whole life. Most importantly she was herself, fluid and natural.

Ella Grace did get her glasses before the Special Day Assembly however and enjoyed showing them to everybody. The family did well and we were able to get to the hall early as we were planning. Even though the Assembly Hall was renovated only about ten years earlier it had already become difficult to schedule everyone for Assemblies as the Organization grows quickly. While there we enjoyed association and meeting old friends. One Sister whom we did not know personally stopped us at the hotel the night before the Assembly and said that she always looked forwards to seeing what we would be wearing the next day as Mommy always does a wonderful job arranging our clothing around a particular theme. Mommy and Daddy had the privilege of helping to keep the bathrooms clean during and the session. Ella Grace and Eliza had fun running around and taking pictures in the wooded park behind the small lake on the property.

Great Grandpa fell and broke a couple of bones, so the family visited him as much as possible at the Windham Hospital were he was recovering before being moved to the Mansfield Rehabilitation Center. Ella Grace made a card for him selecting Winnie the Pooh stickers to help cheer Great Grandpa up and invited the rest of the family to join in. Eliza is writing her name now and enjoyed adding it to the card.

We also got news that Uncle Map was in the worst pain of his life regarding one of his teeth. We were glad to hear that he was doing better but it was hard to hear that he was going through so much pain.

Recently Daddy and Daddy Poppy were able to get the web-cams working between Daddy Poppy's computer and Ella Grace's. The whole family enjoyed being able to see each other live on the computer.

Through it all the family has been enjoying each others company and the time we get to spend with one another.

Pictures of the Assembly are here.

Eliza gets a boo boo, but is all right ---

Around noon today Eliza burned her right forearm on the iron, though she is okay and not seriously injured. We're not yet sure why the iron was on, although Eliza says she turned it on. We don't know if that's true or not, but Daddy did notice the iron did not seem to be up to full temperature directly after the incident.

The heat must have been radiating, because where Eliza was feeling the pain and where the burn ended up appearing where not the same place, so for the first five minutes or so ice was being applied to the wrong area. Eliza was mostly quiet through the ordeal, not initially acting as though she had been hurt, although she said that she was in a matter of fact way. After ten to fifteen minutes Eliza said the burn was not feeling any better, so Daddy brought her to Pequot to have a doctor make sure the burn wasn't severe.

It wasn't, and the doctor said it should heal itself in two to three days. He didn't feel it needed any treatment but had a dressing put on it to make Eliza happy (she had been wanting one). Before we even got to see the doctor she was jumping around again and asking to go home. Eliza missed school and spent the afternoon resting with Daddy and enjoyed pizza and ice cream.

The iron has been moved and is no longer within reach of Eliza.

Why We Left ---

Article display page - theday.com

Branford Manor is getting a bit of press lately for all the robberies that have been going on. We're glad we got out when we did. Maybe part of the problem there is that the manager said she thinks the residents exaggerated the thefts. Real nice. Kind of hard to deal with a problem you don't admit. Maybe if she had been broken into she'd feel a little more drive to get these crimes solved. But, in a place where you can complain for eight years about rot and corrosion in your bathroom and not have anything done about it....

Eliza's First Day of School! ---

IM000578
Originally uploaded by jonnierodsg.

Last Thursday was orientation, Monday was the first official day. Eliza is now at Headstart, the same program Ella Grace started with and loved, and so far Eliza loves it too. On her first day Mom and Dad were on hand, emotional, and promptly dismissed by Eliza who never looked back once arriving. Just like her big sister, Eliza took to school like a duck to water. Eliza is going on Monday through Thursdays, 12:30 - 4:00.

Pictures here.

Can't Leave Bad Enough Alone ---

IM000639
Originally uploaded by jonnierodsg.

Last night, after the meeting, Daddy and Ella Grace were sitting on the couch watching some TV when there was suddenly a loud crash outside. Daddy turned to look out the window and saw a dark car speeding by, disappearing down the road. Daddy and Ella went outside to see what had happened, as did three other neighbors, and found that the driver had slammed into the side of Daddy's Volkswagon (the one that had just been fixed when the wheel had come off of the other side about a month ago). The rim is destroyed and there's a lot of cosmetic damage done to the left rear paneling. Whoever the jerk was who hit the car never came back to claim responsibility.

The police took information, but there's little chance of catching the guy at this point. We're trying to make arrangements to have the car fixed as soon as possible, and the insurance company and police where notified immediately.

The impact was hard enough to move the car sideways a little so it looks as though it had been parked by a drunk person. We're still waiting on the insurance company to have a look at it, and Daddy doesn't want to make any repairs until they do.

Movin' On Up ---

IM000156
Originally uploaded by jonnierodsg.

Most of you already know this, but we will be moving out of the slums this September across town to a much nicer, and bigger, half of a duplex. For the first time as a family we will have a basement, and our own bedrooms. The extra space alone should make daily life more enjoyable, plus we have a fenced backyard for the kids.

As part of the deal we're painting the inside in trade for the washer and dryer downstairs, and the oil in the tank, so many a day has already been spent in the house working on it.

Eliza is ready to move already and is inconsolable when we have to leave for the day.

The picture is smudgy because there was a smudge on the lense when taken, which has since been removed.

The Camera Returns ---

Family05 018
Originally uploaded by jonnierodsg.

For awhile we've been without camera. The digital camera we had bought wasn't working and we really couldn't figure out why. It had been sitting peacefully with no one bothering it and just stopped working. Come to find out it was because we were using regular batteries and the camera didn't like that, it wanted to be fed with rechargables. We obliged and now the pictures can flow once again. To view pictures that were being stored on the camera all this time click here.

Rodgers Sweet Tooth ---

It seems that Eliza has inherited the Rodgers' Sweet Tooth, which was actually first evidenced when Jannai was pregnant with her, Jannai developed a rabid appetite for sugar heavy foods, something she did not experience when pregnant with Ella Grace. With Ella it was all vegetables, which Ella ate in abundance once born. Eliza on the other hand, while enjoying healthy foods as well, craves candy above all else. Most every morning she wakes up and the first word out of her mouth is, "Candy." She's taken to hording and stealing candy lately, any which way she can. To make matters worse, she doesn't suck on the candy to enjoy all it's flavor, she chews it and moves on to the next one, meaning she cannot be left alone with a bag of it. Fortunately she does enjoy good foods as well, so it's not too hard to redirect her grazing habits, it's just a matter of keeping any and all candy under lock and key, and keeping an eye on her.

Rodgers On The Move---

Jannai picked up a remote controlled car the other day, something she'd been wanting for some time now. Ella Grace seems to be enjoying it more, though, as she tears up the parking lot with the big-wheeler, jumping curbs on and off the sidewalk with it. Ella Grace has also been spending time at Naughny's and Daddy Poppi's, last night completing her third consecutive sleep-over, making good use of her time off of school.

Eliza has taken her long-distance running up a notch as she enjoys running away from her family at almost every opportunity. She seems to like being chased, and so far no amount of reasoning with her is disuading her from the activity, so she's had to be quarentined inside for intervals of time to get her to stop. She is cute when she's caught, however. As she's walked back to the house by hand she droops her head low in a look of defeat.

Boo Boo's ---

Eliza took a particularly nasty spill out of her car seat the other day and gave her nose and upper lip a good scratching. The poor thing couldn't even smile yesterday because it hurt to do so. :( But with some vitamin-e it's healing up. Thankfully she's not scheduled for any pictures.

Eliza is also counting objects now, though by her own number system. "One, two, three, six, eight, nine..."

Like Fathers, Like Daughters ---

Eliza seems to be picking up some of Daddy's traits, one of which is that she seems to be a little more emotionally fragile than Ella Grace. She's taken to running into the corner to cry when she's upset or frustrated. Fortunately she's relatively easy to comfort, so long as you see to it that she is comforted, she will not take the initiative, as Daddy remembers not doing either. She also seems to be developing the Rodgers humor as she likes playing jokes on people and really enjoys being teased. It's amazing to see at such a young age how often she gets the joke.

Ella Grace is continuing to do well at school and with her reading. She still loves reading to the family and has taken it upon herself to deliver the mail when it comes as she can now read everybodies names.

Illness strikes ---

Ella Grace has come down with what so far is a mild case of bronchitis, and we're trying to keep it that way. She visited the doctor this morning and has started taking some medicines to help. Her temperature did top a little over 104 this morning, so we have been concerned, but it seems that she should be okay now that we know what it is. She was very fatigued yesterday at school and when I showed up for her enrichment class they thought I had showed up to take her home! She slept pretty much the rest of the day, but then began to develop a fever. She is resting comfortably now and is getting lots and lots of sleep.

A Day in the Life ---

Wow. Been far too long since the last post. Especially with how these girls grow.

Both Ella and Eliza have grown phenomenally in the last six months. Eliza has greatly increased in almost all ways her understanding of the world around her and her ability to manipulate it. She still loves food, it is her favorite thing. We have been teaching her sign language to help her communicate when her tongue won't do what she wants it to do (we can tell she's trying to say much much more, but just can't get it to come out) and she spends a great deal of her day signing "more food" to us. She's also discovered television and, like her mother and sister before her, is capable of becoming completely mezmerized by it. Eliza likes to play games now, mostly her own version of Simon Says. She's showing a great mechanical aptitude like her older sister, and loves to dance to music.

Ella Grace has begun to get the hang of reading. It's the first thing she's come across at school that she wasn't instantly good at, but she's now learning how to deal with that aspect of life quite nicely. Far from avoiding the subject completely as she had done in the past, she is now very interested in reading and does so whenever she can, either reading to us or reading along we read to her. Her collection of books is greatly increasing, and as Eliza likes to look at books they are spending more and more time together with them.

Elizasaurous ---

Eliza has six teeth in now, and has very quickly found other uses for them than just eating food. When Eliza is tired of people holding her hand, she gently places their hand in her mouth... and chomps with all her might! Her favorite target is the back of people's hands. So stealthfully does she move, her victims rarely know they've been targeted until they are struck.