It’s been a week! Wyatt is finding his voice more and more everyday, and I am so thankful for this. Also, I was sort of unprepared for the onslaught of words and constant chatter! I was a quiet kid; I am a quiet adult. My husband was a chatty kid, and a chatty adult – it appears our son is like his father. And I am glad and thankful but some days, I just need to find some quiet corner and peace out for a minute. Fun backstory: Billy and I met in fourth grade, when we were in the same class. I was super quiet, never said a peep. Billy got in trouble constantly for talking. So, our teacher put us at the same double desk assuming that Billy might stop talking if he sat next to the quietest kid in the class. Didn’t stop Billy from talking to me, but I did get pictures drawn for me everyday in return. I wish I still had one of them! He also used to ask me for my lunch and being the timid kid that I was, I gave it to him. He never demanded it, just politely asked if I was going to eat my whatever it was that he wanted, and I handed it over.

Billy also treated himself to a critter – a ghost mantis. I was not super enthused about this critter actually, at first. I like bugs but outside, not in as a pet. Plus, I thought it looked sort of creepy. Then it arrived, and it won me over. (however the centipede that was in our bedroom yesterday made me run screaming..so still not a fan of all bugs..)

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We have a terrarium all set up for it in my office but right now it is too tiny to go in there. I guess it wouldn’t be able to find it’s food! So for now it lives in a little glass jar with a mesh top. We named it Poe. When it gets bigger it will look like a leaf! I mean, I guess it looks like one now but it is tiny and hard to see.

I listened to a podcast the other day, Our Numinous Nature, where the host Philippe talks about being a person who gets excited about all the small things, all these critters and wonders of nature, and how sometimes you might feel weird but really who cares? As you can imagine, I identified so hard with this. And it is one thing I really want to teach Wyatt, to be curious, to look closely at the world around us, to ask questions. To not care what people think and just be himself. He will have a harder row to hoe with his disability, I know this, but I want him to feel proud and confident and feel free to pursue what makes him happy. And if he wanted to be an artist and nature writer when he grows up, I would totally support that… hint hint Wyatt. (I kid, I want him to do whatever he wants as long as he is happy and kind)

Speaking of art, my dad got him an easel for Easter and he got a chance to use it yesterday. We have been doing free paint Fridays together, and we are enjoying it. I put music on, we sit at the table, and we both work on our own painting projects. My brother has actually been painting with his daughter at night too, and I love this. Art, like nature, is something I always want to be accessible to our family.

Billy and I have been watching The Irregulars all week. It is so good, although the connection to Sherlock is very thin. In fact, it is almost basically a completely re-imagined world of Sherlock Holmes so far removed I wouldn’t even call it a Sherlock show. However, if you can look past that, and enjoy television shows that have paranormal/supernatural themes, then you might like it, because Sherlock stuff aside, it is a fun show to watch. We are also watching a lot of the YouTube channel Weed Em’ and Reap. I for sure want a goat now. Why are they so cute!! This family has a farm right in the middle of their suburb in Arizona and that blows my mind. My city won’t let us do anything cool like that. And they have a Luna too! They have other animals too, geese and chickens and pigs, but the main focus is definitely the goats. You can find them here.

Well, I better start getting ready for the day. I have to pick up groceries, drop off my niece’s birthday gift, and meet my brother at my mom’s to help pack up her house that we are getting ready to put on the market for her. Busy busy all day.

What have you been up to?