the zoo

Maximus is doing well.  He is his happy self.  

We have been back a couple of times for follow up appointments.  They remove the bandages and I see dark skin, splotchy skin, cuts and marks and they say, "Oh, it looks good."  So, I guess the surgery worked and his left thumb will have more movement and his right pinky is not getting pulled as much.  

But his hands look so different from each other.  His right fingers look long and skinny and his left fingers look so short and stubby.  The scars on web spacing seem to be creeping up and the fingers are getting curled down.  And I guess we are supposed to stretch it into the right shape.  No pressure here, right?  

 And meanwhile... the summer goes on.  We have new airlines tickets for the 10th of August.  The kids are missing their first days of school.  Neither one of them seem heart broken about it.  Maybe it's because we are packing in as many memories as we can and doing things we can't do in Kauai like go to the dollar movies, or the amusement park, or big malls, or yummy Mexican food, or museums, or the zoo.  We actually hit the zoo before the second surgeries.  But I just barely downloaded the photos.  Because that's kind of how the summer has been.

These were good memories.  

Maximus watching sea creatures.  With the contrast of his pressure gloves with the blue water background.

The full shot.  I lost one of those sandals somehow on a road trip to Logan.  And I lost one of another pair on a walk to the grocery store.  And he wore through his last pair.  I mourned it for a little while.  Especially the hand me downs.  Maybe silly, but I just love it when something like a little leather sandal is quality and timeless enough that several little kids get to wear them.  But I guess I know how to lose a nice shoe just as easily as I can lose a crappy shoe.  hehe.

I know that there is a sciency explanation for why this cute polar bear's head is so far from his body, but since I am not a scientist, I just think it is plain funny.

I have been taking photos here ever since I knew what photos were.  And now I have a whole family to compare to apes.  

 My Samuel boy.  He seems to be at an age where sometimes I expect him to act so much older and sometimes I am so sad that he is already so old.  He still gets embarrassed in front of a camera.

 My Eva girl.  She does know what to do for a camera.  Still so innocent yet so mature in so many ways.  Her sense of humor is really budding and she makes me laugh all the time.

These two have been getting their photos taken on this elephant trunk since they were so tiny.  I made them climb pose here.  I am excited to find the old photos to compare.  I love doing that.

So, Maximus is healing.  Maybe not in the best way.  But I hope it will get better.  Hope hope hope.  And nothing like a trip to the zoo to remind me how much older my kids are getting.