... is walk. That's what Jonah would say if he could talk. He does say it too in his own way, humming insistently over and over, twirling his wrists, lifting his arms, and sometimes turning red. That's his way of saying, "walk me places." He loves it when we hold his hands and let him decide where he wants to go. He can't get enough of it. Even when he is exhausted and should be sleeping, he will want to walk some more.
Yesterday I put a first pair of real shoes on him. I got them from my boss. They are actually little Nikes. How funny is that? Jonah thought wearing shoes was odd and fascinating. I wheeled him over to the Rhododendron garden, which is gorgeous right now, by the way and after his nap, we fed some ducks. A little songbird came near for some crumbs too and so did a squirrel. But the squirrel, I'm sorry to say, was pretty dumb and couldn't even find the crumbs we threw on the ground for it right in front of its face. Jonah then chased all the fowl away when he decided to approach them. They weren't that scared though. The ducks just moved a couple of feet away, their heads poking out of the ground cover. Funny, funny birds.
In other developments, April has been a month of travel planning! A friend of mine is visiting from Thailand. We are meeting up today!!!! And going to the coast, where we will be renting a house with a couple of other friends from Seattle.
In June we are planning a trip to visit Jonah's Montana family. Later that month my grandmother is coming from Prague to stay with us for three weeks. I just reserved us a place to stay on the coast for a weekend for when she is here. She loves the ocean.
In August my dad and his wife are coming to meet Jonah for the first time. We will be renting a house in beautiful natural surroundings not far from San Francisco. The house comes complete with a hot tub, wood fire stove, outdoor fire pit, and a canoe! I can't wait.
I forgot to mention that the funding for my program has been extended for another two years, which means that I don't have to look for another job for a while. I love my schedule right now - only three days a week! Can't beat that. And just now I started teaching a new course, one that I have already taught before, to a new group of students. They are wonderful, as usual. My students are all foreign born from countries including Japan, China, Thailand, Philippines, Nepal and Iran. They range in age from twenty to around sixty. The best part about my students in this program is that they really want to be there and also, I have the freedom to decide what I teach and how I teach it within the parameters of what the program is there to offer. Almost complete academic freedom and motivated students. What more can a teacher ask for?
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