National White Cane Day...

So every year on October 15th, thousands of blind people across the country celebrate National White Cane Day. Here in Austin, there is a march from the lawn of the State Capitol down to the steps of City Hall. Last year over 300 people participated. The community effort and celebration serves to educate and foster awareness about the blind - whether they walk with a white cane or have a guide dog. There is a gathering in Republic Square Park with music, food, booths with information about Braille, games and resources.
I really wanted Zelda to participate this year and we will in the future but she's just not there yet with her cane. She is coming along nicely however!

So after I dropped the kids at Ecole, I drove along to accompany the White Cane walkers. I was feeling particularly empowered and proud and energized and then like a wave, it came over me. I sobbed. I cried for my daughter. I cried for the loss of of her sight. I pulled into my driveway and just sat - defeated. I guess I'm still not finished mourning and don't know if I ever will be.

Zelda is a superstar, a pistol, a smart, silly little girl who now says "Merci" when you hand her a cookie. In our Ecole conference, her teacher described her as "extremely popular". She explained that the classroom is a better place because of Zelda. The students are kinder, more thoughtful, more attentive. Do I ever want her to feel objectified? Of course not. Do I want her to help educate people and open their minds to the unknown? Hopefully someday. But most of all I just want her to be the most Zelda-like girl that she can ever possibly be...and I want her to be happy and have friends.

Dear Governor Palin...

With only 3 weeks left before the election, we are giving Mom a break from blogging and thought that we would send you a little note. Mom has been very frustrated with "that guy" - you know, the one you're running with! - as well as you and she has held her tongue on more than one occasion. BUT, with that aside, we have several bones to pick with you. Now, you may not know that we are only 3 yr old twins and Zelda is blind, but we still have our opinions at this early age in life - even if we don't say much yet:) So, here we go...

1. As we are learning to speak, we would appreciate the proper example set of grammatically correct English. Mom says that words that end in 'ing' should have those letters pronounced, as opposed to dropping the 'g' and endin' in "'in"...Also, we have a problem with putting an 'a' at the end of words, such as 'gotcha' and 'getcha' - and by the way, are those really words? We were really hoping that after 8 years of abuse of the English language in the White House (albeit we weren't alive!), we could regain some eloquence appropriate to the leaders of our country.

2. You seem to relish trotting out your kids when it's convenient to your campaign - i.e. the soldier and the Special Needs baby, but seem to be offended by the publicity given to your unwed daughter who had sex before the legal age of consent. Mom says that kids need to be taught about sex because everyone wants to do it and that education is the key. Also, we are pretty certain that Roe vs. Wade is a good thing. It's not at all about killing or not wanting babies and has everything to do with a woman's right to choose. We could have a 24 yr old brother or sister right now - and Mom says, "Thank goodness we don't!" Also, during your speech you said, "To all of you Special Needs Moms out there, you'll have a friend in the White House". Yes we will and his name is Obama...and we can tell you that not only the Moms need help, the Dads do too, and the siblings and the Health Care system and Medicaid, etc. and especially the Special Needs people themselves, so stop using us as a campaign stunt and tell us what you're going to do...How about funding for continued stem cell research?

3. We are sorry that it took you until last year to get a passport to leave this country for the first time in your life, we are already learning a foreign language and should have our very own passports soon. I don't think Canada counts and being able to see Russia from your balcony doesn't count either. It has much more to do with desire than resources...you obviously had the time to train for and fund your beauty pageants, why didn't you have a bake sale to buy a plane ticket to Europe and go backpacking?

4. And last but not least, we have met lots of city officials, the mayor, rock n'roll singers, TV news anchors, millionaires, and college professors - and you know what? Most are really, really smart well-educated people. And you know what else? None of them are qualified to run this country, so please stop thinking that you are. We really do support your desire to work outside of the home - that's not an issue for us as our mom owns her own business, we have had wonderful nannies and now go to preschool - so, it's not about being a stay-at-home mom. It's about experience and finesse.

We could go on and on and really hit upon the issues but the political journalists are far savier than we are on the important stuff. But, what we have mentioned is important to us and BTW, it's much more fun to say OBAMA than it is to say the name of that other guy:)

Thanks for listening,

Credence Paul & Zelda Nicolette

P.S. And please stop winking at the cameras - if you want to bring sexism into the debate, a male politician would really be mocked if he ever tried that! Although it's pretty cute on either girls or boys when our friends do it in preschool...

3 things...

ECOLE UPDATE: People keep asking how they're doing...well, okay I guess! Creed is a champion. He's a good little Montessori "worker". Yesterday when I picked them up at 3pm, I asked him if he had fun at school...he said "No Mom, ECOLE!" So, I guess he's catching on...
As for the Z-bomb - it fluctuates. She seems to be emerging from the end of summer, post-surgery tough times. She's eating well and starting to sleep better (aside from last night) but she's still a major pissant. Yesterday's Ecole-report stated that Zelda "chose not to participate in the lesson". Yikes - apparently she threw herself on the ground and did a bit of crying and such. My poor little puce. The teachers say it usually takes new kids 6-8 weeks to adapt to their structure so we're only at week 3. I let you know more after our end of the month parent/teacher conferences. Otherwise, she's doing well but is extremely stubborn, strong-willed, and crafty. Scott & Andrea, her TVI's, see her there 2x/week for the pre-Braille lessons and such. Gene, her O&M teacher - that's Orientation and Mobility - sees her at outdoor time once a week. Soon she'll be getting her first long white cane! Woo-hoo!

TWINTUITION: I have been talking a lot more to Creed about how Zelda sees. He likes to hand her things and tell her what to do, etc. and I've managed to convince him to actually place the item in her hand instead of just thrusting it at her. The other day, he found an interesting old piece of raffia and ran up to her saying "See, Zelda, see!" while dangling it in front of her face. So now we're talking with him about Zelda seeing with her hands as opposed to looking with her eyes. When we travel by car, we always count cows and such, pointing out the sights to both kids - describing in detail for Zelda. I use the word "see" with her as much as I do with Creed - it's just different, I guess.

OBSERVATIONS FROM OTHER KIDS:
One day this summer, Zelda broke her glasses and she went to camp without them. When I picked her up that afternoon, a little girl informed me that "Today Zelda didn't have her glasses so she saw with her hands!"

And the other day upon picking Z up from Ecole, her classmate informed me that she thought it was cool that Zelda held her foot on the slide instead of holding her hand ???

Happy Dinosaur-day...

Creed has this habit of attaching "day" to many words, things and experiences...it all started with "water pool-day" this summer. It has also given us: California-day, dog poop-day, dancing-day, cookie-day, big bed-day, and the latest, among others...Happy Dinosaur-day.

This past Saturday with no plans on the horizon, I opened our local weekly Chronicle and chose a visit to the Dinosaur Park as a morning outing. Well, it's my new favorite kitsch place to take kids between the ages of 2 and 8 - a perfect place for an out-of-the-way birthday party or field trip. It's about 20 miles outside of town, down a dirt road past an RV park. Basically it boils down to a "nature trail" sprinkled with varying sizes of fiberglass dinosaur models and perhaps a small sign/description. There's a play scape at the end of the trail, a pseudo-dinosaur dig AKA sandbox and a super-duper gift shop that has every dinosaur inspired souvenir imaginable. Aside from Creed's sheer glee in Dinosaur-day, Zelda had an absolute blast following the trail. Z-bomb is very much in a phase of wanting to walk by herself - absolutely no holding hands! She perfectly navigated the dirt trail with all of its twists and turns, roots and rocks. Whenever she strayed into the brush, she quickly re-negotiated her path and continued on, giggling and at times running with delight.

On Sunday, Evan and I had decided on a family "Road Trip-day". We set out west with San Angelo as our destination...the twins were amazing. We sang, chatted, and stopped at antique stores, junk depots, and flea markets along the way - not to forget my personal favorite place to shop: Venison World in Eden, Texas. Whoopee! What an adventure! We left at 9am and were home by 9pm - with 500 miles under our belts! Creed and Zelda have now been officially baptized into our Junk Run Religion...


Oh, and one more thing, Ecole is going really well - more on that later, I promise.

Ecole...

So, today is their first official day of preschool. After a long search, visits, interviews and such, the twins started today at their French immersion Montessori school. We've known from the beginning that we always wanted to do Montessori so it was just a matter of finding the right fit and the right waiting list. This particular school is extremely petite - only 20 children with 3 guides who only speak to them in French. So, this summer I've been busy translating Z's books into French and then we send them off to the Brailler - she should be doing French-Braille in no time flat. As we left them this morning to run off to our photo shoot (more on that later), Creed walked in and said "Bonjour" and got to 'work' and Zelda was busy mapping out the classroom and stopped just long enough to say "Au revoir." I hope this works because we've signed on for the 3-year long haul until Kindergarten.

FYI:
"The Montessori environment contains specially designed, manipulative "materials for development" that invite children to engage in learning activities of their own individual choice. Under the guidance of a trained teacher, children in a Montessori classroom learn by making discoveries with the materials, cultivating concentration, motivation, self-discipline, and a love of learning."

I'll let you know tomorrow how the first day of Ecole went...

BFMV 2008...continued...

First off, thanks to all for your best wishes and for thinking of Zelda.
Second...things I absolutely love about southern California: Trader Joes, Rockin' Kid Shop in Eagle Rock, 6 kiwis for $1.69, the green, green grass, the beautifully appointed renovation of Huntington Hospital - so glamorous, so stucco, so well landscaped...there's more...

DAY 5 - BEACH, we headed out early to go down to Venice Beach, call friends, swim in the ocean, visit galleries, etc. A perfect day despite the fact that Zelda has now learned how to throw a perfect tantrum - kicking, screaming, uncontrollable agony for all involved. The water was lovely, the beach was sandy - it was everywhere: in their ears, in their hair, in their diapers, in their P-suits (the word that Creed has designated for bathing suits!) Creed loved the ocean, Zelda not so much. I love the ocean, Evan not so much, as witnessed below from his beach attire.
We love the galleries on Main: Urban Country and Obsolete. If Urban Country is well- edited, then Obsolete is sheer opera. So inspirational...we hit Abbott Kinney for a bit of shopping and ate french fries on the 'boardwalk' - such as it is.


Speaking of tantrums, that evening I discovered a huge hematoma looking bruise on my shin with an engorged, swollen vein popping out. Evan was afraid of a blood clot or at worst, an aneurism that would kill me and leave him alone to raise 2 hellacious toddlers. He made me walk across the street to the ER and when asked what had happened I could only recall Zelda perhaps kicking me with legs flying as I removed her from her beloved swing. Four hours spent in the ER was not very glamourous...

DAY 6 - DOWNTOWN to Robertson to do retail research, we visited Lisa Kline, Kitson and Zelda's preferred shopping destination of Chanel. As we strolled past The Ivy, coming up on the entrance of the Chanel boutique, Zelda made a deliberate turn to enter on her own. It was quiet (no one is shopping these days) and she was greeted by the sales associate who stated "This girl knows what she likes..." Oh, her tastes are expensive! She then proceded to enjoy the music while babbling and smiling with the sales girls and checking out the marble steps and black and white lacquer interior of the beautiful shop. The girls loved her and offered to babysit while I went next store for lunch. Needless to say, la petite Z had found her niche and I see double C's in our future!
We then checked out the Museum of Neon Art downtown and several galleries.
The evening turned out to be quite fabulous. Thanks to the good friend, Jacqueline, of my fabulous friend, Stephen Moser, we found childcare so we could attend a chic little cocktail party in Malibu. We dropped the twins off with the wonderful Jacqueline, her family and babysitter so we could make the drive to the sea. It was a very generous and gracious offer that gave Evan and me some alone time.
The occasion was a surprise 40th birthday party for Evan's cousin, Michael, thrown by his partner, Sean. The two are quite the jetsetters and although they live in Vegas, the party was in a fancy little Malibu home with a view to die for and a guest list to match. We met a head designer for Versace and her partner who's an editor for Italian Vogue, the creative director for Bally, Oprah's decorator and home makeover guru, a producer from Extreme Home Makeover, a wild LA psychic, and an actress who I adore who's been on the Gilmore Girls and Samantha Who. Oh, and there were others from Milan, Hong Kong, London, Dallas, LA, Vegas and of course, Austin...

DAY 7 - DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENTS and a checkup for Zelda filled the morning...we then headed off to Fullerton, near Anaheim to visit my cousin Charlotte and her 'water pool'. Creed was in heaven. Zelda enjoyed climbing her stairs and was introduced to the music of The Beach Boys. It was wonderful to have a home cooked meal and to catch up on family news.
That evening continued with a bit more fabulousness for Evan. He was able to attend the after-birthday party for Michael with a smaller cast of characters at the swanky Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. I stayed home in our little room at the RMH and the twins I watched the Olympics. Lots more 'water pool" excitement as Michael Phelps won more gold medals!

DAY 8 - ROSE BOWL FLEA MARKET was our early morning destination. The twins are antique show/flea market veterans at this point so we got them some snacks & bottles of water while Evan and I looked for that special 'orphan' (that item that everyone else neglects but you fall in love with and take home) among the vast acreage of treasures. It was hot, hot, hot and we headed back to RMH to nap. Our last afternoon was spent in downtown Pasadena. If only there was a way we could afford to live and work in this glorious little city, we would buy this building, live up in the loft/studio space and open a gallery below:


DAY 9 - HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN JIGGETY JIG...superstars at LAX

CAL-EE-FOR-NAH...

AKA Our Big Fat Medical Vacation 2008.

We're baaack...and none too soon. We're exhausted. To begin at the beginning:

DAY 1 - TRAVEL, the plane ride from hell, with twins in car seats, I sat in the middle seat with Creed by the window. Evan sat behind me with Zelda near her window. Despite their espoused excitement over "Airplane, Caleefornah, and Beeech", the plane ride was not happenin' for them. Either they complained to be with the other parent or were just unhappy. Z-bomb lived up to her name by throwing a fit and kicking over the drink of the kind Korean man sitting next to me. I offered to pay for dry cleaning his Dockers but he declined by explaining he had small children of his own.
We happily arrived at our temporary home in Pasadena, the lovely Ronald MacDonald House, to find that our room was about 10x12ft complete with one double bed - for all 4 of us. We justified our accommodations by repeating over and over that there are people who raise entire families of 8 in places that small. The first night we slept all together in the bed - Evan and Z with their heads on the pillows and Creed and I with our heads at the foot of the bed. I kept urging him to go to sleep with "Let's nap near Daddy's feet". The next day we put a Pac-n-Play in the closet for Z and another in the room for Creed. Needless to say, we spent very little time in the room. Part of the beauty of the RMH in Pasadena is that they have an amazing yard with a play scape, a sandbox and real green grass - I add that for the benefit for those who live with the scratchiness of what they call a lawn in Texas.



DAY 2 - SURGERY, it started with a phone call. Thanks to a 2 hour time difference, the twins were awake at 4:30am. Yikes! But they had pushed up Zelda's time, so we rushed over to the hospital. The exam went well but half way through, Dr Tawansy came out to tell us that the scar tissue build up in Z's right eye was so great that it had continued to detach her retina. The right retina was only 1/3 attached. He went in and cleaned out the scar tissue and reattached the retina leaving her with stitches and oil to help it heal. Now, we'll do eye drops 4 times a day, gradually descending in quantity over the next 3 months.
Zelda did amazingly well. She woke up from the anesthesia all groggy and sweet - nothing like the fighting little animal from a year ago. We took it easy for the rest of the day.
So, what now? Oh, Tawansy wants us to come back once a year. Also, in a few months, he'd like Zelda to have an MRI of her skull and orbits to make sure that everything is growing symmetrically. We already know that she has micropthalmia - her eyes are tiny. But we need to make sure sure they are growing and to measure the difference in their size. And then what? If needed, we would take her to an ocular surgeon who would fit her for a prosthetic shell, a kind of clear lense that would keep her eye socket stretched so it would grow accordingly. So many things to learn...


DAY 3 - MUSEUM visit after an early morning follow up with Tawansy at his office. We went into LA to see the new building of contemporary art at the LAMOCA. Creed seemed to prefer the Ellsworth Kelly works but also enjoyed the giant blue balloon "puppy" by Jeff Koons. Zelda, on the other hand, liked Koons' sculpture of Jacko and Bubbles, the Chimp. I guess there's no accounting for the taste of your kids. They did have a grand ole' time in the Children's Gallery.
For dinner, Evan and I had the crazy notion that we could actually take the twins out for Mexican food. Ha! We quite desperately downed our margaritas as water spilled, chips went flying, Zelda jumped on the banquette and Creed ate under the table. And we really ARE attentive parents, I swear!

DAY 4 - GARDENS at the Huntington were in bloom - actually I think they always are...really, really lovely. There was an interesting exhibit of landscape/peoplescape photography of LA. And of course, there was a Children's Garden! Z and C enjoyed the water features and we enjoyed the balmy 85 degree sunny weather so different from the 100 degree hell of Texas.