Tenth week

We just had a terrific week!

Naomi survived her first immunizations. She fussed a bit, but calmed down quickly. I had been worried that in the process of trying to teach Naomi self-play and how to put herself to sleep without being fed and rocked, we had created a child that was too independent, not preferring to be held and snuggled by her parents (as you can see, the self doubt continues). :) Well, there's nothing like immunizations to make a kid snuggly again. She nuzzled into me and she spent her entire afternoon nap with her in my arms. I just want to hold onto those moments. Her weight was ten pounds, thirteen ounces, at the 50th percentile, where she is for height as well.

Many of you asked us about how we survived the tornado. We were getting ready to leave town for Oklahoma on Thursday when that storm system went through Windsor, about 20 miles north of here. We had lots of hail and rain and wind, but were spared any damage. We thought we were safe heading south.

In Kansas we first came across wind. I have never seen tumbleweed like we saw there. Imagine a herd of cows crossing the road. It was like that, but instead of cows, tumbleweed. And it lasted for miles and miles. It would've been a great photo if not for the 70 miles per hour winds. It finally started raining and thundering. Sheets and sheets of rain. We had to stop for gas anyway, so we pulled over in Quinter, KS (what do you mean you've never heard of it?). After filling up, Clifton got back in the car waiting for me to finish feeding Naomi. A woman came running from inside the store through the storm to tell us there was a tornado in Quinter, the highways were closed, and if we wanted to ride out the storm in their store where there was a reinforced chiller we could. Which we did. We felt silly that we hadn't even really considered that the storm could've been more than just a storm. So we joined the ten others there and bonded over our experience.

The drive continued otherwise without complication. We had taken Clifton's car which is a stick because it gets much better mileage. Clifton promised me that if I could get into fifth, I would be fine. Which I was. All was well until he told me there were toll booths coming up. I got through them without bodily or car injury, or even stalling, but not without stress. Naomi did so well, that we pushed through instead of stopping for the night. The drive that takes us 10.5-11 hours on our own, took us 11.75 hours with her. She barely cried. Not bad.

Our weekend in OK was fantastic. Clifton's mom was as alert and aware as I have seen her, at least in the past year, maybe since I've met her. She was wide-eyed and smiling when we walked in. She and Naomi both couldn't stop staring at each other. It was beautiful. When asked what she thought of Naomi, she said she was pretty. When asked who she looked like, she said Clifton. Mom responded to Naomi's touch and smiles. I really do think she knew who Naomi was. I was quite moved by it all weekend.

We also were able to visit with Lori and Jerry, our good friends the Farmers and the Greenes.  Clifton and Lori were at church to award a scholarship to a graduating senior in memory of their dad. And we spent some time looking at old slides and video tapes from the 80s. The trip home was less eventful, but felt longer. Naomi was a champ again. Now we are home, ready for the next week.

Well, this is longer than I generally like to make people read, so I'll stop here.