Somehow, Lucie knows how to get to the music on my iPhone from the lock screen. Every morning, while I'm getting ready, she grabs my phone and swipes for about 0.7 seconds until she gets to exactly what she's looking for: Can't Stop the Feeling! by Justin Timberlake. It then plays on repeat for the whole time that I'm getting ready for work. It's such a fun, happy way to start the day and I love that it's initiated by Lucie. She knows practically all of the words. Her joy is contagious.
So, here we are on the eve of Lucie starting preschool and I am so FULL of memories from the summer. There's really not much left on Los Hickson's Summer Wish List, and thankfully we can do the remaining activities in the Fall, so we'll just keep them on our list of ideas for the next few months! Here's what's left:
- Visit the Transit Museum in Brooklyn
- Attempt another 5 Boroughs in 1 Day adventure (last one was in the summer of 2010)
Here's what we've done... whew!
- Friday Night Picnics in Carl Schurz + Picnics in Central Park *free!*
- Panama City Beach, FL with Family
- Heard the Philharmonic play at Central Park *free!*
- Visited Coney Island *free!*
- Visited the Intrepid Museum *free!*
- Checked out the Rooftop Exhibit at the Met *free!*
- Tasted new delicious treats at the Smorgasburg in Williamsburg
- Lucie's 1st Haircut!
- all of the above was recapped in this post; everything else happened since then
- Sangria Night with friends
- Enjoyed Bembé In The Bronx! a salsa night at the Bronx Brewery
- Went to the Splash Pad at the American Museum of Natural History *free!*
- Shakespeare in the Park: A Midsummer Night's Dream *free!*
- Birthday Breakfast at The Palm Court
- A week long stay in Long Island while Huddle Up NYC partnered to lead a Football Summer Camp
- A day at the Guggenheim with friends *free!*
- Made homemade Ice Cream and hosted our neighbors
- BONUS - Diner en Blanc
- BONUS - Explored Industry City in Brooklyn with friends
- BONUS - A ride on the Staten Island Ferry *free!*
- BONUS - An afternoon at the American Museum of Natural History *free!*
- BONUS - sLuMbEr PaRty with Elle! (as Lucie says, "girls night, woo woo!")
- BONUS - Daddy/ Lucie Day at the Zoo, celebrating the two years that Rob has been home with the Goose before she starts school full time
As always, we took dozens of photos of everything we were able to do. (A major project I have that has stretched over years is to spend time looking though my thousands of photos so that I can print albums. I've always loved taking photos, so has Rob, and since having Lucie the number of pictures we take in a single day has grown exponentially! The project continues...)
Another BIG milestone that happened this summer is that Lucie completed Early Intervention (EI) and officially transitions to Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) tomorrow. I am so incredibly thankful for the last two years that Lucie has had with her team of amazing therapist that POURED into her life. She could have technically remained with this team until December when she turns three, but everyone felt it would be best for her to transition out a little early so that she could start the new program at the beginning of the school year. That sounded completely reasonable to me months ago... but last night that little voice of doubt crept in. Was this the right move for Lucie? Should she have stayed in EI until December? With the team that knows her, cares for her, pushes her, helps us support her? Did we make a mistake? I'm thankful that Rob is so calm and confident (or at least he's always calm when I'm worrying... sometimes it's the other way around, but not often). I worry that it will be difficult to no longer receive updates on how Lucie is doing directly from her therapists as they work with her and us in our apartment. Will Lucie's new teachers and therapists keep us updated on her progress? Will they listen to our concerns? Will she adapt well to the new full day schedule? Will she adjust to getting less time with her Dad (who will still get to do drop off in the morning at school, but will be coaching every day when she gets out of school)? It's nerve wracking to think about all of the changes coming our way, (good changes!!), but new and unknown nonetheless.
Even though my momma heart does ache as I watch time going be so incomprehensibly fast, I am thankful for this family and our experiences together. I have peace knowing that my Heavenly Father loves me, Rob and Lucie more than we ever could. If I love Lucie so much that I want the best for her as she develops, how much more does He care about that too. As big and infinite as He is, He is also personal and intimate and cares about these things that we spend all of our time spinning our wheels thinking about. It will be ok. It will work out. I don't know exactly how all of the time, but I don't have to worry about every single detail. That is freeing! I just need to work on remembering that more often. And in the mean time, I will PRAISE God for all of the progress Lucie has made since starting therapy two years ago. Every single therapist and doctor that has worked with Lucie has said over and over again that to see where Lucie is today in comparison to where she was is AMAZING, INCOMPREHENSIBLE, REMARKABLE... As we said our farewells to the team, it did not feel like enough to say "thank you" to them. But I will say thank you every day. Thank you Liz, Thank you Tammy, Thank you Marquis, Thank you Julianne, Thank you Marci, Thank you Deb, Thank you Jessica, Thank you Linda, Thank you Michelle, Thank you Priya. Thank you Aly. Thank you ROB for stepping aside from your job to care for and support our little girl through the hours of therapy at home and for pursuing your dream in starting a business to support our family! Thank you God. Thank you.
(This exact time last year before our trip to Montreal! I just had to post both pics!)
The summers are much slower for HUNYC as most of Rob's clients go out of town, so having so many free options of things to do around the city is a HUGE PLUS! We are looking forward to things kicking off more with the start of the school year, but the slow change of pace that the summer brings and the ease of the demands on both of our schedules for work brought us much needed rest, time spent intentionally with each other, with friends and with family, and we feel recharged and ready to go. I'm hoping that we can still find ways to carve out special time together as things gear up and get more hectic this fall as well. Rob will be coaching every evening and at times on the weekends. Lucie will be getting a second ear tube surgery and the cyst at the back of her tongue grew in size so that will also be removed. We have one doctor appointment a week for 5 weeks starting at the end of September. Things are about to get really BUSY!
Love, Los Hicksons
ALSO, We're praying for everyone in the path of Hurricane Irma, a powerful category 5 storm that is headed through the Caribbean (Puerto Rico) and on to Florida this week. Be safe!!
