Hearing test #2

Amanda and I (Beth) went in for another hearing test - this time a sedated hearing test. It's somewhat scary how fast a drug can put someone to sleep, but anyway...She was having a hissy fit even before she got to the room. She was hungry with a capital H. She couldn't have food or water in her system for this test. She also knew something was going on and it wasn't going to be fun. They had to put an IV in. They try to numb up the site, but it only works so well. It made me wonder what kind of attention she got with her surgeries in China. There seems to be some indications she didn't get enough pain medication or maybe even a nice snuggly person to hold her when she was afraid. We bonded. She's never been as snuggly as she was this morning. It was nice to be her security blanket.

They found out she had mild hearing loss (which I knew) and that it seems to be mostly because of her eardrum rupture. Her inner ears seem to be working fine which means that she has the capability to hear near normal someday. So, now we see what Dr. ear nose throat says about all this.

Beth

Judah and Amanda

Judah is our first born. He was born with a rare chromosome disorder that has left him with multiple issues including mental handicaps. He's very young in his mind. Amanda seems to get that. She doesn't treat him like she treats her other brothers. She seems to understand that he needs her to be gentle around him. Last night, when I was putting Judah to bed, she climbed into his bed and started kissing his cheeks. Then she took her hand and started smoothing his hair and "cooing" a little. She was treating him as his mental age dictates. It was so incredibly sweet. She understands exactly what he needs - a gentle touch and a lot of love.

Guitar family

Caleb got the first Benson kid guitar in 2002 for his second birthday. Little did we know what was to be unleashed in the house. Caleb loved that guitar. Instead of making everything into guns, he made them into guitars. Spoons became guitars, sticks became guitars, well, you get the idea. Everyone said, "He'll grow up to be a worship leader". Then, the phase fizzled out.

Enter child #3.



He also joined the guitar obsession at age two. Everything became guitars and he played with all his might. He loved the guitars we had which had multiplied into three. We had changed churches by this time and everyone commented, "He'll grow up to be a worship leader." This too fizzled out. All just a phase.

Enter child #4.



It didn't even cross my mind to get the guitars out. After all, we had a little girl who was not even genetically a part of the guitar gene that seems to run in our house. But, the guitars came out and she loves them. She plays them all the time and sings her little songs. The only difference is that she wants me to sing some songs with her guitar. It isn't in the genes - it's the house and the father who only encourages this behavior with showing you-tube videos of 80's rock bands that he loves. Can we say "Rush"? No longer does anyone say, "She'll grow up to be a worship leader" because by this time, they all know it's a phase every Benson child must go through between the ages of two and four.

One change on this child is that she has her "fierce" guitar look. As a girl, she doesn't just have to have the good guitar moves, but the emotion behind it as well. Sigh...I am outnumbered.

Swinging Machine

Something she WAS scared of - swinging - no more. She's a swinging machine.

Easter

I was a little excited. There are so many "firsts" this year with Amanda. Yes- Easter is about Jesus rising from the dead. I never want to forget that, but the whole Easter dress thing is fun also. Brett brought this absolutely gorgeous dress with him from China. So, Amanda was finally big enough to fit into it. It was a fun day.



All I can say about the above picture is: look at my little girl's hair! She's finally got some and she has a LOT of it.

What?!?! There are eggs over here too?



What do you mean MY eggs only contain goldfish crackers and honey bear cookies? Where's the chocolate?

Amanda's love affair

Amanda loves Elmo. Yes, it's true. She loves that little red furry monster with all her heart. Funny thing is, as far as we know, she's only seen his videos a handful of times. We don't get PBS here. Yesterday, at the park, she saw him on a swing. She ran across the park to say "hi". So, she was waving at him and saying "Hi" wondering why he didn't respond. Well, Elmo was on a 3 year old boy's shirt. She wasn't saying hi to the boy, she was saying hi to his shirt. Elmo, my daughter loves you...