More on Asher’s sweet little eyes

Hi, all!

I am sure I will keep learning, but just a little update after I did some reading yesterday. This is a big deal in our lives right now, but don’t feel bad if you’re not interested. I’m writing about it both to inform those who want to know and to organize my personal thoughts about what’s happening with Asher.

Just like any medical condition, names identify the different visual conditions that Asher is dealing with. Asher has:

-Hyperopia (farsightedness)
-astigmatism (misshapen eyeball or lens or cornea or something)
-Strabismus (an eye that occasionally crosses in — though I think I can sometimes see it in pictures, it’s not really noticeable to me)
-Amblyopia (the condition I’ve explained before that occurs in small children whose eyes have different strengths that causes one eye to start going blind, also known as “Lazy Eye.”)

The good thing is that all four of these conditions are incredibly common. Having them is not as common as not having them, but whatever. Another really good thing is that the Hyperopia and astigmatism are easily corrected with the correct glasses and/or contact lenses. And, as I’ve mentioned before his age will help drastically with the treatment of both his Strabismus and Amblyopia. While his treatment is extremely important right now, we are very hopeful that in a few years both of these conditions will no longer be an issue for him.

So that’s what is going on. His Hyperopia is pretty bad, I guess. Hyperopia/farsightedness is caused by an eye that is too small. Knowing that it is caused by a physical development helps me understand why it is hereditary. I know that people with poor vision are encouraged to get their children’s eyes checked at a very young age (though it’s good for ALL little children to get their eyes checked while they’re young – !!!) Hyperopia occurs when a person’s eye is too small or when his lens or cornea is too flat or something like that. When any of these things happens, light travels incorrectly into the eye and does not meet at the correct focal point, causing images to be blurry. Asher’s doctor said that his eyes can change until he is about 7 years old, which is about the age that I keep reading is when a person’s eyes are done with the very crucial developments (maybe all the developments and growth? I’m not sure yet). So when we found out yesterday that Asher’s vision has gotten worse, it could be that his actual eyeball changed. There is a chance that the eye doctor didn’t get the prescription right to begin with, since he is so young and everything, but we think it’s more likely that his eye ball changed. He took to his glasses extremely easily (after about 2 days of being suicidal) and did exceptionally well with them until the last several weeks when we started noticing the weird things that I mentioned in my post yesterday. Come to think of it, he also outgrew a lot of clothes in the last 2-ish months… Hmmm…

So anyway, there are some of my thoughts about his prescription change. I know it’s normal for a small child’s vision to change pretty quickly, and from what I have read I think that is because a little kid is constantly growing and changing.

Here is a visual simulator that shows what a person with Hyperopia will see without glasses. Asher’s eyes are +4.5 and +7, so slide the little bar to those levels and see (or don’t see) what happens! It’s pretty crazy! If you hover over the top where it says “refractive errors” a little drop down list will appear and you can also see how the astigmatism affects his vision. He is currently at -1.0 in each eye with the astigmatism. Anyway, here is the link:

http://www.eyeland-design.com/webtools/53828496ca1045c06/53828496bd08b1006/index.html 

(Myopia is nearsightedness, and Presbyopia is the loss of visual focusing accommodation power that many people lose/develop as they age)

(I don’t know why it linked that last statement too, but it does it each time I try to fix it and I don’t feel like messing with it. Just know that I know it happened and then move on.)

And here is a video of Asher playing and watching TV yesterday to show how he has started using the corners of his glasses to focus on things. The doctor says he has found out how to create his own “pinhole” where the power of the glasses is intensified in the corners to help him see, since the prescription is now too weak. I guess it’s the same way that people learn to use bi/trifocals – their eyes just learn where to look to see properly. I don’t know if he’s using different spots for different distances, but he is definitely doing this for looking at things both far and near. Oh, before I post the video I wanted to mention that I read that people with severe Hyperopia don’t only have a hard time focusing on things close up. I guess people with Myopia (nearsightedness) often see perfectly fine up close, but lack the ability to see far, whereas people with Hyperopia like Asher often see blurry images of things both near and far, though it’s common to think they only struggle with what is near. Back to the video: Note that the cars I’m trying to get him to look at are a little bit to the side of him. You can see that when he looks at them he looks out of the corner of his eye and you can see him sometimes move his head very slightly to get a better focus. Then when the video changes and he is watching TV you can see that, though he is sitting directly in front of the TV (but across the room), he turns his head sideways and looks through the corners of his lenses.

I’m anxious to see how he does with his new lenses!

Little Four Eyes update

Welp, we just got back from the eye doctor. I was pretty positive that Asher’s prescription would be changed, since we’ve noticed some weird little things he’s been doing that would suggest it. But even with expecting a prescription change I’m a bit shocked: Asher’s prescription went from:

Sphere     Cylinder     Axis
R: +2.5              0              0
L: +4.0              0              0

To this:
Sphere     Cylinder     Axis
R:  +4.5           -1.0            25
L:  +7.0           -1.0              0

That’s right. Not only is he now very securely in the “severe hyperopia (farsightedness)” range, but his prescription nearly doubled in both eyes, and he now has astigmatism going on. Wow. Like I said, we were expecting a prescription change, but this was pretty shocking for both of us.

We’ve got sticker shock too, to say the least. Anything above +4-ish requires a more custom lens for glasses, so we’re going to be paying just under 800 CHF (you read that correctly) for new lenses to be put into his current frames. *gulp*

Everything that I read suggests that prescription changes, even drastic ones like this, are fairly common for little kids with vision issues. Knowing that makes both Phil and I feel better. It’s still pretty sucky, though.

Here are the things we noticed: About a month or so ago, we noticed he was starting to watch TV with his head practically sideways. Then we started noticing that he would move from sitting in a very natural, comfortable position to moving his head to a weird angle whenever he would eat at the dinner table. The whole “Mommy-and-Daddy-can’t-feed-you-forever-you-have-to-try-the-fork” thing has caused some pretty major meltdowns recently. We both kind of suspected his sudden refusal could have to do with him needing a new prescription, but we also thought he was just being a bit stubborn and lazy… and we feel bad. He also recently started making really strange faces and moving his head all around while on the floor playing with cars. He’ll scrunch up his nose and/or open his mouth really widely and move his head back and forth, I guess trying to focus. Though he had been more open to coloring a few months ago, he’s started completely rejecting coloring or drawing of any kind again — even in Bible class, which he was seeming to enjoy for a while there. Though he does pretty well on stairs now as long as he’s holding on to something, he’s gotten really weird on ramps and slight hills, especially ones he’s never been on before. I have been more patient with these sudden tantrums because I had a very strong Mama-sense that he wasn’t messing around or just being stubborn. For whatever reason I knew he needed some extra patience and help. I think he could feel that the ground underneath him was not flat, but he couldn’t see it and it seemed to terrify him. My poor precious baby. He’s also been really difficult lately. A lot of the things he’s been doing are very obviously normal testing-the-boundaries 2-year-old things, but other times he just seems frustrated. It’s hard to discipline a frustrated little boy. He’s such a sweet, happy, fun, loving little person, and to be quite honest it’s hard to be “tough” on him when he acts out out of frustration. We’ve both been telling him lately that it’s okay to be frustrated and to get upset, but that he still has to be kind and can’t hit/scream/throw things. That’s a bit concept for a person who has only been on the Earth for 2 little tiny years!

Anyway, sadness aside, we are very, very glad to know for sure that his prescription has changed and to know that he will be seeing better very soon (the new lenses should be ready in a few days). We feel good about the prescription because of all of the things (and more) that I just mentioned and because we know that his doctor is supposedly one of the best around AND because he cooperated very well during his appointment. He fussed and squirmed a few times and yelled “NO!” but then he very quickly sat still and did what the doctor told him to do. As soon as we arrived the receptionist had him put his face basically into a machine to look into a little hole so she could do something. I don’t know what that machine did. He, like all toddlers/wild animals, typically needs a minute or two to look around and see where he is before he will do anything too specific, but he did really well. I looked in first and told him it was cool in there, and then as he was saying “NO! NO! NO!” his curiosity got the best of him and he looked right inside. hehehe

We’ve been talking about going back to the eye doctor for a few days to try to prep him for the appointment, since we knew this was an especially important one. Last night we got out some cookie cutters, lids, and other random objects and took turns playing “eye doctor” and patient and put all the things over each other’s eyes. We referenced that today when the real eye doctor was trying to put different lenses and devices in front of Asher’s eyes and it really seemed to help him calm down! Phil and I were both pleased with that.

Oh, another weird thing — when the doctor was explaining to us that his prescription was now “quite high,” she said that it is important to get him in stronger glasses to hopefully avoid surgery… Um… Surgery? She said he still has slight Strabismus (eye crossing in), and that we want to avoid surgery. I’m still pretty shocked about that. I’ve been connected with lots of parents of children with Strabismus and, no offense to their precious little ones, but their children’s Strabismus is far worse than Asher’s. Though I’ve wondered a few times, I really can’t even see his. I had not once thought he would ever be a candidate for eye muscle surgery. Please pray about that. We really don’t want him to need that or to have to go through that.

On top of all of this — we think his top back molars are moving in. He’s been putting things in the back of his mouth and chewing on them REALLY hard lately. And he’s ran a slight fever and had a runny nose and been drooling. I can’t see anything when I look back there (his bottom 2 are already in, thank goodness!), but I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. That and perhaps a little virus or something. I don’t know. While sleep is never an issue for him, he has had a hard time sleeping the last few days. The night before last he woke up crying pretty hard 3 times in the night. Last night we had to dilate his eyes (we did it again this morning before leaving for the doctor), and he was WIRED from that. His cheeks were bright red and he was literally running around in circles, then stopping to cry and scream until about 10 PM. Phil and I just sat on the couch with our eyes wide and mouths agape, signaling submission to our master child with limp arms and open hands. Rough night.

I guess that’s about as updated as I can get everyone right now. We’re bummed that his vision is so poor, but very very thankful to be getting him what he needs right now. Thank you all for reading this and for caring about our precious little Love!

Settling in after a busy morning at the eye doctor and glasses shop. Eating a clementine and playing with the monster truck that he picked out as a special treat after his appointment.

Shameless bragging

Not only did I recently learn that Asher can identify lower case letters of the alphabet (in addition to the upper case ones that he has known for a few months), he also apparently knows most of the letters’ sounds. The other day he said to me “T for turtle!” I chuckled and said he was right. I was impressed, but really didn’t think much about it. Also this week he was spouting off letters to me and Phil and I said, “Which letter is for your name? Which letter says ‘aaaaah’ for Asher?” He said “A!” Phil and I laughed and noted that we were impressed. Then last night after his bath he said “M goes mmmmm.” Again, I was impressed and affirmed his statement, but just moved on. This morning, he walked up to me again and said “M goes mmmm.” I said, right! What does K say?” “Kuh.” Um… okay, I thought. Then I asked:
“What does L say?”
“Llllllll.”
“What does S say?”
“S goes ssssss.”
“What does O say?”
“ahhhhh” (I’m trying to type sounds, and that is supposed to demonstrate that he was right)

I then went through a long list of letters, it wasn’t all of them, but I don’t remember which ones I did and did not ask, but he got them ALL right! What in the world?! Then I said:

“What does B say?”
“Buh”
“B for what? Buh?”
“Buh-Book!”

Yeah, he said that! He’s insane!

In addition to his interest in letters, he also likes to count and has gotten really good not only at counting from memory, but also at counting specific objects. He counts the stairs as he goes up and down them and is typically correct. He plays cars from sun up to sun down and will sometimes count the yellow ones, or the red ones, or whatever and he counts them correctly. Though he can only identify numbers 1-10 and can count only to 15 (that I know of), he is trying to figure out other numbers. He pointed to some sale signs with big numbers in the grocery store the other day and shouted “NUMBERS!” I said “Yeah, what numbers do you see?” He said “Ten!” He was right. Then I pointed to one that had a big 14 on it, and he stumbled with some sounds before shouting out “Forty-ten!” Of course he was wrong, but I can’t figure out how he knows to say “forty” and that he was able to recognize that 1 and 4 pushed together like that are not just 1 and 4. He says other things like “fifty thirty” and “forty two” and things like that and I assure you that we have not tried counting that high with him. He must just hear people saying higher numbers and he realizes they are numbers or something. It’s amazing to watch him learn!

While I’m bragging about his genius, I’ll also mention that he is the sweetest, most precious little person I’ve ever known. He was hungry and tired around lunch time and demanding “Suhwack!” (snack) and then freaking out each time I said I would make some lunch. He didn’t want “lunch,” he wanted a “snack.” I offered to make him a PBJ, and he calmed down but asked me to make it on the floor so he could “make it too.” So we sat on the floor, as we often do when we “cook,” and he got the bread and tried to spread some peanut butter, then he chose to have 1 big square, instead of his normal 3 rectangles or 2 triangles (cut pieces of sandwich). Then we made our way to the table, where he ate. I said “Do you feel better now that you’re eating?” He nodded yes. Then we had the following conversation:

Me: “You are a good guy.”
Ash: Nodding in agreement
Me: “I’m very proud of you for helping to make lunch. I love you.”
Ash: “Sooo much?”
Me: “Yes, I love you so much! Lots of people love you so much. Who else do you know who loves you so much?”
Ash: (grinning) “Daaaadaaaaaaaa!!!”
Me: “Yes! And who else?”
Ash: “Gwamps n Mamasue”
Me: “And who else?”
Ash: “Pops and Maggie”
Then we went through a whole list of aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends and we agreed that Asher is a very loved little boy, and that he loves a lot of special people. Then he wanted to sing, so we sang a little bit.

I recognize that that conversation makes me sound super cheesy, but those are the types of conversations we have. Not always, we also talk about cars and where and how they drive, or we just push cars around in silence, but sometimes we talk about the people we know and love.

Oh, after listing the people we love, we talked about where everyone lives: Aunt Jennie lives in Georgia, Uncle Doug & Aunt Yellie & Corin & Fiona live in California near Maggie and Pops, James and Tiffany live in Tennessee, etc. etc. (Don’t worry, if you’re reading this, chances are we mentioned you). I wasn’t intending on listing out everyone like that, but whenever I’d stop he’d just stare into space and say “more.” Then I said, where do we live? “In Uetikon!” he said!! hahahaha I didn’t know he knew where he lived.

Our little genius!

(If my writing is rushed, it’s because I have some other things to do during nap time today. I’m on a quest to post on my Blog more often again so I’m just doing it!)

Ashuh sing

Hi! It’s me here! Third post in a week?! I’m making up for lost time.

Here is a fun video of Asher exploring his new interest of singing. He’s a bit of an eclectic, as you’ll notice. He starts out with Ylvis’ youtube hit “The Fox,” then goes into the timeless “Jesus loves me” (which I accidentally cut a little short in my editing), and the heads into a pre-haircut evening on which he delved into a simpler time with Sinatra’s “The way you look tonight.” Excuse the plum juice dripping from his mouth when he’s in his chair. 😉

Mad.

Have I mentioned before that life here in Switzerland is different? I can’t remember if I’ve ever told anyone with whom I communicate that life is different and has been a little hard on and off. Just joshin’ — I’ve said it a billion times. Sure, we’re not living in a place like Ethernopia or North Korea, but things are just different. Big things like health care, public transportation, and paid time off are different. And little things like the way people do or don’t stand in lines, and the way that parents put little kerchiefs on babies to soak up drool instead of baby bibs are also different. Aaaaaand so is the whole laundry situation.

Ugh! Laundry! Just when I started to feel like I’ve got things under control and have figured out how to live a normal life AND have clean laundry, something sets me back. What was it this time, you ask? It was a saggy-eyed, gangly old woman wearing a red fleece with covered in dirty little fuzz balls.

Rewind to Saturday. We were having a nice, quiet morning at home. We have been busy the last several weeks and were all  happy to spend the day wearing PJs and playing trucks in our living room. I was unloading the dishwasher, and Phil had taken Asher into the other room to get him ready for a nap when the doorbell rang. It wasn’t a friendly “rrrringa-ding?!” that meshes well with a quiet Saturday morning, but instead it was a heavy, intrusive, confrontational “RRRRRRRRRRING-DING-DING-DING-YOUIDIOT!!!” You know the type. Because I had been putting clanky plates away, I knew that the person at the door would definitely know that we were home and that person would also know that we could see her through the peephole and choose to answer or not, so not-answering didn’t really feel like an option. I quickly tip-toed over to the peep hole and saw that it was Frau G., our upstairs neighbor. I knew who she was and where she lives because:
1. I have seen her up close once or twice walking into the building
2. I have occasionally see her smoking on her balcony
3. By process of elimination after meeting all of the other neighbors, I figured which name on the mailboxes was hers.

I certainly didn’t know anything about her personally, since she has never responded to my friendly “gruetzi!” I had a feeling she was mad about something because she just looks like the type of person who would only ring a neighbor’s doorbell if she had a complaint. *Grumble* Christmas time? I’ve got better things to do than bring around cookies or good tidings. The birth of a baby? Who the heck cares? Babies suck! Someone’s dying? I’m glad that there’s one less person around breathing her air. *Grumble grumble, life is hell!* 

I threw a sweatshirt on over my PJs and opened the door with the most welcoming smile I could manage. “Hallo!” I said. She went right into it. She was all business.

Frau G: You use the laundry machine on Thursdays, right? 
Me: Yes.
Frau G: I use it on Saturday and every time my husband has to clean the entire laundry room before we can do laundry. He has to sweep the floors, wash out the machine, clean the sink. You have to clean the room! 
Me: Um… (Though I understood most of what she said, I don’t know how to say in German: “POUND SAND OLD WOMAN! Don’t be knockin’ all up MY door and hollerin’ at me wit’ yo’ false accusations!”) My husband speaks German better than I do, is it okay if I go get him?
Frau G: Yah, yah.

I went back to get Phil. I told him who was there and that she was mad at me but that I didn’t know how to respond. I asked him to tell me EVERYTHING she says before responding, not because I don’t think that Phil can handle himself in a confrontation, but because I knew that this was my battle and I didn’t want him to think we owed her an apology for something that I hadn’t done.

I brought Phil to the door and introduced him, she literally waved her hand in the air and said her name as if it didn’t matter who she, or we, or anyone was, but the only thing that mattered was how dirty she thinks the laundry room is.

My points were the following, and my dear husband did wonderfully expressing them to her:

-Someone else uses the room on Fridays, regardless of what Frau G believes, someone else uses it on Fridays. That’s the truth. I know that because my other neighbors have told me that if so-and-so doesn’t use it, then so-and-so uses it.
-When I make a mess, I clean it up
-Sometimes the sink is a mess when I go in there, but since I have never used the sink, I really haven’t paid much attention to it.

She listened and bobbed her head her head up and down. Phil said to me, “she wants to show us something.” So we followed her downstairs where she showed us a broom and went on and on in German about sweeping the floor. *Um… offensive. I know how to use a broom old lady.* Then she walked us into the laundry room and motioned her hand around the machine as if she were wiping it and saying what I understood to be “blah blah blah blah CLEAN blah CLEAN blah blah CLEAN blah blah…” (sure my German is still a bit limited, but still, it sounded obnoxious). I told Phil to please tell her that I would be more mindful of how I leave the room, but to know that I clean up any mess I make. He did. She asked who uses the room on Wednesday, I told her. It would have been pointless not to answer the question. There are only 6 of us who use the room, so it’s not difficult to figure out who uses it and when, but I still felt terrible for saying the other neighbor’s name out loud in that conversation. I don’t think she is to blame.

Finally she stopped blabbering and said “have a nice Saturday” as she walked upstairs.

Phil handled it well. He didn’t seem flustered at all and was very friendly and all. I was mad after she left. Phil said he didn’t perceive her visit as confrontational like I thought she was being. But I’ll tell you, nothing makes you feel scared inside like an old woman leaning over you and shouting in German. I am especially sensitive, I think, because I so badly want to blend in. I try really hard not to be an obvious outsider. Someone once told me that if you act “as if” you can do something, you will be able to do it. That’s been my mantra since coming here. I try to act “as if” I know how life works and, for the most part, it’s at least kept me out of the “wow-whatta-moron-spotlight.” It’s awkward not to know what is going on around you. I am certainly where I don’t feel like that in my every day life anymore, but little things like monster ladies coming to my home pointing their boney fingers in my face while I’m in my PJs send me right back to feeling very out of place. Plus, in a country that prides itself on being outrageously clean, as a foreigner it is important to me that no one thinks I’m dirty. Having her in my face like that literally made me feel like I had defend all of America — “American’s are NOT dirty!” I wanted to shout. “Americans are NICE! Americans are GOOD!”

Of course I believe that Phil understood her better than I did, and he says he didn’t feel like she was being rude or anything, so I’m trying to go with that and chalk up my feelings of confrontation to the fact that I don’t fully understand the language she was yelling at me. But I’ll be honest, I’m having a hard time not thinking she is a jerk. And here I am, five days later on my laundry day, feeling anxiety about what the heck I’m supposed to do tonight when I’m done that will keep her from ever coming to my door to yell at me again. I guess I’ll pound the broom around with googly eyes and wave a cloth at the washing machine like an idiot… the way she showed me.

Don’t tell her I wrote this. Goodness knows she’d have something to say.

We’re here!

Hello, world!

The 3 of us had a great summer — we swam, we played outside, we went to Rome. I was able to keep the apartment a lot cooler this summer, which was great. I opened windows in the morning before it was too hot out, and I closed the rolladens in the afternoon to keep the heat from the sunlight out. It was a bit vampirish to close the windows every time the sun shined through them, but we were all more comfortable and happy this summer. Now it’s cooling down and we are well into fall!

Phil’s school year starts late, so he actually just started the official school year last week. He never really got a ‘break’ this summer, since he is supposed to be working on his dissertation (and some random side projects here and there) all year long. He is doing great, though. Last I knew he was up to page 120 on his dissertation and moving right along! He met with his supervisor not too long ago and his supervisor had very positive feedback about both Phil’s work so far and future opportunities. We are excited about that!

Asher and I are trying to juggle random activities with making time to see friends and having enough time at home to play and keep things in order. We are now attending a singing class for toddlers. It’s all in Swiss German! I have thought about joining this class for a while, but didn’t want to go before Asher was old enough to enjoy it and follow the rules. So anyway, we decided to try it this fall and he LOVES it. He is obsessed with music — He stops to listen intently whenever he hears it anywhere. He can also identify a song from a quiet little hum or a picture or something like that. He likes to get out our big mixing bowls and wooden spoons from the kitchen to set himself up some “gwums” to bang on for a while while he sings “mir mached musick! mir mached musick!” (My best guess at the Swiss German song we sing). Back to the class — the very first day we went he jumped right in and sang along and did all the ridiculous dances and hand motions. It’s a lot of fun! In addition to the music class, we are back to our weekly German class and we also are attending the German conversation group again now that things have resumed. Last year we went to a weekly devotional for women at our church, but we’ve switched and are now attending Bible Study Fellowship, which is an international Bible study that has a group that meets in Zürich. It’s kind of a lot of work. They give me (daily) homework each week (that I split into 2 or 3 days) that consists of written material, assigned Bible readings, and study questions for me to answer. It has an excellent preschool program that includes a Bible story and songs that correspond with what the adults are studying. It’s a really neat program for kids and adults and so far Asher and I really enjoying it.

So that’s our daily life right now.

Well, that’s what we have BEEN doing. We are actually on break right now. Since most of the people that attend the things that Asher and I attend are mothers, most of our scheduled activities go on break during school holidays. So we’re on a holiday right now and today Asher and I went to a pumpkin patch (sort of) with some friends! We went to a nice farm that is not too far from here and is famous around the Zürich area for it’s berry-picking fields in the summer and it’s pumpkin displays in the fall. There were SO many pumpkins! They weren’t out in a field like the ones I have been to in the US. Instead they were piled up in crates and arranged on figures to make pumpkin art. It felt very fally and it was really fun.

Though Asher went through a few weeks where he was kiiiiiind of obnoxious, he is most certainly back to being his adorable charming little self. I am wondering now if he was teething or something. We can see that he now has some pretty big molars in the very back of his mouth that are just barely poking through. I can imagine that they hurt pretty badly coming in.

Regarding potty training — Ash has been out of diapers for over 2 months now and is basically just like everyone else! He’s done so so so well and we are thankful and proud. Every once in a while he still will need to go back and forth a few times to the toilet before he’s able to produce anything of *ahem* solid substance, but he pees like a champ and holds whatever he needs to hold when he needs to hold it. He has done really, really well.

Phil and I have not had a chance to go out on a date for a while. We have done some family outings, but not gone out as just the two of us in a couple months, and really only twice since moving to Switzerland. Asher hasn’t seen Claire, his babysitter since June-ish, but he still asks about her all the time. He looooves her! Perhaps we can get her back here soon. In the mean time, we thoroughly enjoyed Breaking Bad together — we watched every episode together, read all kinds of interviews and articles about the show, and hypothesized about the future of the show together. Though we were both a little sad that it ended, we also felt a little relieved. We both agree that it may have had the best writers that we’ve ever seen, but it was messed up!

David took a few days away from his work in Ukraine to visit us a few weeks ago! We had a great time with him here. We really enjoyed having him around and showing him around. We took him to some of our favorite places in Zürich, showed him around our town, and made a day trip up to the Swiss/German border to see Rhine Falls, which was beautiful. It was pretty cold and rainy while he was here, which put a damper on a few things, but overall it was a great time. Asher was so happy to have his Gramps here! David has been gone for over 2 weeks now, but Asher still looks up at me with worried eyes and says “Gwaapps?? Gwapps comin?” It both warms AND breaks my heart. Precious little boy.

Okay, so there is a little update. The elephant in the room is of course that I have not been posting like I should be posting. I want to post more, for what that’s worth! 🙂