Pool Dates

I love my camera - it has taken months to actually get the cojones to use the underwater feature on it. But I love this picture so much. The girls are true sisters - they love each other, aren't entirely sure they want to give up sharing a room when we get a bigger house, and they fight like feral cats. I love to capture those infrequent moments when one of them isn't scowling at the other.

We brought Devin's friend to the pool with us. We generally have a spare pretty much every time we go anywhere in the summer. We have had three playdates already and another one tomorrow. My house has become a revolving door for the neighborhood kids and I am loving it. I wish I wasn't so tired and I struggle with being depressed because of my medical stuff but I am loving spending more time with the kids. I miss them when they are at school all day.

It is exciting to see Devin's friendship develop with this little boy. They are both very smart and tend to be a little mischievous (including both "falling" in the lake yesterday and getting covered with lake slime - yuck) but it is unusual for Devin to be able to look straight into someones eyes from such a close distance. Devin will usually look away once he gets within two feet of someone because the sustained eye contact really makes him anxious. One of those little quirks of autism that I have yet to really understand.

Devin is at my mom's house right now being spoiled shamelessly and I miss him. I realized when I carried in the groceries yesterday and put them away how often he is just there to help without being asked. Sometimes it is easy to take him for granted - to focus on the negative instead of celebrating the positive. Yes he can talk alot and he wakes up at the buttcrack of dawn every day but he is just such a charming, sweet, helpful child.