July 2020

Here is a link to photos and videos from July. 

I took  a four-day weekend for July 4th, and we spent a low key holiday at the house in Endwell together. No city fireworks this year, but there seemed to be an increase in fireworks from the neighbors. Also lots of fireflies in the backyard. Otherwise, that weekend we enjoyed visiting some parks, doing some yard work, relaxing, and grilling in the backyard. 

This month we had a visit from Becky's mom Debbie, who stayed with us in the Hudson Valley apartment for a few weeks. It was great to see family of course, and also have some extra help with Alex. This gave Becky and I a chance to do a couple of little staycation/date nights. We stayed in local AirBnBs and went out for dinner and brunch on a couple of weekends just to take a short break from parenting for a little while.  

Since Becky had her mom here to help, I used some of that time to go to the house to work on some projects there. I started work on a 5-foot block wall near the front door of the house to section off the entry way from the yard, and channel rain water away from the front door.  I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos about building retaining walls lately, and making lots of trips to the hardware store. Thankfully, someone from our old ward in Binghamton was kind to lend me a few tools. I also had to fix the hot water again unfortunately. 

Lately Alex has been into shapes. He can say some of them, although rectangle and triangle both sound like "Di-go." He can also count to ten, and mostly say the ABCs in order when he feels like it. He's starting to show more interest in singing songs and will sometimes try to sing along with you to familiar favorites. He's got the hang of imitating sounds and actions when he is motivated, but he's not able to respond to questions and such very well yet. We encourage him to try new physical activities too, and got him to show some interest in peddling a tricycle (see video below). Progress is steady,  sometimes he surprises us. Becky continues to be the champion of his therapy program, working with the staff at his clinic to keep it updated and working on things at home, all of which help him to pick up on things in his natural environment. 

I am still working one day a week in the office. My boss Mary Beth is taking a promotion in our office, so she will still be around but no longer my boss unfortunately. She's just been the ideal supervisor in every way possible. My office colleague Mike though will be taking her place, and I'm just as happy to work for him. This works out because the pandemic has put a lot of strain on universities, us included. So this change cuts back staff in our office by one person, which hopefully should reduce the chances that any of us will need to be laid off. Becky started doing some teletheraphy, but its really hard to replicate what she does remotely.

Becky's grandmother (Debbie's mom) passed away unfortunately this month. She was 96 years of age and living in Idaho, where she had recently moved into a care center but went into decline after a fall.   Becky's family will be getting together however they can for Grandma Heward's funeral in the first week of August. Becky says, "Grandma Heward regularly sent me letters her whole life, even in the last year.  And she has been there whenever she could to celebrate the big moments in my life.  She made the best dolls, blankets, and gifts for me for birthdays, holidays, and graduations. We loved to visit her house and talk to her on the phone until her hearing gave out.  We will all sure miss her!"