Victory Games

On April 18, 2011 Malachi participated in the Victory Games in Cherry-vale Kansas which prepares them for the special olympics in Pittsburg Kansas. Not all the children who do the victory games do the special olympics because they are not old enough.
Over the last several years I have not had a chance to go and watch Malachi participate in these games, this year I was able to and let me tell you the overwhelming since of pride I had. He was so big. He walked to every rotation with some help but no wheel chair and some of the walking was clear across the football field and even a little difficult for him, but he prevailed.
The first rotation was a race. Malachi can't really run, he just gets on his tiptoes and walks really fast. He finished the race. It wasn't a very long race but he did it.

 The next was the softball throw. He loves to play catch and throw. He decided to sit for this rotation but he still threw the softball and then when he was done he came and gave me kisses. Love it.

 Then he did the running long jump which again tiptoes and walking. Of course at the end of this little track is sand. Its like a box of sand. Malachi totally lost interest in doing this again because the sand was much more fun to play with. By the end of this rotation he had started a trend because most of the children were playing in the sand then. Way to be a leader even if its in the sand box.

After all of this there is lunch and some free time where they get to play games like the wii, or get their face painted or blowing bubbles. Malachi did most of these except playing the wii. He would much rather watch someone do it. I was so shocked that he let someone paint his face. Malachi is not about to let someone he doesn't know touch him let alone his face. But for some reason it was a go. He sat there shaking the whole time but he did it. I was very proud and even got my face painted with the same looking smiley face he got.

After all of this and the kids are completely wore out they get a medal. Malachi left his on for about 5 seconds just long enough for me to get a good picture.

For some people they may not realize that something so small as this can be so huge to these kids and their parents. But they are. I think that the people who organize this and volunteer to make these children especially mine feel so special are doing God's work and for this I am truly thankful.

Malachi gets a haircut!

Malachi's hair is much like is fathers, its thick and its unruly and it grows really fast. The only thing currently different about it is that its more of my natural hair color than daddy's but I anticipate that changing. For the last two weeks his grandfather kept telling us he needed a hair cut. I would just laugh because he has no idea what goes into giving Malachi a hair cut.

Its a process and one that I have to prep myself for. You can't just take Malachi to a barber shop and put him in a chair and say cut his hair please and hope that he doesn't fuss. If we tried that, we would experience the mother of all meltdowns. This is why Mike and I cut his hair.

This is how a typical hair cut day goes for Malachi. When we know this is the day we are going to cut his hair we also do daddy's hair. We do daddy's hair first so he can see what we are going to do with him. We talk and laugh and say things like Malachi get his haircut next, just like Daddy's. He seems satisfied with this idea, until we get him in the chair. But we don't budge he is getting his hair cut. We start by shaving his head with a trimmer/shaver type thing. The vibration and noise is annoying to him, but Mike stays in front of him holding is hands and counting which seems to calm him and keeps him distracted. He periodically screams and cries but we have started so there is not turning back.  After we get this step done he starts to calm. Then we put shaving cream on his head which he actually likes and I take a razor and shave the rest of his hair until he is bald. Again the whole time we are counting and holding hands and trying are hardest to talk him through this. After this is done we clean him up and he looks good for another four months or so. But this is why he looks like ragamuffin for months at a time because its quite a process to cut his hair.

Of course now that its all done and over with he turns back into a calm, happy little guy that looks even better than before. He feels his bald head and says "all gone."