The Smith Family: Smith Family Update #17

Hello to our family and friends,

Again, welcome to our blog.

We think this will be a cool way to stay in touch with the hundreds of people we don't talk to all the time, but have received our updates over the past 3+ years.

The past few months have been eventful, as they should be with two toddlers. Work has been the same for me. Monique, in addition to her business and teaching, just completed the most rigorous course of the bachelor's program, that she will complete in August, getting her degree in December. The course took her away from home and the kids quite a bit, so my parents and I "stepped up our game big time." The course was like a chef reality show... very taxing, involved, and tiring. She (we) got an A!!!

The kids are great. Leslie Mykael is walking all over the place like a pro. She walked two weeks after her first birthday. She loves her brother and is only interested in things that Quadson is interested in, so she gives dolls no attention. She is such a HAPPY baby girl. She sleeps and eats very well. They share a room. She does have a bit of a different taste palate than Quadson. He still is a big water-only person, whereas she will drink juices and even has a bit of a sweet tooth, we've discovered, but certainly won't exploit. Quadson still stays away from sweets and will ask if something has too much sugar in it, and refrain 99% of the time. Mykael waves at strangers and blows kisses...Quadson speaks to everyone he passes, says excuse me, sorry, and just plain shocks people with his cordial-ness. She loves to pucker up and kiss us all. Quadson is quite the character. HE STILL IS INTO DINOSAURS. He has a good 100 of them in all sizes. Our TiVo repertoire is more filled with dinosaur related programs than our own programs. He also will sit and put together a 50-100 piece puzzle with no assistance, which kind of blows our minds.

Quadson, I think a little prematurely, has realized and vocalizes the differences he sees in people. He, Monique and Leslie are yellow. I am black. We went to a fried fish joint in predominantly black College Park, GA and he loudly and clearly asked me if "all these people are black?" We visited Monique's college, an art college of very diverse people, and during the 30 minute visit, he asked a man if he was male or female, told a "goth/punk" girl that her blood red hair looked crazy, and as we walked out of the school and he spotted a dwarf, told the man, laughing, that "he was very short." Luckily, the dwarf had on ipod earphones. I was still trying to heal from the two prior comments. Now, I carry masking tape in the diaper bag...I simply can't deal with this phase. No, we are dealing and coaching him, and just praying his victims have good senses of humor and understand child development. We had always thought that the things that kids say, whether cruel or not, were taught by the parents. We have learned that that is not the case all the time, with our own experience.

We spent Leslie Mykael's birthday and Spring Break in Louisiana. Everyone had high hopes that she would walk while there, but homegirl was just not feeling it. She walked two weeks later, as opposed to Quadson, who walked a week before he turned a year old. Her birthday and our week in LA were a great time. She had a barbeque party with ribs, sausage, potato salad, etc. with a cake in her signature pink and brown, even one for just her. She, Quadson and I grubbed back on our soy ribs. YUM!!! Our visit in Louisiana ended with the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Kiddie Fest, an annual event hosted by the sorority members in the area to raise monies for students to go to college. Quadson was asked to run for king of the fest and raised over $2500.00 which won him the position of king. The fest was on the Louisiana estate of an area African American millionaire who emptied his 6 car garage of the Rolls, the Zimmer and Model T, as the main venue for the event. There were over 100 attendees there wandering the lush gardens on the property that boasted a pool, tennis courts, a moat with gators, pool house, guest house and of course, main house. The owner, an elderly gentleman, rode around very unassumingly and waved at everyone on his John Deere lawn mower. He flew all the way from his main residence in Los Angeles where he and his wife live, to host the event. What a treat it was to learn of him! Quadson walked away with a real crown, "king" chest banner, tall trophy and a substantial savings bond. The funniest thing was seeing all the girls, a good 5 or 6 of them, to include the queen and runners-up, decked out in wedding dress-type gowns, one even had a train. And Quadson was Miami Vice cool, with his patchwork jacket, white chinos and leather sandals. We had no idea the event would be so formal! At least he was the only boy.

We observed Easter back home at our church. It was a surprisingly freezing temp that day. Only problem was our church's usual 4 services were being minimized to 2 services outdoors at an area amphitheater. The cold temps were a real shock. The service was nevertheless amazing. We were each given these hand warmer packets that get extremely warm as you handle and shake them. The music was amazing. There was even a operatic drama performance that ended with white doves flying away (probably to the Caribbean or somewhere warmer). We ended the day with family dinner at Great Grandma Katherine' s.

Below are some photos from the past few months. We are looking forward to the Spring and Summer months upon us.

Until the next blog,

Trey

[click on the photo if you need to enlarge it]