Namine
Namine Olivia Eiche was born on July 15, 2008 with a double-inlet left ventricle heart defect; Pierre Robin sequence, a condition that resulted in a regressed jaw and a partial (U-shaped) cleft palate; caudal regression syndrome (also known as sacral agenesis), which damages the growth of the tailbone and legs, also giving her clubfoot; and scoliosis.
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Power of the spoken word
The other morning was a bit crazy. We were supposed to get up early, but none of us slept well.
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Making guacamole
I keep writing about making food, but really, is there a better activity the whole family can participate in? Preparing dinner doesn’t have to fall to one person; the kids can join in too. Namine’s inability to reach the counter by herself necessitates some accommodations like using a footstool as a table. But there’s no…
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A love of cooking
Technically, I suppose this is baking. But whatever it is, if it has to do with making food, Namine loves it.
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Making a cake
A cold day deserves a hot dinner. To that end, we had potato soup with bacon bits and hot toasty bread. For dessert, Namine and I made applesauce cake with cream cheese frosting.
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Chopped egg
Last weekend, I made Namine breakfast so Jessica could sleep in. She wanted a fried egg. I’m not a good cook (or deserving of the title “cook” at all) by any stretch of the imagination, but I did my best. It did not turn out well, but that didn’t matter.
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Makes sense to me
“No, you are not spending money on the My Little Pony game.” “But Rarity needs her hair brushed!”
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An exercise in frustration
I gave Namine an impossible task. She’s been working on it for two nights, with no sign of tiring. Contrary to how I thought she’d react, she has embraced it, eager to help and ready for more.
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Saying goodbye
When Namine was little – I don’t exactly remember how old, but it’s been a while – she had a scare with dogs. That always made it difficult for her to be around other dogs, even totally friendly ones, but she has made some significant progress in beating her fear.
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Namine’s propeller
My aunt has a kit that allows you to build electronic devices. The projects included range from simple to complex. Namine and I built a few different projects.
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Love tastes gross
Namine helped my aunt with a lot of cooking and baking over the weekend. She was particularly proud of the egg bake she helped make. As we sat down to eat, I said, “It tastes like you put a lot of love into this egg bake, Namine.” I know, but I didn’t because that would…
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The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
On December 29th, we went to go see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at First Stage Children’s Theatre.
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Our growing girl
Have you ever heard of Wolff’s Law? I hadn’t, not until the day before yesterday. My wife and I were looking at pictures of Namine from over the past year with my aunt up at her house. We noted that Namine has, contrary to doctors’ predictions (sounds familiar, right?), been growing quite a bit. We…