A few people have asked me lately if Marley is 'being prepared' to join our family. Friends and family would like to know how much Marley knows about us, how much she is spoken to about us, and how often she has seen pictures of us. I don't know the answers to those questions. I know that we have sent two small baby-proof (equals chewable/slobberable) albums filled with pictures of our family. I know that we have sent four care packages, each with a letter asking the nannies to give her hugs & kisses and tell her that her family loves her. I also know that she is only 20 months old, so probably doesn't grasp much at this point. She knows that she has a new snuggly blanket, some snazzy toys, and hopefully she is becoming familiar with the strange-looking people in these albums they keep giving her.
But the question of whether or not Marley is 'prepared' to join the Huffman family gave me cause for reflection today. I mean, anyone who has spent more than an hour with our crew knows that we are a unique group with some truly quirky individuals. So, I'll share a glimpse of what Marley needs to be prepared for . . .
Casey has been working on a project that he refers to as "homemade applesauce" for two days now. So far, this concoction has involved water, juice, pretzels, dry spaghetti, chestnuts, one single peanut, a medicine dropper, a bug vacuum, the controller from our V.Smile game system, an 'enchanted fairy wand' that he made me buy him in NC this summer, a plastic sea lion, a wooden foot massager, and a walkie talkie. If any of those items is moved from his 'laboratory' on the kitchen table, he has a fit and reminds us all that he is working on his "homemade applesauce" and we shouldn't touch it. As further evidence of his wonderful imagination, he has been telling us (and anyone else who will listen) that he has another family in California and that he'll be going to live with them soon. He packed a backpack with his brush and mirror, a Pokemon game, a few books, some plastic animals, and a camera. When I mentioned this to an adoptive parent who I am friends with, she said that this is all very normal for a young child who is gaining a sibling through adoption. But when I told her that his 'other family' happens to be half dog/half human robots . . .she didn't mention the words 'very normal' for the rest of the conversation.
Keller has an absolute obsession with climbing, much to the surprise and shock of some of the other parents in the neighborhood. He climbs street signs straight up to the top, does the monkey bars in our back yard at least 50 times a day (typically shirtless, no matter what the weather) and climbed 20 feet up in a spruce tree during his big birthday bash. He has dance moves that bring to mind visions of electroshock therapy and has an amazing arsenal of ridiculous faces to accompany his moves. He is a prolific artist, drawing all things monstrous and hideous. We have weekly sit-downs where I force him to labor over the difficult decision of which 50 pictures to recycle and which 5 to keep for the week.
And then there is Dave. Let's just say that Dave challenged me to a Moonwalk Contest tonight and won. He forced Keller to watch a video of Michael Jackson doing the original, then we had to give our best efforts. For the record, I think Keller picked Dave as the winner solely because he made him laugh harder than I did, with some sort of funky chicken jutting neck movement thrown in there. That's one contest I didn't mind losing. Dave loves to shower me with cheesy romantic comments which earn him rolling eyes and laughter from me. He can turn any conversation into a song, ranging from Phish to Willie Nelson to Jack Johnson to the Beastie Boys.
I'll leave out all of the ways that I am strange and loud, because most of you reading this already know me well enough. A life-long battle with embarassing clumsiness and the frequent loss of important items (wallet, keys, camera) are some of my claims to fame.
Our house is full of laughter, dancing, some really bad singing, and lots of noise. So, is Marley 'prepared' to become a Huffman? All we can do is hope that the combined commotion of the other 50-60 kiddos at her orphanage have at least given her the ability to roll with the punches, right?!
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