Last year we celebrated alone up in Alaska, but part of the fun of being back in Houston is having a community for almost everything. The Texas Children’s Hospital hosted an event for National Microtia Day and we were super excited to attend!
We even convinced Nonnit come down and join us! Plus the event was supposed to have talks for the parents, so I thought it might be good to have some extra help…
Last year, I got Natalie a onsie for the occasion and she has clearly outgrown it, but I was happy to see they still had it as an option in a toddler size! And since I wanted to be supportive of the Ear Community group that makes the shirts, I bought the polo option for all of us!
Don’t the boys look extra handsome in their polos? They were pretty excited the even had fun activities for them as well. Natalie seems to be a bit confused as how to play corn-hole though…
You can see the Cochlear people gave her another cape. I tried to tell them that she got one at the Walk for Hearing, but they weren’t going to let her walk around and not be a hearing superhero. ;)
Once the lectures started, we tried to steer the boys to slightly less noisy activities. The one option of throwing tennis balls at cans seemed like a terrible idea for a large room with speakers trying to be heard at the front. Luckily the rocket ship painting was an acceptable alternative to them.
Natalie even got to make some of her own artwork! Her skills are improving…? ;)
And she was even willing to sit still long enough to get an ear tattoo. I think that’s pretty much the only time she was still though - she had a blast being around her family and some other kids her age. I don’t know that she made any lasting connections this year, but I’m still glad we can take her to stuff like this! :)
Since we had the extra help, we dropped mom and Natalie off at the house after the event for nap time - then headed over to the library for a “maker” event they were hosting. I am loving having a library that does fun events for the community, especially if it involves 3D printers and robots. The boys got to play with Botley, the robot, at one of their STEM camps this summer and they haven’t stopped asking for their own since!
Overall, a super fun morning for everyone!
Can I go take a nap too??