It seems to me like every time we get on the freeway here (which, to be fair is not very often) there is a Silver Alert flashing on the overhead signage. The alert looks something like this:
SILVER ALERT
Blue Toyota Corolla
License Plate 345 YRK
After seeing the alert several times I began to wonder, did Florida rename the Amber Alert Silver Alert? And, if they did, are there really that many child abductions in my area? Should I be worried about where I have chosen to live?
I don't mean to trivialize a seriously dangerous event, but I think the very existence of a Silver Alert is indicative of the age of Florida's residents. A Silver Alert is meant to alert people to missing senior citizens who are believed to be affected by dementia.
Florida is truly a unique place!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Living in Florida
"It's like a vacation every day here mom!"
That's what Henry said to me the other day. And, so far, for Henry, Amelia and I that has been the truth. Our days are spent at the ocean, pool or splash park. We have annual passes to Disney (all the parks), NASA, and the Alligator Zoo. Tonight we are going to a medical dinner at the Daytona speedway and Henry can't wait to drive on the track, something we apparently get to do.
Moving to Florida is probably not everyone's dream come true. But, we're not those people. We have loved it here so far.
Our ward is fabulous. There are lots of old people but there is also vibrant group of young families who all spend a lot of time together. In Utah wards have the obligatory play date once a week or once a month, events rarely attended in wards I've been in. Here it's like torture for the moms if they don't hang out three times a week. I have loved spending time with these women. In addition Family Home Evening here is like a Utah singles ward, everyone congregates at someone's house for a group FHE.
Joe's co-residents are, thus far, fabulous. There are eight of them. Several of them have children, some Henry's ago. And, regardless, we have very much enjoyed getting to know them all. They all seem to be very social, happy people. Both qualities we adore in our friends.
Our neighborhood is great. I think we live on the senior citizen street. That said, people still come over to say hello and make sure we are adapting well. And, every time we go to the pool (we have a community pool) we make new friends. Henry has a buddies named Garret, Cody and Libby and several still who I couldn't name. The neighborhood here feels different from any neighborhood I've ever been in. It's not okay to be private, you are expected to make friends and be friends with the people around you... people here are ridiculously friendly.
Our banker, grocer, real estate agent and others have offered their hands in friendship and their knowledge of the area.
I still think Daytona is ghetto. It's smaller, more spread out and less clean looking. But, the people here are fabulous which is making it feel a lot more like home.
Moving to Florida is probably not everyone's dream come true. But, we're not those people. We have loved it here so far.
Our ward is fabulous. There are lots of old people but there is also vibrant group of young families who all spend a lot of time together. In Utah wards have the obligatory play date once a week or once a month, events rarely attended in wards I've been in. Here it's like torture for the moms if they don't hang out three times a week. I have loved spending time with these women. In addition Family Home Evening here is like a Utah singles ward, everyone congregates at someone's house for a group FHE.
Joe's co-residents are, thus far, fabulous. There are eight of them. Several of them have children, some Henry's ago. And, regardless, we have very much enjoyed getting to know them all. They all seem to be very social, happy people. Both qualities we adore in our friends.
Our neighborhood is great. I think we live on the senior citizen street. That said, people still come over to say hello and make sure we are adapting well. And, every time we go to the pool (we have a community pool) we make new friends. Henry has a buddies named Garret, Cody and Libby and several still who I couldn't name. The neighborhood here feels different from any neighborhood I've ever been in. It's not okay to be private, you are expected to make friends and be friends with the people around you... people here are ridiculously friendly.
Our banker, grocer, real estate agent and others have offered their hands in friendship and their knowledge of the area.
I still think Daytona is ghetto. It's smaller, more spread out and less clean looking. But, the people here are fabulous which is making it feel a lot more like home.
Road Trip!
I dreaded the road trip. Thought it would be torturous. It wasn't. It was a lot of driving (nearly four days) and not a lot of anything else but thanks to Grandpa, Joe, Grandma, Callie and the BIG yellow Penske truck the road trip was a piece of cake! Hallelujah!
What a fat baby you have!
Amelia 6.5 weeks
Henry 6 weeks
Amelia's existence has thus far been marked by two things - crying to let us know that she wants something and eating to make it all better. Don't get me wrong Amelia doesn't cry more frequently than she should, but she does let us know when something is amiss in her little world; something foreign to me because Henry never cared much about anything. Henry didn't cry once his first two weeks home from the hospital. Henry rarely ate anything and rarely slept without a serious amount of insistence from me. Amelia on the other hand cries when something is wrong, eats voraciously and sleeps in abnormally long stretches (I assume this is because she knows I love to sleep). She's also loves to suck on a binki, something that never even remotely interested Henry.
Amelia's eating habits have become banter among strangers who I meet when we are out and about. People love babies and when you walk around with a baby everyone stops you to coo at the baby. Then the conversation goes something like this:
Them: "How old is your baby?"
Me: "Six weeks."
Them: "Six weeks?!! She is so fat!"
I don't know for certain how much Amelia weighs today, but at her 4 week checkup she was 9.5 lbs, or 2 lbs over birth weight. Henry was born smaller than Amelia, but he was more than three months old before he weighed 9.5 lbs.
We love our chubby baby Amelia! She's beautiful and perfect in every way. I am excited to see how her personality today correlates with her childhood personality, if it carries through I imagine I will have a lot of adjusting to figure out how to raise an independent little child with an obvious desire to have her needs known. Though I expect mealtimes should be easier.
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