Cute Things Lexi Does

  • Along with sucking her thumb, putting her hand on her stomach is one of her new comfort measures. It’s come to the point that she doesn’t like wearing clothes that restrict access to her tummy. This has led to wearing footie pajamas to bed that are zipped up only halfway–to retain tummy access. The other night Abby struck a compromise and put Lexi in a T-shirt and half-zipped footie pajamas–allowing unfettered tummy access but also keeping her warm.
  • She recognizes the way to church and starts saying the names of her teacher and all her friends in Sunday School–whether we’re actually going to church or just happen to be going in the same general direction.
  • In Sunday School she’s apparently the official greeter, welcoming each kid into the class by name. The teacher has commented that this has proved helpful with some of the more shy kids.
  • One week at church her friend Zack showed up and both Lexi and Zach ran to each other with open arms. Then Zach and his older sister Hope held Lexi’s hands while the three walked down the stairs to Sunday School.
  • After receiving a blessing during communion Lexi always gives an enthusiastic, “Yeah!”
  • Says ‘Ethiopia’ at random. A few weeks ago I came down stairs to get her up from a nap and she was jumping up and down in her crib saying “Ethiopia!”
  • She anticipates when she’s in trouble and says what you’re going to tell her to do before you do it. Like when she’s supposed to be napping and is instead jumping up and down, as soon as you open the door she says, “Lay down?” When she starts twisting in her high chair and trying to stand up she says, “Turn around sit down.”

Wait, that last one isn’t very cute.

And just so you don’t think she’s an angel, she’s also perfected a nice, high-pitched scream for when she doesn’t get her way. Like the other night at Noodles when I took her leftover macaroni & cheese (“mac-cheese”( away so we could go and she just screamed. Until we were safely out of the restaurant and into the car when she promptly stopped.

Adoption Interviews: Frank Johnson

Frank Johnson (not his real name) is a manager at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (where I used to work). Frank and his wife Sarah have eight children–Bill, 30, Leslie, 27, Curt, 24, Jenny, 22, Kristin, 9, Mary, 7, Tara, 6, and Sam, 5 (whew). Kristin and Sam were adopted domestically through Christian agencies when they were each one day old, one in Texas and one in Florida. Tara and Mary were adopted from a home for abandoned babies Uganda when they were 3 and 4 respectively. Frank is 57 years old and lives in Huntersville, N.C., and notes that if you’re married to a saint like he is, adoption is a lot easier.

1. What motivated you to adopt?

Jesus said we were to take care of them. Plus, we had a desire to expand our family and have more children.

2. What differences have you noticed between adopting domestically
and adopting internationally?

The main difference is that the older children from an institution have definite attachment issues, as well as other baggage, while the domestic children were able to attach to us comparatively quickly. Process-wise, the domestic system is fairly cut and dried, and the international scene is pretty rough and tumble. Expect a lot of changes and surprises along the way.

Continue reading Adoption Interviews: Frank Johnson

Monkey Outta Nowhere Launches Local Art Site

About a week ago Monkey Outta Nowhere launched its first independent project, a local art site called Start Seeing Art. The site is all about finding and identifying public art in the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, so it can be enjoyed and appreciated.

Too often I’ve either not known a work of art existed in my neighborhood and missed out on it entirely, or I’ve known about the work but I can’t find any information about the artist or the name of the work. So the site is an attempt to find that local artwork, identify it and chart it using a Google Maps mashup so others can more easily find and enjoy it. You can look at the map and see all the works of art across the Twin Cities.

So far Start Seeing Art is in the very early phases (only 11 pieces of art so far) and isn’t much to look at. I’m focusing on content and the technical side before I worry too much about design. In general, I’m trying to follow 37Signal’s Getting Real approach and building Start Seeing Art quickly and cheaply. I’d rather get the content out there and get it working now, even if it doesn’t look so hot, rather than wait six months for a beautiful backend system that costs thousands of dollars (which I don’t have).

We’ll see where it goes and if it turns into a self-supporting media empire. If you know of anyone interested in advertising or sponsorship, please contact me.