yesterday was our appointment at the state school for the blind and visually handicapped. so the whole band was loaded in the race van, daddy, mommy, susi, dragon, dog, crowd stroller and off, down the rhine to a town called neuwied. i wanted to test the brand spankin' new RECAROs so bad, but not even vicky has the required 9 kilos, yet, and i just think it smarter not to abuse them, so best to wait a little longer (*sigh*)...

an academic quarter late we got there and started right away, meeting the very sensitive and competent head of infant development who led us into a super interesting play room [lots of space for us alone! :) ] to talk, listen, play, swap crafting ideas, fix appointments, tell stories and history of the dragon - to just spend an all around wonderful and constructive afternoon - this is how nice pedagogic medicine really can be! and along the way we even picked up quite some knowledge and wisdom: that seeing has to be learned, for instance - just like talking or walking. and precisely that will start very shortly. in our very own home, the dragon's cave! interestingly, this works with relatively simple tools, means and methods: colors, contrasts, shapes, positions - present the eye with visual stimulation matching its individual stage of development. and finally daddy can be as much engineer as he likes: black, white, straight, round and best of all: NO MORE PASTELS! yaaa-hooooooo!

in any event, our initial fears made wide way for huge motivation, a nice link to very valuable (and not quite cheap, therefore price-WORTHY) toys along with a list of relevant books and some crafting templates swapped owners, benny's face all aglow as he took little heidi to his heart with quite joyous laughter. soon there will be a new field of activity for gramma - sewing heidis - and new interesting photos for all you finger crossers out there...

summary (and because i didnt say it in a while): kids are cool!