Out and about

“The pirate costume contest will begin in 15 minutes.” The announcer’s words got the adrenaline flowing. Almost game time. Well, the kids were still trying to choose which pony to ride, but at least my adrenaline was going. Earlier in the day, we had discussed several options for a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Then Dawn came across a flyer she had picked up at the Smyrna community center. The two word headline was all we needed to see: “Pirate Festival.” A “luxury retirement community” just down the street plans free events [good for the kids, and old folks like kids, so everybody’s happy]. We didn’t even know they’d have free food and free pony rides! Sure, the pirate music in the background had references to bottles of rum and bosoms, but the kids didn’t ask any provocative questions, so we’re good. “Two minutes until the contest,” came the reminder. Just the night before, Dawn & I watched a 20/20 special on albinism. For new readers, people with albinism have less pigment than most people in their skin, eyes, & hair, and our daughter Kate has moderate albinism. We were disappointed that the 20/20 show didn’t focus much at all on people who have overcome obstacles of albinism to accomplish great things. But I wasn’t really surprised – the extreme issues in Tanzania and outliers here probably drive ratings more than feel good stories, and certainly more than stories of people with albinism who live normal lives. Maybe the show had fueled my competitive fire a bit, so I wanted Sam and Kate – a Chinese-born orphan with albinism nonetheless – to kick some costume tail. They lined up with about 15 other kids [and maybe a grown-up pirate or two] and waited patiently while the judges sized them up. After walking around to take pics and check out the competition, I got worried and walked back to Dawn to whisper in Spanish [it’s our secret code language] that “if you want them to win, we may need to shove some of these scrub kids out of the way so the judges can see them.” She calmly replied “I think it’s ok – they’ve noticed them.” This is probably the first sign that I’ll be one of those obnoxious hyper-competitive parents who makes their kid do one-armed pushups when they blow an open shot on goal.


“And our third place winner…” She walks toward Sam and points him out, motioning for him to step forward and claim his prize. We gush with pride; he sheepishly accepts. Of course we’re thrilled, but we quickly feel sorry for Kate. Does the adopted kid have to come in behind her brother? Is it the albinism? “And in second place…” Another proud pirate claimed her prize while we waited… “And our first place pirate…” is Kate! Take that, 20/20! Where’s the video camera when you need it? Shortly after the victory, we actually did feel bad that they got two separate prizes for wearing pretty similar costumes. Maybe the judges saw my game face and gave it to Kate out of fear.

After stashing the spoils of victory at home and quickly shedding the pirate gear, we hopped back in the car for adventure #3 of a busy day. [We took Kate on her first trip to my 92 year old grandmother’s house that morning.] Off we go to Piedmont Park to meet up with some old friends and introduce them to Kate. We found our way to the “Mayor’s Grove Playground”: a paradise for kids with atlanta’s premier playground equipment. It seemed like a sea of kids were running everywhere, launching off slides, swings, and siblings, while parents like us struggled to keep the kids in our sights. Kate and Sam jumped right in the action. I don’t know if Kate’s orphanage environment was equally frenetic, but it still surprises me a bit that she has no hesitation to run full-speed into an unknown environment with unknown kids speaking a new language. She and Sam wouldn’t really greet any of our friends at first, just like they refused to growl out their “ahoy, mateys” at the pirate festival. But I guess that’s just an adult’s view of the toddler style: no fear in conquering a new playground, but all of these old people are freaking me out.

If pony rides, exotic animals, and, of course, corn dogs are significant contributors to quality of life among toddlers, then it was a good week. Beyond Saturday’s events, the kids checked out the north Georgia state fair, visited Zoo Atlanta with some friends, went to a pumpkin patch on their first ever school field trip, and Sam scoped out the dinosaur exhibit at Fernbank. They had a good time at the zoo, as always. Kate demonstrated her impressive and growing list of animals that she can identify by name in English. Sam likes a lot of the animals, but I think we could leave him at the giraffe exhibit for hours and he might not know we left. I love their enthusiasm about the experience: “guys, did you see the lion?” Sam: “yes! ROAR!!” Kate joins in from across the room. “ROAR!!”

Sam was equally enamored with the dinosaurs at Fernbank. [Thanks to our friend Chris for telling us about the Bank of America special: show your BofA check/credit card for a free ticket at 7 museums on the first weekend of each month.]. Sam’s pre-historic excursion with Dawn allowed me to test the waters with Kate. She wasn’t thrilled when she woke up and realized that she was stuck with me, but she got over it and we had fun at the park.

If the mission at the pirate festival was costume glory, then the mission at the north Georgia state fair was exquisite, hard-to-find, deep-fried goodness. Preferably in the form of cheesecake. The kids worked up an appetite for fair food by trying out the helicopter, speed boat, and Nemo ride, and strolling through the assortment of zoo & farm animals. Kate got scared in the petting zoo, but Sam made me proud: first, he showed his sensitive side by encouraging the bunnies to “take a drink of water”, first with words and then with sign language. They heeded his advice and hopped over to hydrate. Then he showed his bravery by feeding a camel right out of his hand, even after the camel munched a bit on his Converse! At dinner Kate enjoyed her first corn dog, but her favorite fair items were not the food, the animals, or the rides – they were the 4-wheelers that the staff were driving. Every time they’d drive by, she’d get our attention and sign “drive”. My favorite request was when a motorized wheelchair cruised by, and sure enough, Kate predictably looked up at me, said “ba-ba” [daddy in mandarin] and signed desperately to take the wheel. She still uses a lot of signs, but her speech continues to develop well. Sam is still training her in the essential toddler phrases, like “that hurts me” and “I need that.” When they went to the pumpkin patch with their pre-school, they both loved the tractor and wanted to sit on it. After Sam had his turn, he ventured off to see the pumpkins, but Kate just stood right next to it, and after each kid dismounted, interjected with another bread-and-butter phrase: “my turn.”