Wednesday, March 31, 2010

April showers bring . . .

Finally, my six plus hellish weeks of work are coming to a close. It's always a challenge when trying to do your job, which relies another 50% on someone else. There isn't much you can do but wait when that person doesn't hold their weight. I'm glad to settle out of that. If anything, it cost me $120 in migraine medication. Ouch.

We're all hanging in there. Al has been job hunting, working in Samantha's classroom, and running. He has the Big Sur Marathon coming up on April 25th. He'll be part of a relay team. Next week Al will travel to Sunnyvale to learn about becoming a mentor for Team in Training. If they choose him, he'll be able to support new folks without the financial obligation. I know he'd like to continue--he loves it.

Last night was the farewell celebration for the Winter Season. Al received an award for Most Likely to Run Through a Brick Wall and Not Feel It. That pretty much sums it up.

Samantha has her kinder assessment in two weeks. It'll be interesting. I wonder if I'll be allowed to be there? Sometimes I think she does better when she thinks I'm not there.

Alyssa is getting big. She celebrated her second birthday on March 17th. Two already! She's talking more clearly than before. She's doing a lot more imagination play too. At her well visit she weighed 23 lbs and measured 32.5 inches. I had to get out Samantha's paperwork from her two year visit to compare. Samantha was 26 lbs and 34.5 inches--just a little bit bigger. But it's good to see that they are growing at the same rate.

I ordered a toddler bed for Alyssa. She's really ready for a bed, even though we aren't. Actually, I hurt a rib the other day trying to get her out of the crib. If that isn't a clue that it's time then I don't know what is!

Sunday, March 7, 2010

He Did It!

In October, Al joined Team in Training with the Leukemia & Lypmhoma Society. He's trained at least three days a week since then, building up his mileage every Saturday.

Saturday afternoon we arrived in Napa and checked in. Al received his bib number 718 out of 2000. I think it suddenly struck him--the day was here. We had a wonderful inspiration dinner with the North Bay, (our) South Bay, and Monterey teams. There were so many runners who were running for the first time. It was inspiring.

Al and I woke at 4 am, prepared him for his run, and joined the other TNT teams in the lobby. I wanted to see him off and wish him luck. They set off on buses at 5:15. And I climbed back into bed. I woke after 8 and panicked. He had been running for an hour and I was sleeping!

I arrived shortly before 9:30, just in time to see the first runner cross the line at 2 hours and 30 minutes. Amazing! I stayed and cheered for every person crossing that line. It was awe inspiring to see so many men and women in their 60s and 70s crossing that finish line.

Al told me that he expected to cross the line at 11:30. I grew anxious when he wasn't on time--I kept checking my cell phone to make sure no one had called. When the announcer stated that they were approaching the cut-off time, a handsome guy in a purple shirt rounded the corner with an ice bag strapped to one knee. He did it in 5 hours and 50 minutes!

Later Al told me that all was well and he was on track to run in at 11:30, but at mile 23 he experienced severe pain in his right knee that had not bothered him before. His wonderful coaches, Chris and Tim, ran with him the last two miles, telling them how proud they were. Tim pointed out how anyone else would have quit with crippling pain, but Al was still running.

I am so proud of him and his amazing accomplishment. I'm not one for scrapbooking, but I think I'll start one for Al and his running. It's amazing to see the change in him since he's begun.

Now on to the Big Sur Marathon in April. Al is going to run in a relay team this time. We'll all be there to cheer him on.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Standing up

Al has been working in Samantha's (preschool) classroom since January. I helped in 2009, but since he's unemployed, it gives me more time to concentrate. Before it took half my workday and then I had to make it up during the week.

Quite a few of the girls have taken a liking to Al. The first day Samantha came home to tell me her friends have a crush on daddy and that daddy is "bald." It's not really something we talk about--it's just the way it is. Al has shaved his head since our wedding as he was sporting the Friar look. Not great in your 20s.

At any rate we talked about it at dinner, letting Samantha know that being bald is okay and that we shouldn't make fun of someone because of it. "I wouldn't like it if someone made fun of my poor eyesight and I'm sure it hurt daddy's feelings. Daddy is who he is."

After much thought, Samantha decided she didn't like it when her friends came up to her and said, "Your daddy's bald." So today she kindly asked her friends to stop saying that her daddy is bald because she doesn't like it and it hurts his feelings. I am so proud of her. I want her to be able to stand up to peer pressure and now is the time to start.

She was, however, very attached to daddy today. With the girls in her class vying for Al's attention, Samantha has become very jealous. I explained to her that no matter how much her friends want to be near daddy, she will always be his girl and that he loves her. He still had to pry her off his legs.

It's funny how we get so attached to our daddy. We always understand that mommy loves us unconditionally and maybe we do the same with daddy, but somehow we are so jealous. I remember a boy saying that my daddy liked him better than me. I was probably Samantha's age. I was so mad and jealous. I didn't want to share my daddy with anyone.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Update

We managed to go the whole month of February without anyone being sick! That is a huge accomplishment. Samantha had her blood test in early February and her thyroid levels were still off a bit. Her brain was asking for more but she wasn't showing any outward signs of hypothyroidism. So we moved up a dose and we'll retest in a the middle of this month.

Just that change in medication and she's suddenly developing so much more mentally and physically. She's suddenly outgrown her shoes and her personality and play is becoming less "toddler." I'm still not certain that this is the right dose--I think alternating pills might be our best bet. (There is a lot of risk over over-medicating--she could grow too fast, which happened once.) We'll find it all out when we visit the pedi. Endocronologist later this month.

And next week we meet with the pedi. Gastroenterologist for the results of the extensive allergy testing. I'm anxious for this appointment because it has the potential to answer a lot of questions for us. I'm just hoping the results aren't inconclusive because that would mean an in-office procedure to take a bit of her stomach lining. Samantha's such a champ about all the other procedures, but I'm not sure that she'd be okay with that one. So I'll go hoping for the best.

Alyssa got the second of four molars--finally. Two more to go! I can't wait. Then it'll be on to the next challenge: sleeping in a toddler bed and getting rid of the pacifier. I thought about trashing the paci earlier, but my mother was right, that would have been cruel when she's suffering so much with the current teething. Even when you're in your 30s, moms still know best!

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So as soon as I post this blog, Al comes home with Alyssa and she's got a runny nose. I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. I jinxed us!