November 05, 2009

Halloween 2009

We did something strange last year - we grabbed two costumes from another teacher at Anny's school at a very good price.  I think we paid $10 for both, but their children had outgrown them and we were a year (and a hope) away from Abby being able to fit into them.  $10 is low risk, so we didn't really hesitate.  I did an even stranger thing this summer and bought another one on Ebay when I found out that Anny's schools Homecoming would fall on Halloween.  With that in mind, here are three stories from our Halloween...

Friday at School:


















For those that do not know, Abby's daycare is contained within a school for children with special needs.  The daycare is in the last two classrooms on the back side of the building, but the two programs work together for special events, like Halloween!  All of Abby's classmates dressed up in their Halloween finery and went Trick-or-Treating to all of the classrooms in the school.  Even better than that was that they invited us parents!  I had a blast and it was quite possibly the cutest thing ever.

At Homecoming:

From 10 2009
The high school football game was scheduled for Saturday, and I had a plan.  We grabbed lunch at the grocery store and ate it in our seats, then we got Abby dressed up as the school mascot: A Gator!  She hopped on my legs for a while, then ran around a bit.  Once the Pom Squad sat down, Abby really got attention!  (This photo was taken by their coach.)  Abby was excited and happy, and most of all we tricked her into being warm on a chilly day!  (Okay, so it was about being adorable, but two birds/one stone!)

Saturday Night:














Saturday evening we had some rain, so we started by playing in the yard under (and around) the umbrella.  Once dinner was done, Abby knew that something great was supposed to be happening, so we could no longer keep her pent up in the house.  We only T-o-T'ed on our street, but Abby's bag was plenty full.  We started walking with a friend down the street, and the power of two-cute-toddlers can not be matched!  Abby even got candy twice at one house because we brought a friend!

We had a great Halloween, and hope that you did too!

October 28, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Picked a Pumpkin!


More submissions at www.wordlesswednesday.com.

October 16, 2009

One Smart Cookie

Okay, please don't criticize our parenting because of this blog post.  Things happen to toddlers are part of growing up. That being said, I introduce you to Abby's newest "mark" of achievement: The Black Eye:


On Wednesday evening the three of us were playing a fun game of Hide-and-Seek between getting home and dinner time, and in typical fashion, it was an accidental game of H&S.  I came into the kitchen to stop some whining by Abby, then ran up the hall to get away from the situation.  You know, fix things, make people laugh, run away.

Abby and Anny, though, took that to mean that it was time to chase Daddy, who was really just trying to find a little moment to use the potty.  I did the hallway loop, then through the dining room into the bathroom.  Anny and Abby followed, but stopped at the crossroads of our house - the top of the stairs.  Anny went up the hall, I didn't move.  Abby must have spun in place, because the next thing I hear is Anny gasping at the idea that our Abby was falling down the stairs!!

Here cheek got black immediately, so we tried to put ice on it, and forced it on for a couple of minutes.  Then we resorted to our normal calm-down activity - Sesame Street.  She sat quietly and would let us look at it, but not touch it.  Not surprising.  We were concerned about two things - that she damaged her eye or that she broke her orbital bone.  Anny felt around the bone and could not find any concern, but the eye seemed harder.  She was answering the "how many fingers" and "what is this sign" but we could not be sure if she was using her hurt side or the other one.  Finally I just asked "hey Abby, does your eye hurt?"  She's smart enough that she looked at me and said "no, Daddy.  My cheek hurts."  There, our concern was lessened - she could identify it for us.  Phew.

On Thursday morning when getting her dressed, Abby looked at me very seriously and said "Daddy, next time I go down the stairs, I want to go on my feet!"  I looked at Anny and whispered "I guess she is implying 'and not on my face!' when she says that!"

On Friday Abby had a previously scheduled pediatrician appointment and he gladly looked around both the outside and inside of her eye.  He assured us that she is fine, but reminded us that we are very lucky that no more damage was done.  Lucky indeed.

We got lots of questions, and honestly I fear Child Protective Services.  Our kid has a black eye and our excuse is she fell down the stairs?  That's likely, right?  Lucky for us, she's very vocal and can tell everyone herself if they ask!

*You can find the concept for the photo HERE.  Abby would not look sad for me, but instead looked like she would mock someone into actually fighting her!

October 15, 2009

Kidney Update

Yesterday was my six-month appointment with my nephrologist.  (If you're local and looking for a good nephrologist, let me know.  I really like mine, and have a good recommendation for one in Northern VA, too.  Leave a comment with your email address.)

So - the bad news is that I have gained a few more pounds, instead of losing them.  That made me more upset than it did him, but that's because I've been doing a lot better at not snacking over the last month or so.  Oh well.

My kidney-specific numbers are doing really well.  My Protein is less than 1 gram, which is a far cry from when I first started this journey.  My createnine was a little high, at 1.47, but seemed manageable.  The nephrologist was very pleased with the way things look with all of my labs.

Because no doctors appointment is without some drama, my blood pressure was called into question almost as soon as I got into the office.  When the nurse took it initially it came out as 92/70!  That's great, if I weighed half of my current weight, and did not have kidney disease.  But alas, I'm heavy and diseased, so my bp will never actually be that low.  The doctor came in and took it again, this time taking a really hard listen and being super specific about how he was doing it.  And he did it again after that.  I told him that I had run out of one of my meds about two weeks ago (read: three), but that was even stranger - it's the blood pressure medicine that I take! 

They decided that the cuff they were using is faulty, and I'm glad that they figured that out.  The nurse came back in a few minutes later (giving my arm time to get back into "ready" - with a smaller cuff.  The reading after that came out much more realistically - 112/80.  That's pretty incredible considering both weight and diseasedness!  We talked about it and decided to go the next six months (at least) without the medicine and see how things come out the next time, while at the same time monitoring at home to be sure that there is no big jump.

So, stats are good - took a medicine out of rotation - left!  Woo Hoo!

On the Flu front - my brother got the Swine Flu, but we managed to duck it, at least so far.  My doc does not seem too concerned, even though I take immuno-suppressants, so I'm going to calm down about it, too.  Because of stupid insurance stuff I could not even get my regular flu vaccination during a scheduled visit.  Well, I could, but they would only pay for one or the other.  Who says we don't need reform?

October 07, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: The Hungry Caterpillar

Fun at the Book Festival

More entries at www.wordlesswednesday.com.

(I know it's supposed to be wordless, but this was taken at the National Book Festival on the National Mall!)

(and I swear, I'm working on a real post for this week!)

September 23, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: Communion

The Reason We Gather

More Wordless Wednesday participants at www.wordlesswednesday.com!

September 16, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: Sweeties

Abby and Evan:


More pictures at www.WordlessWednesday.com

September 15, 2009

"Daddy's Work"

Abby has been to my office - heck she has been to my office more times than most people who don't work here have since she visited once a week in July and August.  She saw my office when I could not get to files from our recent move, and she came back and "helped" me with files when I could.  Abby knows where I work, though she is only two and can have no concept of what I do.

A few weeks back we think that Abby might have gotten the wrong idea about where I go when I leave the house every day.  You see, the three of us typically go fun places on weekends, but we also go to a lot of places over and over again.  We find a place we like and it becomes habit.  We did our best to get every dollar out of our pool membership, so Abby expected swimming a couple of times each week.

One Saturday Anny was not feeling very well and so I decided to grab Abby and get out of the house because it was an incredible afternoon, and the College Park AirFair 100 was going on - celebrating 100 years of aviation in College Park at the airport right around the corner!  Anny dropped us off so that I didn't have to deal with parking.  I took Abby, some cash, a bottle of water and a diaper in my pocket, and off we went!

There were all sorts of things to see - old planes and new ones, gilders and helicopters, an old car and lots and lots of people.  We walked around and saw some of the planes first, but it was blazing hot and there was no shade, so we made a dash for a covered tent.  They have just reconstructed a new Wright Flyer that will travel from city to city, so it was kind of neat to see that.

Because we got there after Abby's nap, we missed all of the really fancy stuff - the sky walkers and the maneuver displays and such.  I was a little bummed about missing the parachute jumpers, but I am not sure that Abby would have really understood how cool it was anyway, so I got over it.  I knew that Abby would get excited to see helicopters up close, and boy was I right!  We even got to go inside a Chinook that was parked for the day, which she then tried to imitate!

ON A Helicopter!

Flying High

We also got to see a few of the choppers take off, which was jaw dropping for her - we stood right under the Montgomery County Police helicopter as it flew away.

We also got to listen to live music and I introduced Abby to her very first ice cream cone!
First Cone!

The bottom line is that I took Abby somewhere by myself (and have done that a lot since then) and we had an incredible time - but Anny and I agree that we believe it has changed Abby's concept of what Daddy does every day.  It seems that she genuinely believes that I got to the airfield every day and watch helicopters and eat ice cream!

September 04, 2009

I Like You, However

There are lots of blog posts on the internet about all of the God-Forsaken quizzes you can take on Facebook, and trust that there posts about them for a reason.  I have taken everything from "Which Book of the Bible Most Represents You" to "Are You Gay or Not?"*  People take the quizzes because they are fun and sometimes you can get your friends to either stand up for you in defense against "You are The French Taunter from The Holy Grail" - or rail you for it because it's dead on.

There are also polls galore, though most of them recently have been about Michael Vick or Healthcare and you simply say "yes" "no" "maybe" or "what the hell - NO!"**  I do a lot of these, mostly because I like to see the results.  I think that Facebook is skewed, but I'm part of the skew so most often I find myself in the majority.  (I don't think that Facebook is diverse enough, but that is true of a lot of the internet.  Just a lower priority for a lot of people, and that's okay, but it needs to be said.)  Some of the answers have surprised me from some folks, and so honest conversation has been had and I've been enlightened and enlightening.

I like knowing what other people are thinking - not only can it build community, but it can foster better conversations both online and offline.  It's also kind of fun!

However.  (and nothing good ever comes after however.)

In my opinion, polls have no place in news shows.  Neither do Twitter Tweets, they are not news.  I think that we are about five channels too deep on actual news coverage, and to be honest I have abandoned watching any TV news and just check around on the web for reliable news.  All of the cable channels do it and it has got to stop. "@armonroe thinks that the Governor of California started the wildfires to gain publicity for his Surplus Yard Sale and it backfired" should never leave the lips of anyone on television, much less an agency intending to report on news.

It's not journalism, it's crap.  Leave tweets to Twitter, polls to reliable institutions and the news to news makers.
/rant

*Are You Gay or Not quiz was several questions, but the last was simply "Are you gay?"
**What the hell - NO! was my answer to "Should Sarah Palin run for President"

August 24, 2009

Why I Am Glad Summer Is Over

This is really just a summer-in-review post since we have been fairly neglectful of Abby's blog in the last few months.   There has been lots going on... 

PHEW!  Summer Break is winding down for Anny and Abby.  Actually, they both go back to their regularly scheduled school days tomorrow and I have never been so happy to see someone go to work in my life.  As I have had to sit at my desk, day after day, they have been out doing wonderful things with each other. 

What kind of wonderful things?  This summer they spent chunks of time in Downtown Silver Spring - every Wednesday to be exact.  They have a wonderful children's program during the summer, which is perfectly located because if your child tires of the magician, workout routine or singer/songwriter, they can just go play in the massive play-on fountain area.
Fountain Fun

They also went on daytime dates with Anny's Aunt Jackie and Uncle Bill to the Museum of Natural History, complete with massive Mammoth and gigantor Whale.  I know this because Abby's eyes still get huge when she talks about that whale!  (no picture because it seems Anny does not carry either camera unless I am around.)

They have spent most Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the Fairland Sports and Aquatics Complex in Laurel.  During the summer they offer "Open Gym" two mornings a week where for $5 you get free run of their entire gymnastics room - trampolines, toddler-equipment, foam pit - for an hour.  The other upside to this activity has been seeing some of Abby's friends there from week to week!  (no picture again, sorry.  It is a trend.  The only reason we have the fountain picture is that Nana was there!)

On Thursday of last week they took advantage of cruddy weather and a great deal to go see Horton Hears a Who at Arundel Mills with friends.  I still have yet to see that movie.  It sounds like it was a good time.

They have had a few playdates with some of Abby's friends, including special trips to the pool.  They have also had a lot of fun painting, coloring, going for walks around the lake and, well, whatever else came to mind!  There has been lots of Elmo and Signing Time going on in our house, too. 

All in all, Anny and Abby have had an excellent summer and are headed back to school this week.  I've never been happier.