3 Wishes

Last night we went to Five Guys for dinner (I know, not healthy but certainly delicious). The mall it is connected to has a little fountain where people put coins in. Before we left the car, Henry asked for coins to put in the fountain so he could make a wish. We gave him three coins. These are his wishes.

1. "I wish my bat was orange."

2. "I wish our house was bigger"

3. "I forgot my wish." After much thinking, he said "I wish our chairs were bigger."

So there you have it, the deep uttermost dreams of a 4 year old.

Exercise

I thought I needed to post a little update about running and such. I joined the beginner running group about a month ago. It has been everything I wanted it to be. When I'm on the group run, I usually push myself harder and I've met some nice people. It also encourages me to run during the week. I have ran at least 3 times a week since starting the club. Believe it or not, the runs have all been outside even with the 100 degree heat. I think I'm becoming acclimated and am certainly becoming a great sweater (not the kind you wear in winter). I'm always very careful to make sure I am drinking a lot of water and I run slow so the heat hasn't been too bad.  I can definitely feel myself getting fitter.

Last night we were watching the Olympic trials and there was a commercial for lipstick done by a volleyball Olympic hopeful and she mentioned being in shape or being fit or something like that. Henry asked me if I was in shape like the lady on TV.  It was an honest question, but as I looked at the super buff athlete with a 6 pack stomach, I knew the answer. I told him "not yet."

I have been biking to work every day now and it has become a good routine. The way everything sits, I just coast down to work in the morning and then I have to peddle back up to my house for lunch and at the end of the day. Not too bad but a little work out on the way up. Even when it's hoot out, it's nice to feel the wind on my body and not feel cooped up in a car.

I was having so much fun riding a bike and Henry was saying how much he wanted one, so I went out and found him a nice tag along bike from Craigslist. Two days ago I picked him up from school in the bike and he was super surprised and excited. I let him sit on the bike and tipped it back and forth for him to get used to it and he looked really stable. In fact, when we were riding he mentioned that he wasn't scared at all.  When we started off, I was really surprised how wobbly I felt. Henry has never ridden a bike before so all of his tips and dips had to be counteracted by me. I noticed when he wasn't peddling, the ride was much smoother, but once he started peddling I could feel his body go side to side. I was looking on-line and one father told his child to keep his head in the middle when he peddles. I will try that with Henry. Besides the wobble, it was great. I'm sure once he gets better balance, it will become a little easier and a lot more fun. Henry is ready for more rides, and I'll be happy to oblige once this heat wave goes away.

As a funny side note, since I've been exercising, there has been a couple changes in my life and I'm not sure what to make of them. First, I went shopping and bought a few short dresses. Even though I don't have the perfect body, I feel comfortable in them and they are so nice and cool in the heat. Second, I have stopped wearing make-up. I'm sure I will for some special occasion, but now I look in the mirror and think "okay, that looks fine to me."  Maybe it's all about being satisfied about what I am doing and where I am going. Either way I am happy with the change.  Oh, I should say the one problem with dresses is nursing a young baby. I haven't figured out how to do that gracefully yet.

Frances' Big Week

Our two kids loving each other and looking cute.

Frances had a big week this week, starting with a diaper change (isn't that they way it always goes?). While she was on her back talking to me, I heard for the first time ever......" ba."  Isn't that great?  She is now into consonants .I love it.

The other thing, well, I couldn't wait. I know the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends breastfeeding until 6 months without baby food and I had all the intentions of keeping it, but Frances did not.   She is staring down and grabbing our food, so we decided it was time. We mixed some rice cereal with breast milk, and she loved it. When the spoon wasn't in her mouth she would start whining until we filled her up again. If you look at the pictures, you can tell it's been a long time since I've fed a baby.  Don't worry, she got a bath.

I think I got some in her mouth

This weekend Henry had Grandparents camp with Jim and Mary and for a while I got to pretend I had one kid. To be honest with you, it was quite relaxing.

This is us relaxing

Frances and I started the day at Shawnee Misson Park. It is way out west, but totally worth the drive. Frances has not liked our jogging stroller, but it's been about a month since we tried it last, so I thought maybe she was mature enough. Once we got there, I set up the stroller and put her in and started off. Not 30 seconds into the ride she started screaming. Failure.  So, I got my baby carrier out and put the stroller back in the car. About 5 minutes later she wanted to eat. Fine.  A few minutes after that she needed a diaper change, so back to the car for that.  After all of that I set out on the hiking trail. She quickly fell asleep and I had a great hike. Not much for elevation, but it was nice to be surrounded by woods. She let me walk around for about 2 miles, then she woke up. I let her play a little at the park and then we went home.  The whole afternoon she spent with me (Aaron wasn't feeling so hot).  It was great not multitasking two children, but I did miss Henry. Luckily Henry had a great time. It's nice to have a refreshing weekend once in a while.

Father's Day Tutorial

Welcome to my first tutorial! Recently I found these great new fabric dyes called Inkodye. http://lumi.co/  The best part of them is that they are sun sensitive. You can easily make prints of drawings and pictures right in your back yard. Being that father's day was coming up (and has since passed), I became inspired. I bought the starter set and went to work. For my father, I made him a golf towel and Aaron got a remote control holder/pillow. As you can see in these pictures, Aaron's gift was not to much a surprise, starting from when he opened the package of dyes addressed to ME. Oh well, he still reaped the benefit.

The first thing I had Henry do was to draw a picture on transparency paper. I had him draw a few to make sure one would work. The clear paper is on a pink folder in case you are wondering.

Next we cracked open the dye and let Henry paint where ever he wanted. I will warm you, these paints have a very caustic smell. Henry didn't paint much after this picture because of the smell. It probably would have been good to open a window, but I didn't want the sunlight to come in.

Now we placed the painted fabric on a stiff book and taped the transparency paper on top of it with clear tape

Then we took it outside and let the magic happen.

It was hot outside that day so we went in to take a little baby break while the dye was getting more vivid.

Here we are, all the color is bright and finished. I brought this downstairs, took off the transparency paper and stuck it in the washer on the hot cycle.

After it was clean and ironed, I cut the fabric and a terry cloth fabric to the same size

I then sandwiched it together (right sides facing each other), sewed it, turned it right side out and then sewed the edges again.

Finally I added and eyelet hole on the top and viola! Golf towel for grandpa. Henry didn't want to be in this picture, so I forced it upon him.

With the same technique, I made a remote control holder/pillow for Aaron. You can see our whole family on this one. Henry is the far right, then next to him is Aaron (with two hearts), then me, and then Frances in the Bobby.

Here is the backside of the pillow with custom made remote drawings by Henry. Works pretty well, doesn't it?

 So, that's the end of the tutorial. It was pretty easy to made and the details came out well. It's always so much fun to create, especially now since I have an enthusiastic 4 year old to help me with everything.

Messy

When I was in grade school I remember having days specifically devoted to cleaning out our desks. To be honest, I needed it. I would pull stuff out of my desk, throw it away or stick in in folders while thinking "next year, I'll be better." Well, the years came and went and now I sit with a house full of little messes all over the place (not including my children). I guess I never really learned.

I attribute this problem to efficiency. For instance, if you are buying groceries you need to have your credit card out at the end. The cashier gives you your credit card back with your receipt and then your groceries all at once. It takes time to put the receipt and your card into your wallet then grab the groceries. If you do this, you will get angry stares from the people behind you all wanting you to speed up (and I want to speed up too). So, the receipt goes quickly in a bag and the card gets stuffed into the wallet anywhere.  I think to myself that when I have time, I will put it where it belongs.   Funny thing, that time never comes.

I really really wish I wasn't messy, but it's a life long curse. Too many times I think to myself  " I could do the dishes, or I could do something fun with Henry," or I try to start cleaning, but quickly give up because Frances needs me. After I fulfill Frances' need (be it diaper change, feeding, or loving) I quickly ignore the task I was going to do.

What's a girl to do? Accept it? I'm not quite ready to admit defeat yet. Maybe I need a schedule or something, I don't know. I was actually hoping that writing this would give me some great ideas so I could finish this post with a stunning conclusion.

Um, guess not.

5 Months

 So now my little girl is 5 months old. It's great. I'm happy to be out of the newborn phase. Frances is such a happy and content little baby and it is getting better in better. Everyone says how she looks like Henry, so I thought it would be fun to do a side by side (or up and down) comparison.  She does have the Henry "look" but I feel she is starting to diverge from it.  What do you think?

Frances loves George RR Martin

This is Henry at 5 months with a less gray daddy.

Our little Hanky at 5 months with a sleep deprived mommy.

I am happy to say that I can tell the difference in pictures and not just by looking at their hair (or lack of). So, what is Frances doing at 5 months?  She now can roll over from back to front (but not front to back). She doesn't do the best with tummy time because she likes to puke in that position. Speaking of puke, she still has reflux, but we often forget to give her medicine and she does well. I think she is starting to grow out of it. I was hoping I could tell you all that she is sleeping through the night, but things are worse than ever! She is waking up 4-5 times a night. Not exactly sure why, but it could be related to teething. She usually goes back to sleep pretty well, but I'm not liking this new schedule.  I was hoping to put her in Henry's room at 6 months, but I can't have her waking up Henry all through the night. I guess she might just have to stay in the pack-n-play for a while. The pediatrician in me tells me that she is hitting all of her milestones (except rolling front to back) and is right on track.  The mother in me tells me that she is the best baby ever!

Routines

I always think posts are better with pictures, but more often then not, I write this at work so cannot put as many pictures as I want. So, today I grabbed a couple from our Flickr page to include just for fun. These are from our Minneapolis trip.

Henry getting in Malcolm's face. Don't worry, Malcolm loved it.

Frances' first twins game done in style. We got a suite and everything.

Since we have been home from the trip, we have settled in fine with the addition of a few new things. Henry is now in preschool 3 days a week. I asked him and he says it is the perfect amount. I think Aaron agrees too. I started a beginning running club through the Kansas City Track Club (http://kctrack.org/). Last Monday was the first meeting, and there were about 25 or so beginning runners and maybe 5-10 seasoned runners that were helpers.  It was pretty easy to spot the difference. One seasoned runner told me that on average they start with 24 or so beginning runners, and at the end of 10 weeks there are usually only 4 left over. I was shocked. That is incredible, but with Americans and exercise I suppose it makes sense. I've been running on my own now for about a month or so and I was excited to see how a group run would change things. I was also looking for possible friends.  Even though I got a great family here and good co-workers, I would still like some friends with similar interests. It seems that I left them all in Minneapolis. Anyway, the running group went fairly well. When we started running, I was with 2 other runners, one of them was a seasoned runner here to help out his co-worker, and one was that said co-worker.  When we started running the pace was a little faster than I normally would go, but I stayed with them. The guy was a pretty good conservationist and made the run more enjoyable. At the end of the run I had to walk because I was very exhausted keeping up with them. It was a good thing I started walking because shortly after I got a page from the hospital (I was on call). I felt funny talking on my cell phone barking out doctor's orders, but it worked well enough. When I got off the phone I had to stop at a cross walk and that is when I started to feel a little sick. My stomach was pretty upset from all the exertion (and plus it was 91 degrees out that day). I found that if I kept moving, my stomach would feel a little better, so I tried not to stop until I was in my car in the air conditioning. After I got in the car I felt better and at home I was completely normal.  So, all in all a pretty good night, but maybe next time I should take it a little easier.

The other thing news is that Henry starts T-ball tonight!  I think Aaron's dream has finally come true. Henry really loves this sport so I will be very interested to see how he will act. I'm not sure if his excitement will conquer his shyness. I love the part of parenting where you just let them go and see what happens (and hope you've taught them enough).

Oh, and I almost forgot, I got the best birthday present ever... a new bike!  I love it. I have biked to the grocery store and to work every day. It's nice being active and not driving the car. Now Henry wants a bike too. It does sound nice to have Henry and Mommy bike rides. We'll see....

Mystery Solved

Henry: "What's so stinky?"

Dad: "Did you fart?"

Henry: "Yes."

Vacations and Such

When I haven't written in a while, I'm tempted to just give a recap of everything that has happened. Although this might be interesting, it is only surface stuff. I like to write about my feelings and thoughts, so pardon me if I miss some extra fun stuff we did.

We made it up to Minneapolis and while it was a lot of fun, the notion of health and sickness was constantly in my mind, back and forth, back in forth.

My brother has always been large. I remember in junior high his doctor instructed him to find a hobby, so he and my father picked fly fishing. In interesting hobby, but not a very active hobby, and as it turns out not too rewarding. I walked across the street to the park with them a few times, watching them perfect their technique as the fishing line went up and down.  What I missed out on were the hours and hours of actually trying to catch a fish with absolutely no success. How long did this hobby last? I'm not sure, maybe a year or two. If you ask me, not a very good hobby to get a young boy active or even excited about something besides tv and video games.  How can you like a sport that never gives you any rewards? I have no idea what they were doing wrong, but needless to say, that hobby dwindled as his weight grew.  In junior high I was an active kid playing sports year round.  I thought it was sad to see my little brother miss out on this and watched him slowly get bigger and bigger.  As a teenager, I of course made the wrong choices to try to help him out.  Chastising him for eating another slice of pizza or picking on him surprisingly didn't change is life (and maybe even made things worse).

Eventually I got the hint and shut my mouth. I wasn't helping, I knew. I just wanted him to be happy. Now, my little brother is all grown up and has done something I never thought possible, he decided to change. I'm not sure what spurred it, but he has done amazing things. He is eating better, exercising a lot and even is playing on a soccer league. I got to see him play last year and it was a lot of fun.  With all this, my little brother has lost over 100 pounds.  This is truly incredible. He has his health back.

What is given can also be taken away.

My sister's father-in-law is sick, very sick. While we were up in Minneapolis he just kept getting worse and worse. You know sometimes you walk around with this bad feeling in your gut. It's unconscious and you ask yourself why you feel this way, and then you figure it out.  I felt that way with him. No matter how much fun we were having, he was always in the back of my mind.  As a doctor, I felt all the things they were saying were not good. The funny thing is that I barely knew this guy. Sure, I met him a few times at my sister's wedding and reception and stuff, but I really don't know him. I do, however, know my brother-in-law and realize that his father has shaped his life. Really, that is enough for me.

Sometimes empathy hurts too much. I try to dissociate and tell myself that it does not good, but  maybe it does. Maybe it helps me realize how lucky I am to be so healthy and have a family with no major health problems. I mean, last weekend my father and I worked out together, how great is that? It's not fair that my family is lucky. Life is not fair. So I will grieve for my brother in law's family while cherishing mine. It's all I can do.