Swimming Lessons

Unfortunately at swimming lessons today Carly was not the model student.  Her lesson started off well; however, she a little too confident in her swimming abilities and not too interested in listening to her instructor.  While she was supposed to be sitting on the edge of the pool so another girl could have a turn swimming with the instructor Carly got up and walked to a different spot on the edge.  (She had done this earlier to work with the class's assistant, so I thought nothing of it.)  However, while both teachers were away from the edge of the pool with students Carly began to lower herself into the side of the pool by holding on to the edge.  As I glanced in her direction to give her the "mommy stare" she pushed herself off of the edge and swam about a yard and a half out into the water.  By this point I was at the edge of the pool and the instructor was within a foot of Carly's body.  She began to tread water for about a minute until she attempted to swim back to the edge.  At this point she began to sink down and was scooped up by the teacher.  There was a discussion with the teacher about how unsafe her choices had been before she was told her lesson for the day was over, a similar discussion on our ride home, and then again at bedtime with Dave.  I'm really hoping Monday will go smoother and that we haven't just frightened Carly away from the pool.

Still Allergic to Milk...

Well I knew this day would come, and yesterday it did.  David Jr, Carly, and I were at the park with some friends.  Carly was off playing and David was sitting on the ground with some other kids close to his age.  I glanced up to check on Carly and then looked back down at David.  I found a pile of goldfish crackers on the ground in front of him and his hand going for one.  I scooped him up, causing the cracker in his hand to drop to the ground and realized quickly he had one in his mouth.  With a quick scoop of my finger it was out of his mouth still intact, and slightly soggy.  Another mom had removed the crackers from the area and I began freaking out deep inside (not wanting anyone to know).  Carly had swimming in the afternoon so David would be in child watch, I had something at church so the kids were going to have a babysitter in the evening, and I really needed David Jr to take a nap when we got home so I could pick up the house some - all time that I couldn't helicopter over him and make sure he kept breathing, was getting a rash, etc.  Well David's lunch and nap time went fine,  and he woke up from nap with a nasty, blood speckled diaper.  Confirming that our little man is still allergic to milk.  I made mention of this episode to the girls at child watch and the kids' babysitter and neither reported back anything about his diaper, so I'm assuming he either didn't have a BM or it was comparable to what I had described.  He goes back for allergy testing a few days after his first birthday, but at the moment we know dairy will come back positive.

Chunky Monkey?

Our chunky monkey doesn't seem so chunky in this picture.  Today was the first time David showed off his little legs this season.  And as he motored by me I thought, "Where did those bird legs come from?"  David never seemed to develop the baby pudge in his legs like Carly and so many other babies do.  

Math

I have begun to talk more and more about David's up coming FIRST birthday party and it is making Carly quite excited.  There were some muffin/cupcake liners left out on the counter this morning from our breakfast muffins and Carly mentioned that she thought we would need more for David's birthday.  When asked why she thought this her response was "Because there will be what, 15 people here for cupcakes?" (A number I'm sure I've said at some point about the party, but do not know when exactly.)  My immediate response was, "How many do we have already?"  She then began counting the liners.  Once she was finished she looked at me and stated, "We have 10 mom, so we need 5 more." Talk about a quick snap of my mom/teacher head in her direction - I was not expecting to see my little 3 year old looking up after me after that statement.  But she was, and WOW!!

11 Months

David Jr is now 11 months and so very close to that big 1 year milestone.  Around the house we've started talking to Carly about how at the moment he is "Baby David," we won't be calling him that after his first birthday.  So of course now she calls him "Baby David" and then gives me a description of when and why we will be stopping this reference soon.  And while Dave and I are the ones who told her this and know it is true, I'm having a hard time bracing myself for this reality.  My baby is almost 1 and not going to publicly be called a "baby" much longer.

At 11 months, David Jr is a speed crawler and cruiser.  He isn't showing interest in walking or standing independently.  But give him a walk behind toy or a piece of furniture he can push and move he will walk right along.  And if he wants to get to a specific point quickly, then he will drop to his hands and knees and take off.  He loves to chase his sister around the house and race her to various points.  He is still very fond of dumping out the Duplo blocks and animals in our Noah's Ark.

David is also eating us out of house and home already.  He typically starts a meal with a portion of what is on my plate and typically eats more peas or green beans than Carly.  He then moves on to a vegetable puree and finishes his meal with either a fruit puree or chunks (if not both).  He recently also showed a big interest in graham crackers and wanting to bite piece off of it, instead of me breaking it up into small pieces for him.

At the moment David is not showing any signs of teething, babbles a lot, and has handsome blue eyes!

We Survived!!

Well Dave and I survived!

The above statement could be used to describe a number of events -
1) A weekend away from both children.  (Dave's parents also survived staying with both children!)
2) I survived running 26.2 miles and bettered my time by 34 minutes, having me finish at 3:46:26.
3) Dave survived running 13.1 miles and bettered his average pace by 22 seconds a mile, finishing at 2:41:01.

Don't get me wrong, I was confident about our family surviving the dynamics and big events of this weekend.  However, there were some bumps in the road leading up to the weekend that left me slightly nervous.

I had strained a muscle and come to realize that my hips were misaligned, leaving me to only run 18 miles for my longest training run and to need physical therapy 2 times a week for the four weeks leading up to our race weekend.

David had been consumed with work, school, and looking towards the future for his half Ironman event in June, so hadn't been consistent with his week day runs.

The forecasted weather for the weekend was in our favor for driving up to DC on Friday and returning home on Sunday, but sandwiched in the two days were some nasty storms.

Carly had developed a stuffy nose on Thursday afternoon and slept very little the night before our departure.  This left us worried about how she would behave and feel while we were away, and gave a pretty sleepless night before getting in the car to drive 6 hours.

David Jr. has only recently (as in over the past 4 weeks) began taking some milk from a bottle; however, had never been away from me for more than 1 feeding.  His food challenges also make his desire to eat table food some what of a challenge at times.

There were also about 5 different "childcare" plans throughout the course of the week leading up to this weekend, which had my anxiety level quite high.

Oh, and David's car had begun acting up and was occasionally locking the key in the ignition when you tried to turn the car off.  

With all of the bumps I was scared I was missing a big sign that this trip was a mistake and we shouldn't go.  But, on Friday morning my alarm went off at 5am and things began moving into motion. By 7:00am we were loaded up, had bought gas, gone through the ATM, and were on I-77N.  We only had traffic in Richmond due to a stalled truck in the center lane and arrived in Washington DC is great time.  After checking into our hotel we headed out to the Armory to pick up our race packets and make sure we had a clear understanding of the Metro system before needing it to return back to the hotel the next afternoon following the race.  We walked around DC some and ate dinner before heading back to the room for an early night.  Saturday morning, I awoke again at 5am and had the most pleasant surprise - a dry forecast!  The system that was supposed to hit the DC area that morning had shifted south and DC was spared.  We would have a dry run!!  We arrived at the starting area, turned our items into the gear check bus, and ventured around.  Eventually we made it to our separate corals and waited for the race to begin.  I know Dave complained later about a slow first mile due to a slow pace by others around him, but overall he had a fabulous run.  I made great time with my first 20 miles and then slowed down considerably for the last 6.  Not only was the race dry, it was also sunny for the final moments of Dave's and the last quarter of mine.  Following the race Dave was able to spot me in a sea of people and we slowly made our way back to the Metro.  After arriving at the hotel, getting cleaned up, and a quick nap for Dave we ventured downstairs for lunch in the restaurant that was next to our hotel.  After ordering a hamburger the waitress mentioned that the burger was huge and question if it was really what I wanted, I promptly explained that I had just finished running and finishing it would NOT be a problem.  I polished it clean, along with my fruit cup.  (The slaw was left on the plate only due to David's allergies, not because I was full.)  The remainder of our trip was peacefully.  Lots of sleeping and eating!  Our kids did great for their grandparents and even felt obligated to share their colds with them.  (Sorry)

I am very thankful that I didn't just throw my hands up in the air and cancel our trip after the many bumps that presented themselves the weeks leading up to the race and I can now say that I ran a marathon when my son was just 10 months old!  I've got my eyes currently on a half Ironman event in September (can't let Dave be the only one knocking one of those out this summer) and maybe a marathon in November/December - but I will have to see how our calendar is looking.  All of these long distance events take a chunk of time out of our weekends, and Dave only has a few quarters left of school...

Happy 10 Months

Double digits, double digits!  David Jr joined us 10 months ago today and has helped to keep out lives interesting since.  We actually found out 5 days ago that my hips are misaligned most likely due to David's delivery - although I'm not sure he is deserves all the credit for the misalignment.  (I'm somewhat of a klutz...)

At 10 months, David Jr is doing VERY well at eating table food and especially likes shredded chicken, peas, and chicken pot pie.  The only "baby" foods we have found him to not be a fan of are mushy grains and citrus.  Otherwise he enjoys EVERYTHING else!  This is such a blessing to my heart after watching his weight slowly drop between July and November.  When we went for his 9 month well visit he had chunked up some.  Unfortunately, he will never have chunky little Michelin Man legs and arms - he didn't start putting on weight until he became mobile.  But at 10 months, David is a bruiser with his size.  He is also cruising furniture and pulling up on tables, chairs, and cabinets.  He enjoys greeting us each morning by smiling as he is standing in his crib and will quickly flash a flirty smile when someone gives him any ounce of attention.  David isn't speaking much but he does occassionaly say "mama mama," "dada dada," and "up."  Every so often there is something that sounds like "all done." 

It is hard to believe that in 2 months we will be celebrating David's first birthday!