Falling

Where have I been you ask? The answer...at work. My main excuse this time for not posting is that I have worked over 110 hours in the last two weeks. I've been on a break from school and one of my largest clients just acquired one of their largest competitors, I've had a huge project to try to wrap my arms around and it all needs done NOW! The good news is that this is the last week before we're taking a week vacation to my parents, so I have just 5 more work days before having a well-deserved week off. The bad news, is that in those 5 days, I also have to start my next class (Mon and Tues night), make a list to pack for vacation, go to Milwaukee, WI for two days (Thurs and Fri) and then get home Friday in enough time to launder and pack our belongings for a week-long vacation. We depart at 9 am on Saturday. Sigh. Mom offered to let me finish the laundry at her house if needed, so we'll see how that goes.

Now on to more exciting things...I haven't posted on here, but in the last 3 weeks, I have allowed Grace to have two moderate/serious falls. The first one Eric and I both witnessed. Grace was on the loveseat with me. I was sitting with my back to one arm and my legs stretched out to the other. Grace kept climbing onto the arm of the loveseat and then she'd jump and land in my lap. Looking back, it may not have been the smartest thing to let her do. Well, one time she stood up and lost her balance before jumping and fell headfirst to the floor. It's only a couple of feet, but we saw her head hit and her neck twist and both Eric and I were sure she broke her neck. She cried a bit and was a little scared, but a few minutes later, she was running and playing and trying to climb back onto the couch. We debated taking her to the hospital anyway, but she acted totally fine and didn't show any symptoms of head or neck trauma, so we didn't.

Next..last Sunday, Eric was doing something with the youth from church and Grace and I had just came back from my softball game. We went upstairs so I could change clothes. After Grace climbed up the stairs, she shut the gate (she likes to shut things), I headed to my bedroom, leaving her in the hallway and started changing. I remember thinking that I should check to be sure the gate latched when she closed it and then I heard, "thump, thump, thump..." I ran out to the hallway to find Grace laying at the bottom of the stairs looking startled and then she started crying. I ran down and grabbed her and ran back up to my bedroom and layed her on the bed. She stopped crying almost before we reached the top of the stairs. I think I'm lucky I didn't see her fall that time. I chose to think she slid down on her bottom. Let me think that, please. I told Eric when he got home, but of course she was totally normal by then. Just please no more falls!

Last week I was thinking about this alot. She was perfectly fine both times and I am not a "freak-out" kind of parent, but there is a sick feeling you get in your stomach at that instant when there's nothing you can do and you know something bad is happening to your child. I was so scared there would be something seriously wrong with her or worse. It's only been 18 months, but that girl has my whole heart.

Just gotta be more careful. Oh, sounds like somebody's up from her nap. Gotta go!

What A Week...

There's probably a reason I should post more often and it's weeks like this one. Here are some of the highlights.

Saturday night (last weekend) after grocery shopping, grilling out a nice dinner, putting Grace to bed, etc. I went to the freezer for a Weight Watcher's ice cream bar and found the ice cream to be melted. Our neighbors were out of town, we were dogsitting and had a key, and they have an extra fridge in the garage, so we moved everything over to their place. Sunday morning Eric pulled the grill off the bottom front of the fridge and suddenly it started blowing cold air again. After a few hours, the ice cube trays had frozen back over, so that evening we brought all our food back. We assumed the air intake had gotten blocked because of all the dust/pet hair accumulated under the fridge. After a cleaning it seemed to be working. However, Tuesday morning brought soggy waffles from the freezer, so we realized that our fridge had in fact bitten the dust. Again we took all our food to the neighbors, although now they were home and had to let us in. Tuesday, Eric and I took an early lunch, headed to HH Gregg and purchased a new fridge. It's nice, but stinks to have to spend the money. They delivered it on Wednesday.

Tuesday night, I took my final and am now officially done with my first class. My next round of Chemistry will be starting on June 25th. I didn't get to find out what my grade on the exam was, but I do know that I got an A in the class. That makes me very happy. One down, ten to go (and then the MCAT and 4 years of med school).

Grace has started showing some signs that she is recognizing some of her bodily functions. This week we will be buying a "potty" or two to get her used to them around the house. She has started grabbing her diaper after going. I have noticed after she has a BM, Eric saw her do it after peeing. This weekend she was having a BM while we were shopping, and she got extremely cranky, grabbed her diaper, and said, "Ow, Ow, Ow" It was pretty solid, so I felt bad that it might have hurt a little. She also keeps trying to say more and more things. She now also says, "Ewww" if something is gross, please "eeee", and Thank you "ain oo." I'm starting to understand more of what she says, but the only things that are really clear are Mommy, Mine, No, and Yeah. Outside is pretty close, but is still more like "ow-ide"

This weekend Grace and I left Eric for a Daddy's weekend by himself and drove over to Indiana and stayed with Erica. Our friend Heather had a wedding shower on Saturday, so that was the main purpose of the trip. I took off a little early on Friday, picked Grace up from day-care and started driving. We stopped for dinner and she fell asleep about 6:45 p.m., but we got there at about 8:45 p.m. We gave her a bath and put her to bed and after just a few minutes of crying she settled right down and slept until about 8 a.m. Saturday we grabbed breakfast at home then headed to Crawfordsville. Danialle got a job offer that included a house to rent in Crawfordsville. She'll be moving in two weeks, so we stopped by to check the new house out. After that we had lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant in town and then headed out to Terre Haute to the shower. Grace fell asleep immediately after lunch in the car and slept about 1 1/2 hours until we arrived at the shower. It was a beautiful shower at a beautiful home. The weather was just nice enough to do it outside. And being outside made it easier to just let Grace run around and she wasn't bothering any one. There were even a couple of other kids she played a little with. We left the shower around 4 pm and drove back. Grace slept for about an hour of the trip back which kept her rested enough for dinner and a little Target shopping. We had dinner at the Olive Garden and Grace found a waiter she couldn't keep her eyes off of. It was so funny, she would just stare and follow him around with her eyes whenever she could see him. When we left, we had to walk by him and she just looked him up and down. I think I'll be in trouble when she gets a little older. We finally got home at around 9 p.m. and Danialle gave her a bath and got her PJs on while I got all my nighttime stuff out of the room and reorganized the suitcase. She was so tired, she didn't make a peep and slept until about 7:15 this morning.

This morning we got up, drove back and Grace is still napping. I've got to go get her because I have a softball game in about 45 minutes. Daddy's playing golf. Next week is back to work!

Here's what I have coming up. Wednesday is a Herceptin appt. Thursday I have my inital genetic testing counseling appt. Eric is taking Grace for her 18 month check up on Wednesday. Add in 2 client meetings on Monday and a ton of projects this week at work, we'll be very busy! I'll update again soon!

Grace at 18 Months

In a previous post, I had a request to describe Grace's personality and development these days. Last week I got the progress report from daycare for Grace, so I thought I'd share their thoughts and my own.

First of all, I say Grace is definately entering her "terrible two's" although she's at least 6 months early. Here's a prime example...Last week out of 4 days of daycare, Grace got a "frowny face" two days. Here were the comments from her teacher.
Tuesday: "Grace has really been testing today. Doing things she knows she shouldn't be doing, being rough with her friends, and screaming at naptime/banging her crib on the wall."
Thursday: "Grace has had a very hard day. She has not been using her listening ears. She woke all her friends up at nap. Was screaming, yelling, screaming "No." She has not used nice hands with friends hitting/pushing. Hitting herself, throwing toys. Had to go sit with Ms. Michele at nap."

It's not all bad. Except when she's testing the limits, she has a very sweet personality. She is a lover and loves to give hugs and kisses. Every morning she waves bye, bye and blows me kisses.

Here's the progress report from her Froggy class:
Cognitive Development
- Responds to simple directions, such as "Give me the ball" - Y - I agree
- Selects and looks at picture books - Y - I agree. She loves to read
- Names pictured objects - N - She doesn't say the names, but if I say the names, she can point to them.
- Understands concept of one, more, many - N - I know she does with food. She asks for "more"
- Understands prepositions to and with - N - I'm not sure
- Can nestle cups sequentially - N - I disagree. She can even do a shape sorter.
- Points to 4-6 body parts on a doll - P(Partially) - On her own body she can point to hair, head, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, arm, belly, legs, feet
- Regcognizes self in mirror - N - I definately don't agree. She loves looking in the mirror
- Imitates adult actions, such as sweeping, ironing, combing - N - Maybe I don't clean enough around her, but she does comb her hair, she will also brush her teeth, talk on the phone, or even driving
- Has limited attention span - Y - Definately
- Is beginning to understand functional concepts of objects such as "spoon is for eating" - N - Maybe I don't understand the question, but she definately knows what a spoon is for.
- Freely explores and investigates - Y - She is definately an explorer
Teacher comments: Grace's cognitive skills are increasing more and more. She is always learning and trying something new!

Communication Skills and Language Development
- Points to pictures of common objects - N - This just isn't true. She points to pictures in books at home all the time, especially animals
- Can identify objects when told their use - N - That's probably true
- Understands negatives such as 'no,' 'can't,''don't - Y - Definatley knows what these mean
- Enjoys listening to simple story books and requests them to be repeated - Y - Even tonight she said "more" after I finished her story
- Repeats two digits in order - N - I agree
- Labels common pictures and objects - N - She doesn't say much
- Uses phrases of 2-3 words - N - She doesn't use phrases yet
- Gives first name - N - I agree
- Shows frustration at not being understood - N - She gets mad if you don't get her something she's pointing at
Teacher comments: Grace hasn't started speaking yet, but she loves circle and tries really hard to form words. It won't be long and she'll be talking up a storm!

Words Grace says:
More (moe), Mommy, Mine, Daddy (Nanny), Banana (nana), Milk (mil), Zeus (ooo)

Motor Development
- Runs forward well - Y - She's all about running
- Jumps in place, two feet together - N - She has started trying to jump, but hasn't made it off the ground yet
- Stands on one foot with aid - Y - I agree
- Walks on tiptoe - N - I agree
- Kicks a ball with forward motion - Y - I agree
- Throws a large ball - Y - I agree
- Stands on one foot momentarily - Y - I agree
- Turns pages one at a time - Y - I agree
- Holds crayon with thumb and fingers, not fist - N - I agree
- Uses one hand consistently - N - She stills goes back and forth between right and left
- Paints with some wrist action, makes dots, lines, and circular strokes - Y - I agree
- Rolls, pounds, squeezes clay - N - I've never given her play-doh
- Constructs with Legos, tinker toys, etc. - N - She has some legos and tries at to put them together
- Turns handles - N - She does turn knobs at home
Teacher comments: Grace's motor skills are getting better and better. She is one of our daring froggies, nothing stands in her way!

Personal/Social Skills & Development
- Uses spoon, spilling little - N - I disagree, she uses her spoon very well at home and will even stab with a fork
- Takes off own coat - N - We've been working on this at home, she's been helping get dressed and undressed
- Puts on coat with assisstance - N - Again, she's very helpful getting dressed at home. She will stick out her arms for help.
- Plays near other children - Y - I agree
- Watches other children and sometimes joins in their play - Y - I agree
- Defends own possessions - Y - Definately
- Uses objects symbolically - N - Not sure what this means
- Participates in simple group activities, games, songs - Y - I agree
- Understands gender - N - She has started noticing her girl parts lately
- Increasing sense of independence - Y - Definately
- Generally does as told, or minds - Y - I agree (most of the time)
- May be afraid of thunder, sirens, loud noises - Y - I agree
- May enjoy performing for others - Y - I agree, she especially loves dancing
Teacher comments: Grace loves being around her friends. She never shys to give hugs and make them laugh. She's working really hard to master using her sppon.

It's so easy to think about all the cool things she does, but hard while I'm thinking about it. She loves to make us laugh and has changed so much the last couple of months.

Oh, and she definatly isn't a girly girl. No interest in dolls or playing house. She'd rather climb on anything or her new thing is jumping off of things.

Mid-Year Review

I promised that June 1, I would review my goals for 2006. So, here goes.

Health
1. Lose 20 pounds
- 5 pounds by April 1
- 10 pounds by July 1
- 15 pounds by October 1
- 20 pounds by December 31
Not quite yet. My starting weight on Jan. 1 was my weight this week after losing 3 1/2 pounds. So, to be at 10 pounds less for the year by July 1 I still need to lose 10 pounds this month. I'm not counting out finishing the year strong!

2. Plan meals weekly (To start I just want to plan meals, I'll be trying to add a "healthy" dinner to the plan each week)
Not really. I sort of plan to get to the grocery, but don't really stick to it.

3. Exercise (by March 1, I'd like to be back up to the old BFL exercise plan, assuming I have clearance from my doctor due to my port and surgical issues) - I will be starting to use the treadmill as early as this week.
Good thoughts, but not really exercising. Although, starting this week, I'll be playing softball weekly.

4. Drink 4 to 5 bottle of water daily - At first I'll still allow myself Coke as long as I get all my water in. Then we'll be phasing out those drinks.
I have switched to Diet Coke and still get in at least 3 bottles daily.

5. Update Diet Blog weekly. It helps to be accountable and once a week is doable.
Not as doable as I thought. I'm barely keeping this blog up weekly.

6. Don't get any additional diseases or life-threatening illnesses (not that I have a lot of control, but it's a good goal)

Finances
1. Stay within monthly budget
I haven't been tracking the budget as closely as I should have. It's a little easier now that I'm working again and I get paid for overtime!

2. Only eat lunch out once per week
Mostly doing this. Especially with the new diet, I'm bringing my lunch much more.

3. Stop using credit cards
We've had a few purchases we've done on credit cards, but for the most part we aren't using them much.

Intellectual
1. Take 4 pre-requisite courses for med school
I've got the final for #1 on Tuesday and will be starting #2 at the end of the month.

2. Take 2 CPCU courses
I've done 1 and plan to do the second one this summer.

3. Read 4 books for fun
I haven't really paid attention to this. I know I've read at least one, Memoirs of a Geisha.

Spirituality
1. Do bible study daily
Not doing this like I should.
2. Update and pray over prayer list daily
Ditto.
3. Memorize a verse each week
Ditto.
4. Tithe according to committment made to church
Yes.
5. Get involved in some type of group study
I have an opportunity during my lunch hour on Thursday's, but have been too busy at work these last couple of weeks to go.

Personal Development
1. Get a new hair style (just joking!)
I'm doing this! I get lots of comments on my short hair.
2. E-mail a friend each week that I don't already communicate with on a weekly basis
Not really. Just keeping up with the same ones.
3. Send birthday, anniversary and other cards
Doing pretty good at this, at least for birthday's.
4. Join Young Survivor Coalition or other breast cancer group
Nothing yet.
5. Review progress at 6 months
Doing it right now.

Ok, so I've got some work to do for the rest of the year, but they were pretty hefty goals! And at least I'm feeling good now!