Anna: there's a frickin' hair on my shoe!

Behind hidden giggles we remind her that's an adult word. But it's frickin' hilarious. Frick!

This is Paul's fault

Paul: Anna, where's mommy today?

Anna: she's at frickin' work!

For once I can't blame this one on her school friends' potty mouths. This is a Paul word!!

4 yr old stats

Anna had her 4yr well child check up today. I have to say everytime we enter those exam rooms it never fails me to remember the days we sat there for the first few weeks of her life as we were dealing with a screaming baby with acid reflux, trying to get the doses right, getting the pep talks from the doc, trying to determine what was "normal". Wishing for the days when she turned 3 and 4 and we were past all that.

In fact as we sat in the waiting room today I could hear the woes of another mother who was saying she couldn't take another 24 hours straight of awake time like that again. Her baby was sleeping in the carrier. I wonder if she looked at me and Anna and wondered if we went through "the same thing." If she only knew! :)

Anna's 75th percentile for both weight and height, which the exact same trend she's been on since her first month of life. I think she's about 35lbs and 40.5" tall. That 75th percentile height is a nice severance when it comes to amusement park rides :) She likes to get taller so we tell her which foods make us grow versus which foods are just yummy to eat only. She gets it and she's pretty good at the balance.

While we were waiting she wrote her name on the little slip we give to the doc and the doc was pretty impressed with that! Yay for Anna!

She passed her vision and hearing screenings and this time they even took her blood pressure with a little blood pressure cuff. After the check up, the tough questions about strangers and safety and private things came and Anna answered them all like a big girl! Then came the shots. Two of them. First I told her how the needle will go into her skin like this, and how it is full of medicine that will help her not get sick. Then with a pinch I showed her how it would feel. I told her if she was brave (and yes it will hurt a little) she could get two stickers instead of just one. She knew what to expect and that it would hurt a little but that we all get them and we don't really like them either. She held my hand and here came shot #1. "You OK?" Nods yes. Ok then here comes shot #2. "You OK?" nods yes, praises from the nurse on what a big girl she is! Nurse steps out, and the sniffles come. Sweet little girl sniffles, and I could tell she was holding back. "My legs hurt mommy! It hurts!" I know, shots hurt me too, they hurt everyone but we take them to stay healthy and you've totally earned TWO stickers! "But I cried, mommy!" Ohmagawd, it's ok to cry! You've earned the stickers!

She's excited to find a Scooby Do sticker, one she's been wanting since she went last week but decided on Dora then. She picked a fish sticker as the next one. She put Scooby on my shirt and the fish on hers and she held back the tears till we got to the car. In the car she sobbed quietly between sips of apple juice and complaints that her legs hurt and I gave her some ibuprofen for the soreness before dropping her off at school.

She doesn't remember the shots she had so long ago and I don't even remember when her last ones were (before 3?) and even then she cried but never carried on too long or out of control. Amen to that.

We have a big girl.

Fever: let's wrap this up

We waited out the fever for 5 nights and decided that was enough for any run-of-the-mill virus to have done its thing by now. On Wed morn I took her to the doctor and it turns out the source of her fever was an ear infection! WTH? Didn't see that one coming. She had just barely started getting congestion and though she told me everything else that hurt, her ear wasn't one of them. Till the doc asked if her ear hurt and she said yes. Huh? So there you go, two doses of antibiotics later and she was fever-free and sleeping through the night peacefully again. By Thursday she was back in school and we had emerged from the land of cold medicine, board games, and repetition of Chipmunks: the Squeakquel to the healthy and sane again.

Too bad I waited too long to take her but I thought I was being the calm mother who was waiting out a virus. When it's a virus you can take your child in and there's really not much the doc can do so I figured what's the point? If she'd have told me her ear hurt I'd have at least had a clue. I guess it felt funny but probably not that Vicodin-driving pain like the one I had a few years ago.

Kids.

More fever

Well this will be night 5 of fever if it comes on. It disappears in the day and comes back around 5pm. The past 2 nights have been rough for her sleeping because her nose is clogged :) That means it's been rough for us sleeping too!

Hopefully she'll shake this soon. It's spring break a work this week so there's not much going on and I can stay home with her. Yesterday I was out of town to see about my sick grandma so she went to the clinic with Paul and spent the afternoon playing with TJ and O/M. During the day you'd think she was just a little congested but it hits in the evening. No use for a doctor's visit: if it's a virus (betting) you just have to wait it out.

Here's hoping for a quick wrap up. But. I still dread the cough that I bet is coming. That is worse than fever in my opinion! Ugh.

Fever!

Anna's sick. She woke up around 11:30 last night with a fever of 102 and today it's gotten as high as 103.8. We kind of were waiting around for this. She hasn't been sick since she was 18 months old or so, and even then any fever may have never gone above 101 or something. We've gotten by this long with good health, it was bound to happen and I've wondered what she'd be like when sick.

To our surprise, she's a trooper. I guess I expected whiny, clingy, all the other crap but no, she is in good spirits and taking it well. She does say "momma I don't like the fever!" and "am I still sick momma?" often but otherwise good. She gets cold as the fever goes up, she's pissed at her runny nose and she gets tired pretty suddenly. She took a brief nap today but it's quite the sight to see her fight sleep her body obviously needs throughout the day. She always was a sleep fighter! Not cranky fight, but pathetic-your-eyes-are-sad-little-slits-and-you-barely-know-where-you-are fight. She's so far a happy sick kid which is fantastic with us! We hate to see her with such a high fever but given the other symptoms (so far congestion but not yet cough...we expect that around mon or tues) and her good mood it's not as bad as I'd feared (yet). Her cheeks get all flushed with the fever.

The whole time she was two I thought that would be a sucky age to get sick because they're so oppositional and still somewhat babies. Then three came and I thought it would be sucky but still easier because she was capable of reasoning. Now at 4 she's a little big kid so I think we escaped the harder ages. We got lucky. TJ was awesome to come over and show me some Tui Na to try to help the fever and runny nose. What a great skill to have :) and I'm lucky that one of my best friends has it! And lives one street over.

Now as far as a stomach virus: that's the bad ass one that's left for us I know. She had one when she was just 4 months old but it was quick and let's face it: that kind of puke is easier to clean up.

Nobody likes big little kid puke. Lord help us when THAT day comes.

School daze

Anna has been placed into the Pre-k 5 class at her school next year. It's technically jumping a level among her peers, skipping the Pre-k 4 class. The requirement is to be 5 by November 2011 (she just turned 4 on Tuesday) and the recommendation of the center director. Guess they bypassed the age thing in this case. The director has been encouraging us to advance her in the past but I didn't feel she was ready (nor was I!). But I think we are ready for this. I wonder if any of her old friends will be in there...there's only one Pre-k 5 class, with one teacher, the same fabulous teacher who has been there for years, with a little kick ass cool classroom. It's exciting!!!

I toured a private school again at the urging of my boss, and it was ok. But I just wasn't drawn to it. Then we toured the public school that Anna would go to and Paul and I fell in love. It seems so seriously cool! Tomorrow morning is kindergarten open house and I will bring Anna to see what she thinks. We loved it so much we're ready for her to start next year instead of 2012 :)

Incidentally it seems almost everyone in my office is majorly anti-public school (2 exceptions). They fill my head with horror stories that to me seem out of left field or just individualized. It's true the Texas education system has major flaws (it's Texas for crying out loud. The entire state is a freaking flaw in itself). Those parents I interviewed at the public school said they'd send their kids there all over again. Also said by the teachers there who also sent their kids to that school. I have only ever heard great things about that school (though I get no school is perfect). Bottom line: I will be as involved in Anna's education as I can be. We have a great public school. That's all that really needs to be said.

I haven't encountered this much controversy since breast feeding! For real!

Of The tours that I have had of the top private school on my list and this public school, Paul and I both agree if we had to choose now: public. We could barely contain our own excitement during our visit. I think we're lucky to have such good choices.

Donate!

The MS150 is getting closer! Please donate at the link to the right on my blog :)

The final day of boot camp is tomorrow: 6 weeks down! Still doing spin on same schedule. Getting lots of good cycle time before the MS150 comes. We have a long bike ride this Sunday so I'll get to see if all that spinning is paying off on the real bike, on the road. Wish us luck!

You're Four today!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Anna. Happy birthday to you!

Yesterday at work, going from one meeting to another, I would think of what I was doing this day and time as the day progressed 4 years ago. When we went to the hospital for an ultrasound on March 7 due to low amniotic fluid, we packed our bags because we suspected this ultrasound would drive the decision to induction 2 weeks earlier than your due date. We were right. Your original due date was March 19.

When you were a screaming baby I wished we could advance to when you're 3 or 4. Yesterday daddy and I toured your potential kindergarten. Here we are and I can't stop time! Yay for another great year. We love you!!

Anna likes for me to roll the windows down at the stoplight on the way to school in the mornings so she can call out and wave to the crossing guards. They love this too. I started doing it with her when she was a car seatscreamer as a distraction (oh many a blog post about those screaming 2 yr old car seat days).

Now she also wants to do this with construction workers or anyone close enough to hear her. If they don't see her she gets bummed.

She's still enjoying gymnastics.

I got her birthday party invitations out to her friends today. I made them up and printed right from the computer for zero cost. Go me! Party is March 5 at 1:00. Woo hoo! As for us, it's been one birthday party per week.
Everyone's growing up!

Mardi Gras marathon

Paul ran the Galveston Mardi GRAS half marathon today! He finished 20 minutes faster than when he runs with me. I didn't run; I haven't really run since the Disney half. No time with the cycling and boot camp. Go Paul!

Exercise update:

Still Spinning, 3 days per week! It’s been 4 weeks as of tomorrow. I still love it!

Still in boot camp, 3 days per week! That’s will be 3 weeks as of tomorrow.

6 days per week total exercise.

Thank goodness I am still thinking it’s fun! But I do miss running a bit.

 

My metabolism was tested by Paul’s little breath machine thing and it says at REST all day my metabolic rate is 1800 calories per day. That means if I did nothing but lay in bed all day, I’d burn 1800 calories to keep my normal body functions going. That’s pretty high, actually. Most women should be around 1400-1500 if they’re not exercising. I assume my high metabolic rate is due to the exercise 6 days per week. I eat around 1600 calories per day (up from 1400 the past few weeks). Each boot camp session burns around another 400 calories beyond that 1800 calories, per my heart rate monitor. Each spin class burns another 500.

 

Do the math, and the scale should be going down, down, down. In typical Tara-exercise fashion, it’s not. It’s going up, up, up. All the research points to the involvement of muscle work, glycogen’s use as energy for those muscles, and the fact that glycogen is hydrophilic (it likes water). Long story short, the gains are probably water. In fact I am technically 4lbs heavier than when I started all this exercise. And no, it’s not muscle gain (that takes more time).

 

And no, my clothes aren’t fitting looser.

 

There’s nothing like an rise in the scale numbers to serve as a de-motivator if you’re looking to actually LOSE weight. Incidentally, EVERY SINGLE TIME I’ve ever taken boot camp in the last 10 years I’ve lived here, the scale has always gone up, up, up. Completely freaking me out every single time. So this is nothing really new. Every time I’ve ever lost weight, it’s been based on diet ONLY. No exercise involved.

 

Paul swears if I stick to this another few weeks, the scale will start dramatically moving downward. What I can say about this is that really I only started spinning because I need to train for the MS150. Not to lose weight. I started boot camp because I need muscles (for increased metabolism) and strength. Definitely not to lose weight.

 

And look, it’s a good thing I didn’t set myself up mentally to lose weight. But let’s face it, I SHOULD BE LOSING WEIGHT. The big number conflicts in my mind between the metabolism, the 2800 calories burned per week in exercise, the calorie deficit in my diet, and what’s happening with the scale is just so damn perplexing. Really, weight loss should be a nice side effect of all of this work. Don’t you think?

 

It’s just weird. Calories in and calories out. Why all of this complication? I’m picking this to death and picking Paul’s brain to death.

 

Anyway, I just imagine that by April 16-17 (the weekend of the MS150), I’m going to kick ass on those hills thanks to Spin class, and just QUITE POSSIBLY look decent in those bike shorts (frankly, not many people look decent in those biking shorts). So I’ll just keep going. Plus, frankly, it’s fun!

 

Valentine's Day

Apparently Paul's still got it :)

MS150

We're counting down to the weekend of April 16-17 for the MS150, when we're riding our bikes from Houston to Austin to raise money for multiple sclerosis treatment. Please donate!

Paul and I each have to raise at least $450 for the ride. I've lost track of how many years we've ridden (we missed last year, too busy I think).

To donate to my page, click here.

To donate to Paul's page, click here.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which a person's own body attacks its myelin. Your neurons have myelin on them to make the signals pass faster, so your movements are purposeful and efficient. Without myelin, you'd take awhile to move a body part, if you could move it at all. So people with MS have difficulty with their movement, and it generally worsens over time. There's no cure yet but the money raised for these big events almost all goes towards the costs of cures and treatments. Very little goes to "overhead" associated with the events. So when you donate, you'll know it's for a good cause directly.

We ride because it gives us a personal challenge while donating to a good cause too. It's a win-win.

And this year because of that spin class, ain't no hill gonna take me down! HAHAHAHA!

One month till Four

Dear Anna,
Today I watched a cute little girl a the airport with her mommy and I realized she must be younger than you. It's getting harder for me to judge ages of kids as you get older because even though I know you're tall enough to ride the big kid rides I still see you as a little thing.

Maybe the little girl was an early Three. I guess smaller than you. These days I can't believe the size of your shirts when I hold them up to fold them. For real?

You have one more month to be Three. Three was the best year by far but I still loved Two and that was a long time ago. Seemingly. But not really. Now at Four you're truly getting to be a big kid. I am excited and torn and finally feeling what most moms feel when their babies turn One: oh no my baby is growing up! So I'm a few years late. When you were a screaming baby I would tell myself that the screaming baby wouldn't last forever and that some day you'd be Three and Four, and how much fun would that be? And here we are and I was right. And now it's blowing past. And when you're Ten and I see little girls in the airport I will miss your Three. And this is the kind of thing I hear makes moms sad. This must be why moms want to have another baby. Er, No, this does not make ME want to have another baby! It makes me see that soon I will miss and want the little Anna even as I enjoy the big kid Anna.

I realized early on that most of us have known most of our friends and adult family not from when they were babies and up, but almost in the same semi-adult-to-adult state our whole lives. No one ever says how much they miss the old mom, dad, whatever maybe because there's no such drastic change in knowing and loving a person as there is in starting out from birth. The little person you love changes with stages and you're loving a changed person over and over. So when your baby is Ten, you miss Three because she was such a different person at Three. Just different. Just as you become attached, there's a change. Who else do you know in life who has gone through so much change right before your eyes?

We love you baby girl. Enjoy your last month of Three. We will.