Allergies

Finishing Day 3 of our home science experiment. After a few rashy weeks of observing Maggie deal with some sort of allergy, we've narrowed it down but are still taking a guess. She's been off dairy this week and it seems to be helping clear up the rash, or at least keep the rash attacks from returning. Back in September, we thought it was mangoes. Whatever it is, she breaks out in an itchy rash and gets puffy red eyes. We're seriously trying to figure this out after taking her to her doctor a couple times and confirming what we already knew...that it's pretty hard to figure allergies out. They come and go. Allergy tests don't always tell the true story. So, it's really up to us to figure this out and we're on the case!

Maggie has never liked drinking milk like I see some toddlers drink it. I'd say we push it much more than she actually drinks it and the little containers of whole milk that I've brought home for her never get used up fast enough. She does like cheese, butter, and yogurt though. I've been pushing full-fat dairy on her a lot lately, thinking it was a good fat source, but I feel like I've been put in my place. Was she trying to tell us something all along?

Michael feels otherwise, but I'd hate to find out that our sweet cat Lily is causing the fuss. It's a possibility, we haven't ruled it out yet, but unlikely since Maggie hasn't always reacted this way and we've had Lily around the whole time. She loves animals too, wouldn't that be so sad?

Wish us luck and leave a comment if you have recommendations!

31

Today is my 31st birthday and I wanted to post this video my brother-in-law took of my niece Eden 1 year ago today. This needs to become a tradition!




Maggie and I have been watching this video over and over. Nerdy me, I actually had it on my list of things to do today. If I didn't get anything else done, I wanted to at least watch this once or twice to put a smile on my face and hers. Turns out Maggie doesn't want to take a nap today, which is very unusual but fine. It's just the two of us with the day free to do whatever we want and we're getting taken out to dinner by my dad!

It's a week's worth of celebrations when I didn't feel like celebrating my 31st this year. Go figure. Life is funny that way.

Thank you to all the people in my life that have left me a facebook post, sent a text, called me, mailed me a package or card, or treated me to something special already. You've all made my 31st pretty kick ass so far!

Appreciation for life



Tired eyes on the climb!

 This is a hard post to share because of the nature of the situation but I can't let it pass because it has affected me.

Yesterday hubby and I got back on our mountain bikes together, back to the same trail where we used to spend our early days falling in love with eachother and me with bikes (Michael was already in love with bikes way before I met him :-). We had family watch Maggie for the better part of the day so we set out to get a ride in after lunch. We were headed to one trail and then at the last minute opted for another that I knew would be a little easier on me, as I calculated it out afterwards but knew it in my mind all along - it'd been about 30 months since I did my last mountain bike ride. My last ride had been Downieville, first time I'd ever done that ride after hearing so much about it, and it was awesome. I fell kind of hard in a technical section, which pissed me off because I'd just seen a woman get through it, but all in all, it was a great ride with friends who we'd been camping with over the holiday weekend. I was a mess of hormones, as the following Monday I found out I was pregnant with Maggie. At that point, I was thankful to have done that ride as it looked like my life was about th change change:-)

Back to yesterday's ride - we parked, suited up, and headed out on the Clementine Loop, starting from the confluence. Michael knew something was off when we passed through the gate and it was open. I didn't notice. I did notice however the 4 or so police/State Parks vehicles parked up ahead on the trail with no one around. Michael scooted ahead of me and came across two packaged body bags (white with black zippers) on the trail. He moved them to the side and we proceeded slowly. It was then ahead that we saw a couple of the policemen and a few more down the embankment near the river. I remember at that moment looking up at the Foresthill Bridge, maybe Michael said something about it, and seeing groups of people staring down the 730 feet drop to where we stood. We were informed that someone had just jumped, committing suicide, landed right in front of where we stood, leaving a torso-sized imprint in the damp earth just to the side of the trail, and then tumbled down the embankment to the water from the force of the impact.

We think we rode up just after the police got there, so probably not too long after the incident actually happened. Michael tells me that it took about 20 seconds to happen, start to finish. 20 seconds to go from life to death. I gazed down by the water trying to make sense of the situation and saw the body of the young man that killed himself. I've never seen anything like this before and I felt calm, just taking it in and trying to get out of the way. Michael was ready to leave the scene and continue on the ride, saddened by the situation, and he eventually convinced me to move on...but I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

What is really wierd is that this happened about 2 minutes into our ride and so, for the rest of our ride, things felt surreal from what I'd just witnessed but I also felt grounded in what I was doing. I haven't given myself the chance to get in a good workout in ages and so I was doing something I used to do all the time and it felt so good to be alive and be doing this with someone I really cared about, knowing that our child was being well cared for at the same time. As I rode, I felt every rock and the damp firm soil under my knobby tires. I felt the resistence it created but also how easily I could maneveur around. It felt really natural.

What I had witnessed though put things in perspective right away and made me think about the value of life, what goes into nuturing life, and at the same time, wondering what that man who did this was thinking or living leading up to that choice. It boggles my mind. I am so grateful for what I have in my life and I am deeply saddened that there are people out there suffering so much that they end up making these choices.

By the time we finished our ride, the officials were cleaning up and leaving the scene. It began and ended during the time that our ride began and ended, at least from my point of view. I'm not sure what the meaning of this was, that we happened upon it like we did, but I am thankful for the time we had yesterday to get out and do something we loved together. I felt so alive, more so than I've felt in a long time, and I see this as an experience to show me how fragile life is and to not take it for granted ever.

Back to back

What October fun! Pumpkin patch (above) and Halloween nights. Went to Boo at the Zoo, where Maggie enjoyed a costume dance party and carousel ride (twice-once on the tiger with momma and once on the giraffe with daddy). 

Halloween day was spent visiting with family and trick-or-treating with neighbors. We had a great time. I had a ball getting into the kid-side of Halloween again.

Maggie totally picked up on t-o-t'ing right away and said the words to boot. She would stand for awhile in the doorway waiting for more candy to be dumped in her little plastic pumpkin and sometimes she would check out the inside of the houses, sometimes with dressed up dogs behind the owner which would really catch her attention. Michael found a few nawed pieces of candy on her lap and in her bucket through the night. She was the queen of lollipops and then "poof" - all of the candy disappeared after bedtime!

Sleeping hot

One of the differences between husband and wife in our household: body temperature.

With the temperatures dropping, I've added the down comforter to the bed. I love winter, but I hate being cold. So my solution is to always have a blanket, down comforter, sweater, fleece jacket, socks, and slippers on hand.

Michael hates the down comforter. He's not a fan of blankets. He sleeps with minimal wear and barely a sheet. And he wants the fan running all the time and no heater on. I'm on the other side of the bed with all the covers - inches thick up to my chin, with fllannel PJ pants and socks on.

This is one of those situations where we baffle eachother year after year. It makes me laugh. One thing I've noticed is that Maggie, very much like Michael in many ways, runs hot like he does. Go figure. I thought it was a girl thing.

Holy moly

Today is a suprise day at home. Maggie is the best kid a mom could ask for. Re-do playdate with a new friend and daughter Maggie's age at storytime. Babbling and eating snacks in the car. A calm lunch, no drama. Naptime for the kiddo. Relaxation for mom (reading, internet time, and listening to bluegrass).

Sunday was a blur. We headed out early in the morning to Half Moon Bay to visit the ocean and the pumpkin festival but I think about 10,000 other Northern Californian's had similar ideas. We made it within 3 miles of the seaside town and then turned around. Crazy it seems but it was going to be another hour in the car just to get there and park. We were hungry, had blown through the car snacks, and it was 1 pm. We thought we were going to be there by 11. I felt so many things in those moments before turning around...sorryness for Maggie being stuck in her seat so long, sorryness for myself because I was going nuts and felt like I had taken crazy pills, and sadness that I wasn't going to see the ocean because I really needed that mental release. I hated California in that moment for being so populated the City. We were in gridlock traffic much of our all-day drive. I think we made the best of it though and stopped for burgers and a run at the park in San Bruno. Large SF airport planes flew low and over our heads, Maggie excited by the noise and signing "airplane". The airplanes quickly became lost in the clouds. It was an unintentional road trip with no destination.

Once we hit home in the late afternoon, we picked up where we left off. A little dinner, playing and gardening outside in the damp grass with coats on. I was happy to see the rain arrive. The night before we enjoyed a fall dinner - pork chops with apple cider gravy, apples, and onions, spinach salad, mashed sweet potatoes with orange marmalade, and garlic bread. Red wine. Then apple crisp and ice cream for dessert using apples from my yearly trek to Apple Hill. Our neighbors enjoyed dinner with us and I was filled with joy being around good people and watching our kids love on eachother.

Last week Maggie kicked it up a notch. She had the biggest meltdown after leaving the park but it was delayed and caught me by suprise. It took me a few days to sort that out. As my sister puts it, another bunsen burner has been turned on inside dear little Maggie. Boy is this girl full of strong-willed personality and determination. It's awesome really. 

Maggie is now repeating any words or short phrases you throw at her. She is a ham and often cracks people up with her antics. We went to a wedding and she thankfully slept on my back in the ergo around dinner time after holding out all afternoon to nap, which then gave us the chance to stick around and see her dance.

Maggie has been falling a lot and is still putting things in her mouth that we don't want her to. It's just now she knows she isn't supposed to put that stuff in her mouth and makes a show of it. Michael thought she ate a little mushroom from the lawn. It was around bedtime. He looked for the mushroom cap and couldn't find it. I swear, those incidents happen so quickly, they never make sense in the end. We weren't sure if she ate it or what so after I put her to bed, I called poison control and had a nice chat. She never got sick but they gave us good advice and called us back twice to check on her. Amazing service, I was awed.

My parents have always told my sister and I the story of how I once collected lawn mushrooms in the backyard and gave them to my sister. She was a toddler and was cruising around the backyard in a walker with a tray. Mom was gone, dad was in charge. My dad assumed my sister ate one since they were on her tray and tried/or did make her throw up. Turns out, she didn't eat any mushrooms but I think that memory is seared in my dad's brain.

And last but not least, Michael and I went to a friend's bachelorette/bachelor party and played the best made up game ever. It was "internet speed dating" (since the couple met online) where each of us were given a secret persona to imitate and we speed dated with all of the party goers of the opposite sex. I was a "cougar". Not too far off from real life (ha ha). Not that I'm a cougar in real life, but I am a couple years older than hubby and I can't say I haven't been called that before. Hubby was a "pot smoker". I found that to be pretty funny because he is the opposite of one. I think he had fun with it and the party drinks helped. I found myself saying to the male speed daters: "Hey there, I've been watching you from across the room. Oh, you're retired? I'm not sure this is going to work, you're too old for me." I loved hearing all the aftermath once we were done, priceless. I can understand the draw to being an actress/actor, it's exciting to act like someone you're not.

Life is happening quickly. I don't have time to blog about all of it. I'm barely keeping my house clean, meals cooked, the laundry washed, the bank accounts balanced. Loving my family is my top priority. Knitting has taken a backseat temporarily I think. Reading and watching good shows has not. Anyone else in love with The Fabulous Beekman Boys and The Bucolic Plague?