Back to the grind

After a week of travel in Colorado, it took some adjusting to come back home.  Poor Olivia was sick while I was gone and poor Kevin had to figure out juggling everything.  O is all better now, Kevin had to work all weekend, and Annie came down with Walter Sat and helped turn over the veggie garden and planted a few things while Olivia was napping.  Yeaterday, Aunt Kathy went with us to the Cal Academy for a lovely morning.  Olivia was cranky in the afternoon due to a poor nap, but found her happy place playing with the sand box.  I planted 3 mexican salvia plants against the back fence.  They were cut offs from an existing plant.  I figure it'll be pretty while we wait for kev to be ready for the fancy sculpture in the back. 

So, here we go, back to work.  My teams are being consolidated onto one floor next week and I have a new person starting in a few weeks, another a few weeks later.   Thank goodness.   I think things will calm down here fairly soon, at least I hope.

Time to book some more weekend trips.

Potty trained!!!

Olivia decided a couple weeks ago when we were home sick that she wanted to wear her Anna & Elsa (Disney's Frozen haeroines) underpants.   I explained that she would have to go pee pee and poo poo in the potty every time, and she was good with it.  Ever since that day, which was the week prior to the super bowl, she has been wearing big girl underpants with very few accidents!!! We are so proud of her!
Two weekends ago, we went to Tahoe to play in the snow.  Olivia and Kevin made their first snow angel!  The snow itself wasn't great, but we were able to find an untouched field and could stomp around and leave tracks.  It was about 60 degrees and Kevin didn't wear any of the brand new snow gear he'd purchased. 

For two nights we stayed at the Tahoe Glen Cove hotel in North Tahoe, right across from the lake.  The room had a little gas fireplace and a kitchenette.   Olivia was scared of the fire and whenever she had to go potty, we would have to stand in front of the fire and screen it from her.  This would allow Olivia to pass by the fire.  So whenever she had to get by, she would ask, "Mommy, pass the fire?" Indicating she wanted to pass by.  Too cute.  Olivia slept with us the first night and the second night was in the pull out bed (though I joined her there around 3 am since she awoke scared).  Saturday night we turned in pretty early and just hung out in the room from about 6 pm onward.  Of course we had a healthy dinner of cheese, crackers,  salami and champagne (had a late lunch).  Olivia kept up with using the restroom throughout the trip, and we had her go in her mini potty in the back of the car when we were out and about. 

The second two nights, we stayed with Kate, Eaton,  Pete, and Alice Dunkelberger at their house in Reno.  How fun!  Olivia loved having other kids around, exploring new toys, and being social.  Pete was an energetic boy and super sweet, giving Olivia lots of hugs.  Alice was a sweetie little 2 year old and did a really good job sharing her toys.  The only point of contention was a set of Disney Princess figurines.  The first night, kate and Eaton had a social engagement so we went out on the town and Olivia fell asleep in the car for a bit.  Afterwards,  Olivia hung out with the adults until some hour and slept with us.  Saturday, after a delicious homemade breakfast, we all went to find snow, and had marginal success playing in it.  Both little girls were a bit testy, but we did manage to do a few sledding g runs and play with a rock hard snowman.

Potty Training!

Last week, Olivia had a little virus and we stayed home on Tuesday.  She ended up seeing the underwear I had previously purchased for her and it was game on!  She wore underwear most of the day and only had a couple accidents.  Since then, we're mostly done underwear, except for when going out and sleepy time.  She was doing really well... and today was fantastic!  When we picked Olivia up from daycare, they happily reported that she didn't have a single accident, though she hadn't poo-poo'd yet.  We went out to Chili's to celebrate, and she went pee-pee on the potty at the restaurant!  Yes, we were the people running through the restaurant while she was holding her crotch.


Back at home, she would run off to the bathroom all of a sudden and pee-pee'd twice.  15 min later, she was worried about poo-poo'ing and we rushed back to the bathroom.... and voila!  A big ol' poo poo in the toilet!  Kevin tells me she did one yesterday too!  We are very proud!


Olivia's language skills are impressive as well.  We are working on the whining and on complete sentences for asking for things nicely.  She's getting better by the day.  Olivia remembers things for fairly long times and brings up memories from week and months ago.  It's so amazing to see her develop. 


<I'm in bed typing this up and Olivia keeps coming out of her room to go potty again.  10 min ago we did a substantial pee with a surprise poo-poo, and she just came out again wanting to do another "monster poo poo".  Yes, she said "monster".  Too funny!>


So now I'm fighting some sort of something and hope to be over it before we go to Tahoe this weekend to play in the snow.  Can't wait!  We'll be visiting Eaton and Kate Dunkelberger and their two children when we're up there and I'm looking forward to the kiddos playing together.


We've had a couple play dates with our friend Misha from daycare and her lovely family.  I owe an invitation to them for next weekend - invite them over to play.  Last weekend, Melanie and little Zach joined us for a Home Depot project and playdate with brunch (eggs) back at home.  It was a very relaxing time.  Melanie is due with her second boy in April so she is counting the days to maternity leave.


I guess that's all for now.  I should look at some work stuff but will probably just go to sleep to get over this thing that I'm fighting.


Nighty-Night!  Sleep tight!  Don't let the bed bugs bite - I have to go see what Olivia just deposited in her toilet....

Talking up a storm

Olivia's sentences are becoming more complex by the day.  It's amazing to witness her development.   We are still working on "please" and "thank you", but she's doing pretty well with "thank you."  Our new morning routine, as of last week, is to plop her down in front of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse after waking her.  Then I'll sit with Olivia for a bit, and eventually get her dressed... without any struggle!   Thank goodness!  Mornings were very very stressful until we figured out this trick!

Olivia helped kevin make chocolate chip cookies last night (premade dough), and we had a little dance party to burn off some energy.  I also took Olivia for a little walk before the rain really started.  When the drops began, we tried to catch some in our mouths, and of course we jumped in puddles!  

This morning we were at daycare when the garbage truck was visible out the back window.  The children were all so very excited and ran to the window to check it out.  Olivia was the smallest of them all, on tiptoe to look out. 

We are planning a trip to the snow in February and can't wait!  I have to buy some boots and find our hotel for the first few nights. 

Kevin has been around for the first part of the year, which is awesome.  But it sounds like we won't see much of him overall this year. 

Happy New Year!

2016 has come up in us when we weren't looking!   My resolution is to work less, delegate more, and stress less.  Now to figure out how to make that happen...  Olivia and Kevin are doing well.  Olivia is settling back in at daycare and is a regular chatterbox.  She's sharing well and is super empathetic.  Olivia's best friends at school are Ely and Misha, and Gigi moved up a few months ago.  Super cute!  Olivia now helps feed the dog all by herself (eating a few kibble in the process) and lets them out of their kennels, puts things away, and us growing up so fast!

Kevin will have a strenuous travel schedule again this year, so we will see how that goes.  We plan to tack on a trip to Disney World when Kev is in Florida for a few months.  I'm looking into a trip to the snow in February,  and Pismo, and camping.  Looking forward to it all!

More exciting by the day

Olivia's diction and the complexity of her questions are increasing daily.  Last night and this morning she tinkled, AND had a little poo - poo in her little potty!  Very exciting!  We sometimes skip naps, then crash at night.  

Olivia's manners are becoming ingrained, though she confuses when to say 'please' versus 'thank you'.  She also says "I love you" back pretty consistently.

We do have tantrums.. and they're intense.  Still figuring out how to handle them.

She loves to mimic us.  Yesterday, Kevin was spray painting a birdhouse and Olivia watched intently, then reached for the spray can as soon as he put it down. 

Olivia sings "no more monkeys jumping on the bed"  really well!  (And if c Iurse jumps around while singimg it)  She has the alphabet basically down, twinkle twinkle,  and when she lets me sing Baby Mine Olivia tries to repeat the words. 

Olivia loves dancing- which is basically skipping around the room and singing "shoo fly don't bother me".  Wheels on the Bus is still a favorite.  We have so much fun.

Halloween was a bit of a bust.   Olivia had a great time all dressed up at daycare on Friday, but on Saturday her cough degenerated into and asthma attack so we spent Halloween in urgent care, and then in the ER and admitted into the pediatrics ward overnight.  In the meantime, I completely lost my voice and Kevin had to delay a work trip by a day.

All is better now.  Olivia is on a twice daily localized corticosteroid inhaler and we met the pediatric allergist this past week, who updated her asthma action plan to have us increase med early with the intent to keep her from crashing again.  The med are increased corticosteroid,  albuterol, a nebulizer, and some oral med too!  He said that it seems like a lot but is far less invasive than the full-body steroid Decadron, which is what they've given her at urgent care and at the hospital.

Kevin is home for the rest of November,  which is fabulous!   He'll be gone the first two weeks of December though,  which is not fabulous.  But he should be home for the holidays. 

We are currently in the car headed for the Academy of Sciences.  It rained last night and is windy out, so why not take advantage of our membership and get our money's worth?!  Olivia loves it more and more as she matures, and it's a nice family outing.

Busy Lives... Asthma?!

I'm sitting at the gate in SJC headed to see Kevin in LA.  He's there for the AEHF payload, or wing shipment.

24 hours ago this trip was in jeopardy.  Olivia developed a bug Sunday evening resulting in vomiting, moaning, lethargy, and waking up throughout the night clearly in pain.  Monday I dropped Kevin off at SFO while Charlie watched Olivia sleeping.  He stuck around to watch her while I worked from home.  Olivia's breathing was quite labored, and fast.  After Charlie commented that she really should see a doc... so I was able to make an appointment with Olivia's primary care pediatrician and off we went!  Little girl's oxygen level was around 92%.  Dr Frey said she couldn't let us leave until it was back up to 95% or greater.   We did a nebulizer, the albuterol inhaler again (all with constraining Olivia since she protests greatly), xrayed her lungs (no pneumonia), and finally administered a steroid injections after the doc recommended it to keep us from visiting the emergency room that night.  The nebulizer and inhaler each raised Olivia's oxygen by 1-1.5%, so the injection was needed to push her over the 95% mark. 

After another nap on the couch, while I dialed in to work calls, Olivia awoke with a little more sparkle in her eyes.  She had been super lethargic all day and the change was welcome.  We went to Chipotle for dinner and she picked at a few things while being in a generally happy mood.  So good to see my little girl again!

Back at home, I was pooped from no sleep the night before and the stress of the day.  Olivia and I both crawled into bed around 9 and after telling her a few times to stop fidgeting, we were out.  There were a few bottle breaks at night, and she was kicking me at some point, but overall it was a good night.  Waking together at 7 am was super sweet.  My boss had let me off the hook the day before by telling me to go take care of my daughter today and not worry about making it to a few work meetings.  that helped the stress level tremendously.

At today's follow up, Olivia was back to 100%, and her breathing was obviously better.   She was also back to her normal spunky personality - the best part!  Mommy was relieved,  but not suprised.  After all is said and done, we think she has a touch of asthma.  Now I understand that means constricting muscles around the airways, inflamed passages, and increased mucous production.  It seems to kick in when she's fighting some other cardiovascular bug.  So, we will not hesitate to use the albuterol inhaler in the future... to avoid doctor visits.