Growing on her own curve

Vivian just had her 5-year check-up today. She has definitely grown over the past year and is tracking right along on her own curve. The ped said Vivian is doing very well, despite the two major medical issues this year.

December 18, 2013

• Height: 39 1/2" (although Disneyland said she was 40" so she could ride Splash Mountain)
• Weight: 35 lbs 8 oz.

To compare:

September 19, 2012

• Height: 36.75"
• Weight: 30 lbs 12 oz

November 3, 2011

• Height: 34"
• Weight: 27 lbs 12.8 oz

What a year!

As 2013 is starting to wind down, I realize that it's been over a year since I wrote my last post. So many things have happened this year -- one of them requires a separate post.

I've traveled quite a bit for school since last December with 3 separate trips to FL (fingerprinting/background check, data collection, conference presentation/showcase), a trip to Indiana University to present my research, a trip to Niagara Falls (Canadian side) to present my research, and a trip to Anaheim to showcase my research. Fortunately, on the California trip, Chris and Vivian came along with me and we made a family vacation out of it (our only one for the year) by spending a few days in San Diego and then 4 days at Disneyland, including Halloween, with Nana and Popi.

In addition, I also made two separate trips to NC - one for an interview, another one to move some things down and get some work logistics taken care of. Yes, you read that correctly. I was offered a job in NC in June and Vivian and I moved back in mid-July (our move was delayed by two weeks, but I'll cover that later). Chris helped move us into a 2-bedroom apartment and then flew back to PA. The move was short-lived though because 6 weeks after I started, I was laid off. So, Chris moved us back up to PA over Labor Day weekend. What an expensive adventure after signing a year lease, enrolling Vivian in school, and moving back and forth without any relocation help from the company. Lesson learned though! I will never work for Cisco again. You think I would have learned my lesson the first time in 2008 when I was pregnant!

Chris and I have enjoyed Broadway shows and baseball games again! Our Pirates did amazingly well this year!! We also saw Idina Menzel, Harry Connick, Jr., Steve Martin, and Michael Buble. Chris saw Bon Jovi while I was in FL. I really love living in a big city!

Vivian is doing very well. She started kindergarten (twice - once in NC and then the next week in PA) a year early and is just thriving in school. She's been reading for over a year now and really enjoying reading, science (especially learning about space), and art. She loves writing her own stories and drawing pictures. I can't believe she'll be 5 years old tomorrow! Before we moved, she was taking piano lessons, gymnastics, and ice skating lessons. I also pulled her out of school for the summer, with the intent on homeschooling her (and saving some money) until kindergarten started..but that really only lasted for a few weeks before she got sick (and then we moved).

We were originally going to move over 4th of July weekend, but Vivian ended up getting sick. A few days before 4th of July, she complained that her neck hurt and was walking around with a tilted head. A small reddish bump formed and it continued to get larger. Two trips to the ped's office in two days and several rounds of antibiotics weren't doing anything to decrease the bump. The ped told us on Tuesday that he would get us into the ENT on Wednesday (we were leaving Friday and Thursday was the 4th of July). As we were picking up our rental truck, the ped's office called and said that Vivian had an ENT appointment in 45 minutes. So, we drove home, dropped off the rental truck and headed straight to the ENT. The ENT examined her and told us to go directly to the emergency department of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh for a CT Scan and that they might have to admit her. So, off we trekked to the hospital.

The hospital experience was really surreal at first. Several teams of doctors came into the ED to examine her and ask us questions. Had we been to a petting zoo? Had we been around someone who recently came back from a foreign country? Had we been exposed to MRSA? Vivian was an absolute trooper! The difference between a regular ED and a children's hospital are night and day. There are life specialists who brings toys and books for the kids while they're waiting for exams or tests. Vivian got to take her stuffed Kitty in with her to have her CT Scan done. She was strapped down and bundled up in a blanket and got to watch Dora. A short time later, she was admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of an infection in her lymph nodes -- not just one, but a bundle of them in her neck -- and she might be in for several days in case they need to operate.

We spent 3 days in the hospital. Vivian actually enjoyed the experience, despite being poked and prodded all the time. She was able to go to the playrooms, the library, walk around the cafeteria and the hallways, and watch a lot of TV. I met several families who would be spending many more days in the hospital. Shit becomes real when you see kids with their IV poles and feeding tubes in the playroom. It's a reminder to all of us that sometimes kids don't get to go home after a few days, including most of the children in our unit (infectious diseases). I'm so grateful to the doctors and nursing staff - really anyone who works in an environment with sick kids. They are so patient with the children and take time to explain what is going on. If only this could happen in the adult healthcare system!

When we were discharged, we decided to postpone the move to NC for a few weeks until after Vivian's follow-up appointment. She wasn't really out of the woods yet and was still on a heavy cocktail of antibiotics. Fortunately, she was given a clean bill of health.

Vivian wasn't the only one with a health issue. I had an abnormal mammogram last year and the 6-month follow-up showed that the tumor was getting larger. I had a biopsy and fortunately, it turned out to be benign. However, I picked up a piece of hardware in the process. I now have a titanium clip to mark the tumor so it can be seen in follow-up mammograms.

The biggest change for us is Vivian's new diagnosis. In September, we went to a local farm for their fall festival. Vivian enjoyed the hay ride and feeding the animals fresh corn. We ate lunch and bought a box of gluten-free peanut brittle to take with us to our next stop (the covered bridge festival). We gave Vivian a little piece of the brittle as soon as we left the farm. She immediately started chugging down her water bottle saying her mouth was burning. Then she said her tummy hurt and her mouth was still burning. Not too long after that (and as soon as we pulled into the parking lot for the festival), she said she was going to throw up and projectiled several times all over the car and herself. I got her cleaned up and changed and Chris cleaned up the car. I tried using my phone, but there was no cell coverage.

Nothing is worse than being in the middle of nowhere with no cell coverage knowing that your child is having an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts! And...she didn't actually swallow the small chunk of brittle -- she spit it out.

We immediately got in the car and just started driving home to the children's urgent care near our house. As soon as I got cell coverage I called and told them we were coming in. We arrived and they took us back and checked her out. They told us to keep an eye on her and to immediately make an appointment with an allergist and get an EpiPen. I called the allergist office the next day and the "soonest" appointment was 3 weeks out. We were told to avoid ALL peanuts and treenuts until then.

Well, this mommy went on a rampage -- cleaning out the pantry and tossing out any foods that were manufactured in a facility with peanuts. It was going to be back to basics (fruits, veggies, meats) until we could see the allergist. I think anyone who doesn't deal with an allergy would be shocked at the amount of products that are manufactured in a facility with nuts (ketchup, soy sauce, lunch meats, cheeses, flours, etc.).

Three weeks later, we received Vivian's diagnosis. She has a peanut allergy! Not much has changed for her. She still gets her lunch packed for school (thankfully it's a peanut-free school) and she takes her food with her when she goes to birthday parties or on field trips or to the science center. We're extra cautious now about going out to places. I have Clorox wipes in my purse and everything gets wiped down (tables, chairs, etc.) before Vivian touches them. Flying on an airplane made me very nervous (remember, people get peanuts as snacks), but we wiped down everything (window, back of the seat, tray table). Going to Disney made me nervous because families pack PB&J to eat while their kiddos are standing in line and those sticky peanut hands are all over the place. Again, I wiped down the lap bars, steering wheels, etc. prior to Vivian touching them. We even survived Disneyland on Halloween, which is a food allergy mom's worst day!

I've joined several support groups to figure out how to deal with the public school system next year. Peanut allergies are covered under the ADA, but schools have trouble figuring out how to deal with kids with allergies and some aren't as accommodating as they should be. I don't want Vivian to be bullied or isolated because she has to sit by herself at a table. I don't want her to be excluded from classroom activities because a classroom project contains a peanut. She never asked for this and it's something she could die from.

I've learned so much from her having a peanut allergy. I've been able to visit her classroom and read some age-appropriate books to the kids about allergies. As those children grow up, I hope they remember how Vivian was such a good friend and maybe they'll choose to become a friend to another child with a food allergy. Bullying kids with food allergies is a very serious issue. I've read stories of kids who intentionally put peanuts in a child's water or on his lunch. It just breaks my heart. I can't even believe where that type of behavior comes from. WTF kind of a parent thinks that's okay? Shit like that just pisses me off!

So, it's been a very interesting year to say the least! My soon-to-be-5-year-old is certainly growing up and becoming a bigger kid!

Fall in Pittsburgh

This fall has been a busy one, which is why I haven't updated in a couple of months. We took a short trip to Niagara Falls. The original plan was to head up to Toronto, but that just wasn't feasible. Vivian had a fairly short attention span when it came to looking at the falls (which Chris and I wanted to do several times from both the US and the Canadian side) so we ended up finding other things to do. She really enjoyed the Butterfly Conservatory (Canada) and the Buffalo Naval Museum (U.S.) and not much else. The weather was pretty rainy for the most part but we made the best of it.

Our baseball season ended so that meant the end of going to games. (Better luck next year Pirates!!) However, we now have Broadway season tickets and have been enjoying that. Chris and I saw War Horse last night and Chris and his brother, Sam, were able to see Mary Poppins last month. Vivian has also been able to enjoy a bit of theatre here. We bought season tickets for the Pittsburgh Children's Theatre, which performs downtown as well as various areas around the Pittsburgh region. Last month we saw a musical about a collection of various children's books. On Saturday we saw Lightwire Theater present The Ugly Duckling and the Tortoise and the Hare. The theatre was completely dark and the "puppets" were illuminated by electroluminescent (EL) wire. It was really cool to see the characters come to life by basically glowing in the dark with various colors. Vivian really enjoyed it and had funny seeing some friends from school.

We've also been able to attend other events in Pittsburgh. Chris and I went to see Madonna earlier this month. At 54, she still puts on an amazing show!! We're going to see B.B. King on Wednesday. On Friday night, Vivian, Chris, and I and several other families from her school who take gymnastics with her went to the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions. Vivian had an amazing time with her friends. I wasn't able to sit with her because of my vertigo, so Chris and I were able to sit a few rows away from the stage on the lower level. We really enjoyed it too!

We survived Hurricane Sandy, or rather, my family did. I was in Louisville for a conference for the week while Chris and Vivian stayed home. There was a lot of rain and wind, but the house didn't have any issues. Halloween was postponed until November 3rd, so I was able to be home to take Vivian trick or treating!! She was Mary Poppins and looked amazing cute with her authentic Mary Poppins umbrella and carpet bag!

It's hard to believe that Vivian will be 4 in less than a month. We're planning a small at-home party for her with a few of her friends from school/gymnastics. It's going to be a gingerbread theme and the girls will be able to decorate gingerbread men and do a few other activities.

Here's a few pics over the past few months.

Vivian at Presque Isle (Lake Erie), PA

Chris, Lilli and Vivian at Presque Isle

Hiding behind the Concord grapes (NY)

Mary Poppins (sans red bow tie) at her Halloween party

Mary Poppins ready for trick or treating

My baby is growing up!

Chris and I recently noticed that Vivian has gotten taller. She can stand on her tippy toes to see over the kitchen counter and can get on and off the toilet without her step stool. She is also finally out of her 2T pants! I took her to the ped this morning for her first well visit in PA and she HAS grown. Here are her stats:

November 3, 2011

• Height: 34"
• Weight: 27 lbs 12.8 oz

September 19, 2012

• Height: 36.75"
• Weight: 30 lbs 12 oz

She's doing great and loves Pre-K although she's really only gone for 8 days now because of the Hand, Foot, and Mouth. She's also missing the next three days because we'll be on vacation. 

Her general likes: She's really into dressing up (I just bought her a chef's outfit to go with her doctor's outfit), playing with her magna-tiles and Duplo blocks. She really likes her new Light-Brite. She can identify all of her letters (uppercase and lowercase) and is learning the sounds for all of the letters. She is also doing very well with writing her letters. She's also doing extremely well in Spanish. She knows all of her colors and numbers from 0-10. She's curious about everything and wants to learn about new things. She loves looking at the stars and the moon and talks about becoming an astronaut. She likes riding her two wheeler and proudly tells everyone that she has a two wheel bike. She likes going to Pirates games, the dinosaur museum and the science center. 

My baby is definitely growing up. We're starting to look at kindy options for next year. GASP!!!

First week of school

This should be a continuation from my last post because about an hour after I wrote it, I received the dreaded phone call from Vivian's school. Vivian was running a temperature of 101 and needed to come home. So, I called Chris at work so he could come home and I went to go pick her up. All of her friends were eating lunch and there was Vivian, all bundled up in her blanket and hooded sweatshirt (which she wears everyday at nap) laying on the couch. She looked awful.

When we got home, I gave her some Advil and water and she just laid on the couch. Chris came home about an hour later, which means I wasn't able to go into work (would have missed my meeting) for my  meeting. Vivian slept a good part of the afternoon and her fever kept spiking up at about the 6 hour mark. A few times in the middle of the night, she needed to be dunked in the lukewarm bath to get her temperature down. She kept screaming "No Thank You." It wasn't fun for any of us.

Yesterday, Vivian was supposed to go to the dentist. Instead, we swapped out the appointment for a ped visit. Vivian woke up complaining of a sore throat, so of course they did a throat culture. Good news: No strep. Bad, bad news: Hand Foot and Mouth!

Hand Foot and Mouth is highly contagious! Vivian doesn't have the blisters on her hands or feet, but she has the awful ulcers in her mouth. The only treatment is to make her comfortable through pain management. So, we spent the day on the couch. She took a couple of long naps and thankfully slept through most of the night. She woke up this morning with a lot of throat pain again.

So, in the first week of Pre-K, Vivian has only been able to attend one day. I feel so bad for her. She was really upset about missing her first gymnastics class last night. I hope that spending a weekend at home in confinement will help. Sadly, she'll be contagious for quite awhile but it seems like the fever finally broke last night when I had to change her soaked-through PJs. So hopefully she's on the mend and hopefully, Chris and I don't get it. Apparently it's absolutely miserable for adults. UGH.

Pre-K

A lot has happened this past month -- mostly related to sports! Chris and I skipped out of work early one day to take Vivian to a Pirates game, which she loved (of course). Her favorites players are Andrew McCutcheon and Joel Hanrahan. Chris and I also attended two Pirates games. We took a tour of PNC Park a few weeks ago. It's a beautiful ballpark, but it's so peaceful to be there when no one else is there. The views from the press box are quite impressive. Chris and I are heading to another game tonight. We're sitting in the club seats, which is different from our usual behind home plate lower-level seats. It should be a blast!

Chris attended a Steelers pre-season game with his brother, Sam. They sat way, way up in the 500 level seats but had a good time.

We took Vivian putt-putt golfing for the first time. It didn't go so well. It was super hot outside (felt like NC) with no shade and Vivian's putter was much too long for her! :( We're definitely going to try it again next year though!

Last week was Vivian's last week in preschool. Yesterday, was her first day in Pre-K!! She did really well with the transition. I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. We are still trying to figure out what to do next year because she misses the birthday cut-off for kindy by 3 1/2 months.

Our Labor Day weekend was fairly uneventful, although on Saturday we attended two separate 4-year-old birthday parties which was a bit crazy. The kids are all in the same class together and they seemed to have a great time. On Labor Day, we had one of Vivian's friends over from her class. The family recently transplanted to Pittsburgh from NC - so we have a lot in common being total outsiders here!

The rest of September is going to be a bit crazy. Vivian is starting gymnastics tomorrow. Several of the girls from her class are going to be there, so it should be a lot of fun for her. Chris and I have two additional Pirates games planned. Our Broadway season is starting up here, so we're off to see Jersey Boys next week. We're also planning a trip to Niagara Falls and (maybe) Toronto in a couple of weeks. Niagara Falls is just a few hours away, so we're going up for a few days. It should be a lot of fun. I'm excited to see the falls and head over into Canada! I don't think Chris has ever been to Canada and I've never been to the Eastern part...so it should be a great experience for all of us.

The rest of the fall should be busy with Broadway shows, children's theatre, gymnastics, and maybe post-season baseball (Let's Go Bucs!!!). It feels like you have to cram everything in while the weather is still good -- otherwise when it's 10 degrees outside you never want to leave your house!

Here are some pics:

In the Pirates dugout

Uncle Sam and Vivian in the PNC Park Press Box

View of PNC Park and downtown Pittsburgh skyline

First Day of Pre-K

A two-wheeler and a bigger bed

Eight months later and I'm finally posting an update! Sorry for the delay -- it's been a crazy year in Pittsburgh.

Vivian turned 3 on December 11. We spent the day at the National Aviary where she was able to feed the birds. She didn't even freak out when a bird landed on her head.

We finally closed on our house two days before Christmas. We were able to spend Christmas here with Chris's brother and sister and family friend. Vivian's most exciting gift was a Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguin) doll. She kept asking Santa for "hockey stuff" and since Santa wasn't able to bring it, Sidney Crosby came with Santa to deliver the doll on Christmas Eve. She was so excited! (I wish the real Sidney Crosby would come to our house. He's an amazing player.)

Speaking of the house, we bought a money pit! Not a little money pit -- a big one. The combination of poor construction and non-professionals doing all the updating in the house made for a very expensive house for us. So far, we're about 25K into the house. That includes the termite remediation (yes, I saw a termite swarm right on our front porch), rewiring the electrical, fixing two natural gas leaks, painting almost the entire interior of the house, fixing the roof leak (imagine pouring water coming out of the ceiling and down the wall), fixing the sink leak, fixing the toilet leak. I'm sure there is more..but you get the picture. Servicemaster was on speed dial and knew me by name every time I called! Unfortunately, we can't sue the inspector. We tried suing the previous homeowners but the attorney told us we would spend more in legal fees. So, we're pretty much stuck.

Vivian started a new school in January and is doing really well in the 4 year old classroom. The kids are anywhere from 6 months to 10 months older than she is, but she's keeping up with them and in many cases, is doing better academically and socially. She is friendly to all of the kids and they're so excited to see her each day. She's been learning Spanish this past month and has a really good vocabulary doing. She can say hola, adios, buenos dias, buenas tardes, buenas noches, por favor, gracias, de nada, como te llamas, me llamo vivian, all of the colors, and numbers 1-10. We're so proud of her and she loves practicing at home. She's also started to read basic words by sounding them out. English is such a difficult language to learn -- perhaps why I did so much better in Spanish and Japanese!

We bought a new Honda Pilot. After not being able to leave my garage during a snow storm, it was apparent that we needed a 4WD car (not a RWD one). So, we're back to being a 2-car family, which is amusing because we only drive on the weekends!

We've been able to explore a lot of the Pittsburgh area. The museums are amazing here -- Carnegie Science Center, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, National Aviary, the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, and the Heinz History Center. Vivian has also enjoyed attending a couple of baseball games. Chris and I have season tickets to see the Pirates (the only affordable sports ticket in town). I love baseball and I'm so glad that Vivian enjoys herself at the games. There are so many events and concerts here. So far, we've been able to see James Taylor but are looking forward to seeing many more concerts in the near future. We just bought season tickets for the Pittsburgh Children's Theatre. It's a great theatre company that puts on kid-friendly shows all around the area at the local high schools. 

This year we've been able to take a vacation to Cleveland, where we saw Chris's cousin and his wife and 3 kids. They loved spending time with Vivian. I hadn't been to Cleveland before, but I really enjoyed going to Lake Erie, the children's museum and the Great Lakes Science Center. We're definitely planning on another trip soon because it's only 2 hours away.

I'm still working on my dissertation and made a quick (32 hours in the car for a 90 minute meeting) trip to FL last month to defend my prospectus. I successfully passed...so now I'm collecting data and am on-track to graduate next spring. I need 159 participants and that will take some time. In addition, I started a contract job 3 months ago. The work isn't too exciting, but I'm so grateful for the 2nd income!

My mom came to visit last month and Vivian enjoyed spending time with her. I took a few days off of work and pulled Vivian out of school so we could do some touristy things. Chris and I even got to have a date night -- a baseball game, of course!

The big news: Vivian recently got a 2-wheeler and a bigger bed! She is doing so well on her bike. She's already asking to take off the training wheels. Vivian asked for a bigger bed. She didn't want her crib anymore, so she got a bigger bed last Thursday night. She loves it and all of her "friends" have plenty of room now too. She's such a funny little girl. I can't believe she'll be 4 in four months.

Overall, we're keeping really busy and are hoping to take another vacation to Columbus or Niagara Falls sometime in the near future before winter comes -- you know, in about a month. HAHA! It's been a really hot summer here (90s) but not really humid. I can't believe that summer is almost over! :(

Here are some pics of Miss Vivian!

3rd Birthday

Seeing the Christmas presents for the first time

Sidney Crosby!

Vivian wrote her name

Dyeing easter eggs

Seeing Bruce Hornsby

Big girl bed

Pittsburgh!

The last two months have been absolutely crazy -- with lots of travel involved!

At the end of September, I drove (10 hours each way) to Tallahassee for a couple of days to defend my prospectus. A few days later, Chris received word that he would need to be in Pittsburgh for a final all-day interview. So, less than a week later, we went to Pittsburgh for a few days. Chris and Vivian flew and I drove with Lilli (8 hours each way). Driving through West Virginia was absolutely gorgeous! The mountains were covered with so many colorful trees -- oranges, yellows, reds. WV is a beautiful state, although it gets a lot of bad press. Pittsburgh felt and looked much different than it did when we came in July. Welcome to Steeler Nation!!! It's all about football this time of year. We met with our real estate agent again to look at some additional houses. We found one we really liked, although we were hesitant to make an offer until we received an official word about a job.

A couple of days after we returned from PA, I had surgery. I did well through the anesthesia and my results came back fine.

About a week later, Chris received a job offer so we immediately put our house on the market that night. Then the real craziness began! We had to prepare for a move within a month. I had to find temporary housing for us in PA, schedule doctors appointments, schedule movers, try to find a new school for Vivian (from a distance), etc.

Vivian was a hockey player for Halloween -- complete with a Hurricanes jersey and authentic (our neighbor plays hockey) gloves and helmet. She loved it! I think she had more fun handing out candy though!

We sold our Honda Pilot so now we're a 1-car family. I wasn't sad to see the monthly payment, insurance or high gas expense go so it was a good choice. If we need a 2nd car at some point, we'll probably get a small commuter car. However, Chris will take the "T" (light rail) to work everyday so I don't see the point in having one.

A couple of days later, I left for a conference in Jacksonville (8 hr drive -- Chris had to get a rental car in NC while I was gone). I was able to present but then became very ill and wasn't able to leave my hotel room for a day and a half. I came down with a nasty cold. I drove home a day early. I would rather be sick at home than stuck in a hotel 8 hours away from home.

We had a going-away party for Vivian and her preschool friends. Vivian's last day of preschool was just a few days later. I think I cried more than Vivian did (who didn't at al). I'm certainly going to miss her school. What an amazing place!!

The following day, we moved to Pittsburgh! We spent a day in DC and went to the National Air and Space Museum Annex at Dulles. The Space Shuttle Enterprise is there, as well as the Concorde and SR-71 Blackbird (and a few hundred other planes). It's quite impressive. We also went to the National Zoo. I'm excited to be 4 hours away from DC. We're looking forward to making additional trips there in the spring!

We've been here 4 days now in corporate housing (which is a small fortune -- 2x the price of most mortgages). We had planned on renting the house we're buying from the sellers, but they kept jacking us around so we said "no thanks." (Now they're begging us to move in.) They wanted us to pay 8K up front -- 2 months rent, 2K security deposit (in additional the 3K in earnest money) and 2K for a DOG fee. Oh...and they're still marketing the house because our house in NC was on the market.

The great news: Our house went under contract the day AFTER we left NC. We were on the market for 3 1/2 weeks and had 9 showings. We got a great offer. The buyers don't have a house to sell, so everything should close in about a month. They want to be in before Christmas, which means we need to plan another trip to NC to pack the remainder of our stuff and schedule the movers. I'd like to be in before Christmas too!!

We were able to spend Thanksgiving with our family and friends in our 900 sq ft (very packed) apartment, but it was great to have the entire family together. We are planning on having many more events like this now that we're all located in close proximity.

I shopped with my friend Matt on Black Friday and then we all went out yesterday afternoon for more shopping. I had to stock up on winter gear (thank you LL Bean)! We're expecting snow later this week.

December is going to be another busy month -- Vivian's birthday, Chris's birthday, heading back to NC to pack the rest of our stuff, closing on 2 houses (hopefully) and Christmas! Hopefully January will calm down a bit.

September -- already?!

I can't believe it's already September. The summer flew by. We broke records with the amount of 100+ days we had here. The heat wave was pretty unbearable. Have I told you lately that I HATE living in the south?

July and August zoomed by very quickly. In July, I spent 2 weeks in Pittsburgh. Vivian and Chris joined me during the 1st week so we could have a vacation this year. The second week I was busy at CMU attending a week-long summer school for my dissertation research. Vivian did really well on the airplane with Chris. She still talks about it and wants to go back to Pittsburgh. During our vacation week, we hit up all the tourist sites -- the zoo and aquarium, Cathedral of Learning, Children's Museum, Carnegie Science Center, PNC Park for a Pirates game. Oh..I should mention -- Pittsburgh was also having a heat wave while we were there. It was really hot and I felt sorry for many of the people who didn't have AC! We also met with our real estate agent several times to look at houses and actually found one we really liked. Can't wait to see what the future will bring! :)

August was pretty non-eventful, although I spent several weeks dealing with Vivian's school. We're considering moving her to another school but it really depends on what happens with her current school. We're on a wait list for another school, but she technically can't start until she turns 3 even though she's starting in the 3s classroom at her current school on Tuesday.

This fall is going to go by fairly quickly too. I'll be in FL twice this semester -- once to defend my prospectus and once to present at a conference. I'm trying to schedule surgery that I've been putting off for a few months while my schedule settles down. Hoping that goes okay too.

All in all, we're just hanging in there. I'm looking forward to being done with school and getting a real job so we can have 2 incomes again, which we haven't had since before Vivian was born. I'm also excited to get out of NC and head north! :)

2 1/2!!

Vivian turned 2 1/2 yesterday. I can't believe it. It's funny to think that last year she started walking and talking and now she's running around, practicing her yoga postures (she calls it stretching), and talking all the time! I'm still having a hard time comprehending that in 6 months she'll be 3. The next 6 months will go by quickly and I'm curious to see what kinds of developmental stuff she'll do. She just started asking "Why" about a week ago. Our standard answer now is "why do you think?" Sometimes she'll actually answer with something that makes sense based on the question.

To celebrate her birthday, we bought a few gifts: a doctor's outfit, a tub of Duplo blocks, and a gardening kit. She loves to play outside (even though it's almost 100 degrees with horrible humidity and a ton of mosquitos -- can you tell I'm happy to be moving in less than a year?!) and dress up in all sorts of outfits at school, so we figured we'd get her a few things for home.

We also went to the NC Museum of Life and Science. There's so much to do there. We've never seen the entire place in one visit, so it's great that we have a membership and can keep going back.

Other than celebrating Vivian's 1/2 birthday, there hasn't been too much going on. I quit my job - as in gave about an hour's notice. There was a lot of crap going on there and it was just best for me to leave. I submitted Chapter 1 of my prospectus to my advisor. Chapter 2 is not too far behind. Chapter 3 is going to need some work. Describing the methodology of what I'm doing is not hard. The problem is that I actually have to show them a fully functional intelligent tutoring system at my prospectus defense -- so that will take some time.

We've been busy planning our trip to Pittsburgh next month. I'm so excited to finally get to see the city and CMU. We're also meeting with our real estate agent while we're there. We've narrowed down our house search to a few areas just south of the city (Mt Lebanon, Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park). They have nationally ranked schools, which I'm quite pleased about. However, I'm not excited about the "school tax." It's basically like sending your kid to a private school -- about 10K a year. But, I am looking forward to seeing my friend Matt and going to a Pirates game!

Here's some pics of Ms Vivian:

Playing dress-up at school


New doctor's outfit for home


Kisses from the cow


Playing the drums


Sitting with daddy


Twirling around in the music room


Playing doctor with Tigger-Pooh. He's getting a shot.

Lots of Updates

Okay, so I really need to get better about updating my blog. A lot of things have happened since February.

We ended up getting new carpet, which turned out to be the best investment ever! Our house looks brighter and newer and we don't feel congested all the time. I don't have to vacuum 3 times a week anymore either, which is a huge benefit.

We also remodeled our master bathroom. This was a much larger undertaking that we original thought due to very extensive mold growth on 2 of the walls. Chris and I did all the demo work (okay, mostly me because Chris was at work all day), including taking out the tile floor, cabinets, sheetrock, and moldy insulation. We found that the outside wall didn't have a vapor barrier on it and the wrong sheetrock was used for a moist environment. Our contractor did an absolutely amazing job and we're very, very pleased with the end result. We have two new vanities, a new tub, new tiled shower and semi-frameless door, two new mirrors, new toilet, new light fixtures, new exhaust fan (that was a bit of a complicated process to figure out how to install and vent), new door knobs, new paint, and a new beautiful tile floor. We love it!

We haven't traveled at all, although I finally made it down to FL again -- 6 months after I planned on going back down. It was a very productive week, but the drive absolutely sucks (all 10 hours of it) and it's very expensive (hotels are ridiculous, especially around graduation) to stay there, so I probably won't be back down for awhile.

We are planning a major trip to Pittsburgh in July -- our first vacation since last September. I'll be there for 2 weeks and Vivian and Chris will be there for a week.

We've been dealing with a lot of illnesses lately. Vivian has had a couple of ear infections since January. She also got pinkeye, which was passed on to me and then onto Chris. I ended up getting a sinus infection (again!) and finally took my antibiotics to get rid of it.

In March, Vivian started going to school FT. I started working then doing some usability consulting work, so the work is pretty sporadic. I worked for 3 weeks and then was off for 3 weeks and now I've been back on for 3 weeks and should be wrapping up everything by the end of this week. The biggest problem is that when I'm moderating studies (running participants), I don't get a break AT ALL. No lunch break, no snack break, no potty break, nothing. I typically run 4-5 participants back-to-back. This current study had 3 or 4 people a day, 2 hour sessions each. It's a paycheck, but it's definitely not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life (or even this year).

Vivian is doing really well, other than being sick. She went to the dentist yesterday (her 3rd visit, but first real cleaning) and had NO CAVITIES again! No surprise to us -- she loves to brush her teeth every night and we don't give her candy, sweets, juice, or any of the other typical toddler crap. Oh..and she's getting all 4 of her 2-year molars at the same time. So, all 20 teeth will soon be in.

I can't believe she's almost 2 1/2. She's such a big girl. She's really starting to use her imagination. The other day she found some cardboard and was making chairs and houses for Cookie Monster, Elmo, and Grover. She also likes to put them in her school bus and drive them around the playroom. Apparently "North Carolina" is under the table and "Pittsburgh" is near her couch. She loves to dance and run around naked yelling "naked butts." The weather is now in the 90s, so she loves to splash around in her water table. She still likes playdough and art projects and is doing extremely well at school. She recognizes a lot of letters and numbers and can spell Vivian. She's also fully potty and pooped trained! :) Way to go kiddo!!! Mommy and Daddy are soo proud!

Chris and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on April 15th. What a crazy 3 years it's been. We've had a few more date nights. Hockey season ended a long time ago (poor Canes), but we've still been going to Broadway shows. Last week we saw Chris Botti play with the NC Symphony. He's such an amazing trumpeter! Tonight we're going to see Spamalot. After that, we have no dates planned. Guess we'll need to get something on the calendar.

I'll try to be better about updating the blog. Just have so much going on. With work, I'm not able to work on anything school related which has been really difficult. I hate going to FL and gaining all this momentum so I can come home and lose it all because I have to go back to work. I'm hoping my schedule will get better soon!

Here are some pics of Vivian to enjoy!

Vivian playing with a 1-month-old kid at Celebrity Dairy.


Wearing Daddy's hat


The Easter Bunny brought me Bunny Snacks (and books)!


Touching a chinchilla at Yash's 3rd BD party at the Durham Museum of Life and Science



Touching a bearded lizard


Posing for the camera -- 29 months

The Last 4 1/2 Months

I can't believe it's been 4 1/2 months since I last posted something. Let me try to remember all that has happened. After our trip to GA, I headed back to FL for a few more days, while Chris and Vivian went back home. A couple of weeks later we went to the NC State Fair and I ended up picking up some nasty illness, which I'm still suffering from 3 1/2 months later! We think it was the flu, then it became a sinus infection which didn't completely go away, and then I got hit again about a month ago and am still suffering. :( Unfortunately, Vivian and Chris were not immune to the illnesses. Vivian is currently on her 2nd antibiotic over the past couple of weeks. She had a sinus infection and now has an ear infection. She is also getting a 2-year molar, so we've had a lot of sleepless nights (almost every single night for several weeks).

I started a short-term PT contract in October, which was to last only 6 weeks. It ended up lasting 3 months and turned into a 40-hour + a week job. I finally had to quit before the contract was officially over (after they renewed it 2 or 3 times). Between me being sick and working all hours (including Christmas Day and New Years), I decided the job wasn't worth it at all.

I wasn't able to travel back to FL in October or to CA to present at a conference because I was sick. Unfortunately during this time, my Papa (my last living grandparent) passed away.

We took Vivian trick-or-treating around the neighbourhood this year. She dressed up as Emily Elizabeth from Clifford the Big Red Dog. My child LOVES Clifford. I think we own almost every Clifford book.

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at home. Our friend Tim came over and spent time with Vivian.

Vivian's 2nd birthday party was a lot of fun. We invited her preschool class and a couple of her other friends. A few of our friends came too. The kids enjoyed eating snacks (and gluten-free cupcakes) and playing in the playroom. I can't believe I survived a house of 7 2-year-olds!

Christmas came and went fairly quickly. Vivian got a few new things -- books, play fruits/veggies for her kitchen, and a tricycle from Santa!! We also got a White Christmas! First time in 60+ years that it has snowed on Christmas in NC! Vivian loved playing in the snow.

Chris's brother, Sam, came to visit us over New Year's. We were able to go to a Hurricanes hockey game. It was a lot of fun.

Chris started a new job at the beginning of January and we ramped up Vivian to go to preschool everyday from 9-3, so I could have a few hours each day to work on my dissertation. She's still doing really well at school. She forms complicated thoughts now and loves to sing and dance. She can count to 13 and say her ABCs. She can recognize a few letters. Her favourite activities are playing the piano, doing puzzles, playing with her kitchen, and reading books. She loves hockey games (and anything hockey related) and the Steelers! She's also pretty much potty-trained at school and is getting really good about telling us she needs to go at home.

I'm hoping to head back down to FL as soon as I can rid the sinus infection, cough, etc. I have had an apartment down there since December but haven't been able to go down because I've been so sick.

Overall, we're doing just okay. It's been a really rough few months and I'm eager to have a healthy household again!

We're getting new carpet this week, which I really think has been contributing to the illnesses. It's an old, nasty carpet that has definitely seen the end of its life after 5 kids and an old dog. I can vacuum 2-3 times a week and stuff still comes up! Probably doesn't help that I have a severe dust allergy! :(

I'll leave you with a few pics of Ms Vivian!

Hiding behind the otters at the Georgia Aquarium


Sitting with the pumpkins at the pumpkin patch


Ready to go Trick or Treating


Eating the snow flakes


Dressed up to go see Santa!


Playing with her kitchen dishes. She's eating a fruit salad.


Enjoying the 6" of snow on Christmas Day!

Life at Home and Away

I've been splitting my time between NC and FL, working on my dissertation research, which has been difficult. Of the 6 weeks that Vivian has been in preschool, I've been home for 3 1/2 weeks. It's been pretty rough. I went down to FL for the first week of classes. I met several professors, including the professor whose class I'm using for my study. I got a lot done, so it was very productive. I was trying to make up for the 4 months of NO progress.

I'm currently in GA for the weekend, although I've been away for 9 days now and won't be home for another 6 days! :( Thankfully, Chris and Vivian are driving down to meet me for the weekend...so at least I can see my family (other than using Skype every night for storytime). Vivian currently says "mommy laptop." She sees me on Chris's laptop. Chris says she's doing really well adjusting to me not being there, which I'm grateful for...but I still have severe mommy guilt. I HATE FL..HATE IT, but I need to go down a few more times to collect more data.

When I'm home, we've started exploring our own backyard now that the weather is getting slightly cooler. Okay, so it's still been in the 90s, but that's better than it has been. We went to the Duke Gardens, which are absolutely beautiful, and to the Duke Chapel. We've enjoyed exploring various parks in the area. We also took a trip to the NC Zoo! Vivian had a great time looking at all of the animals. We paid another visit to Marbles, the children's museum, which was a total zoo with a lot of older kids running around -- so we didn't stay long. We also went to the NC Museum of History, which was pretty interesting. There was also an old classic car show that day, so we walked around the capitol area of downtown Raleigh. We also went to the Durham Museum of Life and Science, but didn't stay long because the event wasn't that great and it started to rain outside so we couldn't go see the animals. We took Vivian to the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) to see where our season tickets would be. We all really enjoyed walking around on stage and backstage.

One of Vivian's favourite activities is going to the RDU observation deck and playground. She likes to watch the planes take-off and land. She also (finally) likes playing in the sand!!

Vivian is really thriving at preschool, which we knew she would. She looks forward to going twice a week for a few hours each day. We went to Vivian's back-to-school night where we met with her teacher and talked about Vivian's progress.

We decided to sign her up for The Little Gym again this semester. She always says "have fun Little Gym" and "shake bells." She likes to tell me about her day! :)

Vivian is doing really well overall. Her vocabulary is pretty amazing, as she says over 200 words now and can tell you what the books titles are by looking at the cover. She loves reading Clifford books. We have almost the entire collection!

I'm hoping to take some pics of Vivian this weekend! We're going to the gluten-free vendor fair tomorrow (YEAH!!!!) and then to the aquarium on Sunday!

First Day of Preschool

Vivian started preschool this morning. After touring the school 5 months and talking to the director 6 months ago, we were so eager to finally send her to school. She's probably the youngest child in her class because they start accepting kiddos at 20 months. She's in the early preschool classroom (20 months to 3 years).

We dropped her off with a smile and we picked her up with a smile. Her teachers said she did great. We'll see how the drop-off goes on Thursday.

Oh..and what did mommy and daddy do after we dropped her off -- went to Target! It was really weird to run an errand and not have Vivian with us. Of course, we came home after that and started working.

Here's a first day of school picture taken before we left this morning:

There's something new in the bathroom.....

It's a POTTY CHAIR!



I bought it at a consignment sale several weeks ago and finally cleaned it up and put it into the bathroom. Vivian saw it when she woke up from her nap and immediately knew what it was. I took off her diaper and she sat on the toilet........and PEED!!!!! Not bad for the first time on the potty!!!

Now we need to come up with a plan! :)

We're still here!

I know I haven't provided a life update in a couple of months. We FINALLY closed on our house, a month after we were supposed to close. It was a very difficult process and even up until the day we did close, we weren't 100% sure we were going to close. Thankfully, the sellers were wonderful to work with and they allowed us to rent the house from them for a month while we worked on securing funding.

Other than trying to close on the house, we haven't done much else. I have to laugh at this, but it's really true. We haven't gone anywhere or really gotten into a routine yet. We've been trying to find sitters/nannies but haven't had much luck. We really miss our sitter that we had when Vivian was an infant.

We did have to buy a new car -- a Honda Pilot (like everyone else, it seems). Vivian's very excited about the Honda Pilot. She keeps looking out the window and saying "Honda Pilot" all the time. Chris's Audi was finally put to rest after it leaked oil in the driveway.

Vivian and I are just getting over colds and have been out of commission for almost a week, so hopefully we'll be back to 100% next week.

We switched ped's offices and just met her new pediatrician yesterday. She was awesome! We really liked her and her daughter is in Vivian's class at preschool!

Vivian is enjoying going to the Y and to The Little Gym. Who knew that gymnastics for toddlers would be so much fun?! She is starting preschool in about a week-and-a-half. I'm really looking forward to it!!! She's going to have so much fun there. We went to orientation a couple of weeks ago. Vivian didn't want to leave! I'm excited for her to learn about composting, recycling, gardening, and living a healthy life, in addition to meeting friends and learning about different topics.

Vivian is also enjoying her new playroom! Her climber, kitchen, PBK table and chairs, some books, alphabet/# mat, and smaller toys are up in the bonus room. Her couch, some more books, and picnic table are downstairs. Her PBK chair and house are in her bedroom. We also recently bought her a wagon and she's having a great time being pulled around the cul-de-sac and down to the greenway.

Vivian finally has enough hair for pigtails!!!!






I've been having a difficult time adjusting to life back in NC. I'm going to be going back to FL in a couple of weeks. My plan is to go back once a month for a week. My hope was to go to FL for the semester and to take Vivian with me, but it's just not really feasible, so this is the compromise. If I need to go down more often (just not move there), then I can do that too.

I hope to keep more up-to-date with the blog. It's just been a really rough 3 months!

Toys

Someone asked me the other day what kinds of toys Vivian really enjoyed when she was an infant - early toddler. So, here's the list:

Fisher Price Baby's First Blocks - Basically a shape sorter with a bucket. It started with just mouthing the shapes and now she can put the shapes in the appropriate holes. She still loves it.

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Fun with Friends Musical Table - Vivian was introduced to this when she was a tiny baby at our sitter's house. When we moved to FL, we had to get one. She still plays with it everyday. It's great because you can take the 4 legs off and sit it on the floor, then add 2 legs back on when she sits up. Then you can add the 4 legs when she stands up and becomes a cruiser.

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn House - Vivian rec'd this for her first Christmas when she was 12 months old and she still plays with it.

You'll notice a theme here. I'm allllll about toys that aren't just a novelty and that actually "teach" the kids something.

Books - Vivian has always had books and likes to read them everyday.

Stacking cups/blocks - These are great and are transportable everywhere! Get them and you'll thank me on a long road trip!

MEGA Bloks - Vivian likes to build things....and so does daddy! :)

Now that Vivian is older, she really enjoys puzzles (Melissa and Doug puzzles that have sounds), colouring, stickers, books, stuffed animals, her play kitchen, her chairs and tables (all different sizes), balls, and bubbles. She loves her Kangaroo Climber, which takes up a lot of room but it's great when the weather is rainy/too hot and we can't go to the playground.

WHEW!

I know it's been almost 2 months since I last posted, but it's been a total whirlwind since we moved back to NC in April and things aren't still completely settled. Our hope was to move back "home" and get back into a routine -- this wasn't the case.

I decided to leave on the same day as Chris and Vivian, which meant missing out on a couple of events at school -- a retirement party for one of our faculty members and the awards ceremony for my program. However, it meant that Chris wouldn't have to be by himself (with Vivian, of course) for a week dealing with the movers in a new house. Not a good idea.

We took 2 days to drive, which was much, much smarter than the straight-through drive we did in March. I called our landlord on the morning that we were to arrive at the house. I left her a voicemail that we were coming up and that I had no way of getting into the house. Although our lease went into effect on the 15th, our landlord never sent us keys. Several hours later, I finally heard back from our landlord. She gave me the garage access keypad code. That was it! As soon as I walked into the house, I knew she hadn't done anything that we had requested to have done prior to moving in. We also didn't have hot water. We expected her to come over that weekend to do a move-in inspection with us. That wasn't the case. She didn't come over until a month later, after we had e-mailed her our inspection form and after we hired a licensed home inspector, engaged an attorney, and sent her a certified letter that stated she was in violation of the contract AND was breaking NC housing laws.

Fast forward 2 months: We finally got out of our lease. We have a settlement agreement in place and will be terminating our lease at the end of this month. The jist: She feels like she did everything she possibly could. This is what she told our attorney. She didn't fix several of the issues in the house. I'll give her some credit: She did hire a professional plumber to fix the hot water heater leak and leaking hose bib. However, she refuses to fix some things because she doesn't see them as problems.

The other news: We are under contract to buy a new house!! We're closing on June 22nd. We're very happy that everything is working out! Perhaps we can finally get a routine under way, rather than dealing with our nightmare landlord on a DAILY basis. We're very excited about the new house. It's just a few miles from our current house, so we aren't going too far this time! :)

On the baby front: Vivian turned 18 months old yesterday. I can't believe how big she's getting. Her vocabulary has exploded even more over the past 2 months. She can tell you (for the most part) what she needs. She even tells us when it's time to go upstairs, when she poops, and when she's ready for bed. I'm pretty amazed at how well she's doing. We recently bought her a play kitchen, a Kangaroo climber with slide (she got that this morning), and a couple of outside chairs. She loves to play inside and outside. She still loves to read and watch Fraggle Rock (only 1, sometimes 2, episodes before bedtime). Vivian has also enjoyed 3 playdates since we've been back.

We've joined Marbles and Durham Museum of Life and Science for fun things to do. Vivian will also be starting The Little Gym this coming week. We're hoping to start swimming lessons next month at the Y. Preschool starts in 2 months.

Oh...and I almost forgot: Chris and I had a date last month!!!! We went to go see Wicked. The last time we had a date was to see Rent and that was when Vivian was 6 weeks old! I'm hoping that with our hockey season ticket package and the Broadway season tickets we can get out a bit more than once every 16 months!

Here are some pics to enjoy!

Vivian's 2nd haircut


Getting ready to go down the slide


SLIDE!!!

Saying Goodbye

It's hard to believe that the time has come to say goodbye to FL. The movers are coming tomorrow. Chris and Vivian are leaving tomorrow after the movers leave. I'm staying a few extra days with Lilli so I can attend a couple of school-related functions. One of the faculty members is having a retirement party and the student awards ceremony is next week. I've been nominated for an award, but I don't know what award.

The past month since we got back from NC has been a busy one. I'm trying to tie up all the loose ends with school -- talking to faculty members, talking with the librarian who specializes in my field, making sure all required forms have been signed and sent to the appropriate departments, and finishing up classes. I was also recently recognized as a Preparing Future Fellow at the Celebration of Grad Student Excellence a few weeks ago. There were only 2 fellows at the university this year, so I was really honored to be recognized.

We've also been tying up loose ends with other things, such as having another autism check at 15 1/2 months and 15-month pediatrician appointment, and a 16-month weight check appointment. Vivian dropped off of her weight curve, but is now starting to track along the 50th percentile curve. She gained 3 ounces in a month and is now about what she weighed at 12 months before getting sick. Overall, she's doing really well and is running around everywhere. This has made packing a challenge when she likes to crawl into boxes and take things out of the boxes.

It's hard to believe that we've been here almost exactly a year. We moved here the weekend before finals week and are now moving back the week before finals week.

In the year that I've been here, I finished my coursework, satisfied my residency requirement in 2 semesters (it usually takes a year) took the qualifying exam, took the preliminary exam, defended my concept paper, advanced to candidacy, became a Preparing Future Faculty Fellow, sat on the Academic Honor Policy hearing committee, took a leadership role in our program's student association, helped organize the department's fall orientation, attended the faculty retreat, helped to organize our multimedia studio grand opening, completed a certificate in our program, reviewed conference proposals for two conferences, completed two research studies, submitted a proposal to a conference, and attended a 2-day conference on Program for Instructional Excellence. WHEW! Oh...and I managed to maintain a decent GPA!

And so you don't think that all I did was school, here's a list of fun things we did while living here. We managed to travel quite a bit to Orlando (multiple times), Jacksonville, Pensacola, Panama City Beach (for shopping), Ft. Walton Beach, Destin, Atlanta. Locally, we went to the Greek Festival, Asian Festival, Homecoming Parade, Heritage Day, Maclay Gardens, Dorothy Oven Park at Christmas, Thomasville Victorian Christmas, Howl-o-Ween at the animal shelter, Lake Ella, Tom Brown Park (Vivian still loves the swings), swimming pool, pumpkin patch, Tallahassee Museum, North Florida State Fair, Jewish Food Festival, Springtime Tallahassee, Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science, San Luis Mission, and a couple of FSU baseball games.

The next few months will be busy as well. Vivian will be starting preschool in August and swimming lessons in July. Chris and I will be having date nights, since we never got to have that here. We have Broadway season tickets and we are sharing a hockey season package. I'm sure we'll be eating out a lot more (we never do that here), since there are a LOT more gluten-free options in NC. We're going to attend track days at VIR and CMP. Chris has never been to the track before. Perhaps I'll FINALLY get the "family" car onto the track. :)

We're eager to get back home and back to friends, playdates, game nights, and cookouts at our house! I know Chris is looking forward to hanging out with adults again!

Sorry I can't close with a picture of Vivian. My computer has a trojan virus on it (so I'm using one of Chris's laptops) and the server has been packed away. I promise to post some pics when we get settled in a few days! :)

We're back...

in FL. We stayed an extra day in NC. I don't think any of us wanted to come back to FL. I kept telling Chris that we could just send the movers a house key and have them pack up everything and deliver it to the new house. I don't really have to be back here, except for a final exam for my one real class.

We drove straight through on the way home, which was another LONG day. Vivian start to melt down about an hour outside of town. I wasn't happy about coming back here either or being in the car any longer, but we made it.

Our trip was quite successful. We found a house, we found a preschool (Vivian will start there in August), and spent time with some friends. Unfortunately we weren't able to see everyone. We also ate out for every lunch and dinner successfully! Vivian did really well, considering we NEVER go out in FL. Honestly, I can't remember the last time we ate out at a restaurant here. There are only a couple of places I can eat here, so it's really not worth going out.

I haven't been able to go to classes this week. I'm sick with a nasty cold. Vivian is also sick and she isn't sleeping through the night, which means no one in the house is. We're heading to the ped in just a few minutes for her 15-month shots which I'm not sure they'll actually do. It sounds like it's croup again. Ahh..the barking seal! We just dealt with this crap 6 weeks ago.

Vivian became a totally different girl when we got back from NC. She ran all around our 300 sq ft hotel room in NC. Before we went up there she was mostly crawling. Now she's definitely walking all over the place! Her vocabulary seemed to explode too! 15 months seems to be a major milestone.

Some things she says: meow meow (for kitties), baby, Chex (rice chex), bottle (plastic water bottles are fascinating to her), choo choo (for any loud noise), all done, yummy yummy (when she's hungry), dog, hello, bye bye, hi, dada, teeth (loves to get her teeth brushed), cheese, socks, car, shoes, bubble, and poo-poo.

She's a pretty funny kid and still loves to read books. She waves at everyone. It's pretty amusing. She definitely got a lot of attention at the restaurants! Glad to see she's doing so well. Hopefully we'll get everyone healthy again soon. I'm tired of being sick!