testing one, two, three

Well, we are back from our crazy week in Anchortown. Thea and I left Sunday afternoon after a crazy week trying to cram a lot into a week of almost no daycare. By the end of it I was frazzled, but managed to toss a few clothes and a lot of food into a couple of bags and boxes and off we went. We've been waiting for these tests for forever - it takes months to get an appointment, and we had to cancel one because we didn't know how to swing it financially. The insurance doesn't cover the cost of 4 nights in a hotel room, etc.

So after arriving in town, we settled into the hotel room at Inlet Towers, got some food, and managed to convince Thea to sleep in her pack n play, which I set up in a closet around the corner from me so she couldn't actually see me and might sleep while I worked and read etc. The only catch was I had to walk past her to go to the bathroom, so I didn't drink much tea after putting her to bed for fear I'd wake her up... the things we do!

The first appointment was bright and early Monday morning - it was so scary to enter this world of illness. You walk by people carrying kids and wonder, is that kid really sick? What are these people going through. Puts it in perspective. We met with a very bubbly doctor who spewed a steady stream of acronyms and left me in the dust several times but promised all would become clear shortly. Somehow docs seem to get the impression that I understand much more than I do because they all seem to skip over vital information ... funny. Anyway, Thea got skin prick tests for a host of foods and after the buzzer went off, the nurse came in and took a look. Negative across the board. Even milk. cat. beef. But skin prick tests are only for the mouth-swelling, throat-closing kind of allergy, not the gut-wrenching kind Thea most often suffers from these days. So on to test two, the one we really came for.

Essentially, they took a bunch of little metal circles and smeared food in them and pasted them on her back for three days. That's the test for delayed response allergies. So good thing I gave Thea a bath Sunday night because she wasn't going to get one again until Thursday.

Then off we went, armed with a book of pamphlets and a very tired baby. The next few days were a blur of shopping and visiting with friends. Thea and I went walking a lot - I so miss cities for that reason. Thea was a horrible shopping buddy - she would happily destroy every display she could get her hands on and pitched a several-hour-long fit when strapped in the stroller to keep her from said destruction. She loved the parks, however, and the nice, level sidewalks. And she really enjoyed the used kids store, where she found all the babies she could want and high chairs and bouncy seats to put them in - she could have stayed there all day, I think.

On Wednesday we went back to have the patches removed. We also went to get blood work done - test us both for vitamin d and test her for various allergy responses again. Frustrating that we did all that here in Homer, but those results didn't make it to the clinic, even though it was a referral. I am learning that one must keep all one's records with you. So they tried to get blood from Thea, but after two sticks, couldn't do it. She didn't even cry. I was awfully proud of her on that - she can be very brave. But unfortunately, we still had to do it all over again. They peeled the patches off her back and sent us on our way for the day.

Thursday morning was madness - I had an 8 a.m. apptment and was trying to pack up before then, but just couldn't do it. So I got most of it down, dashed to the hospital and got results that made the whole trip worthwhile. She tested positive for dairy and .... turkey. TURKEY! All along I've felt there was something we were missing that was causing her to respond. Thought I had it figured out with the potatoes, and who knows, maybe she was reacting to them back then. But Turkey? We have eaten that 3 night a week or more ever since last fall's tests red-flagged beef. So I am optimistic this might actually make a difference. Might not be the whole answer, but here's to hoping. And obviously, she is moving out of her dairy issues since she is no longer reacting to dairy the way she used to. So it is all really good news.

Then off for home, so happy to see Liam again and be on home turf, even if it took me all day today going full tilt to get things back in order, unpack the car and get some groceries. Tomorrow, we are going outside as much as possible. This may well be our summer, so we'd better snag it while it is here.

Outside

Today was the day after a huge fundraiser at the Homer Public Library - my freshman effort in the event-planning department, and while everything didn't go perfectly, it went pretty darn well. We had enough people to make it worthwhile, and enough food, and all around, people seemed to have a good time.

But reaching the finish line on this event has been a huge relief. And today, I celebrated that with Thea and Liam by taking them out for a fabulous early-morning hike down Diamond Creek Trail. It was such a beautiful morning and Matt's weather report said it was going to go south later on, so we went straight from pajamas to outdoor gear and headed out the door by 9 a.m.

Diamond Creek Trail is Liam's favorite hike. We start at the top of a hill and follow a rapidly eroding trail down to the beach, where a river (the source of said erosion) rushes over a small waterfall.

Liam is fascinated with water movement - rivers, streams, the waterways made in the road as the snow melts. Right now, he's in his element because we are losing snow faster than I can believe. We've gone from really the middle of winter to full-blown spring in a week, thanks to the ash covering everything from Redoubt's eruption earlier this month. Today, my flower beds emerged, though they are still coated with grey muck and not a crocus bud in sight. This spring has caught everything - even the bulbs - by surprise.

So it was a good thing we went on the hike early, because the mud was substantial along the trail. The first part, however, was clear, and Thea, outfitted with her new rubber boots, went tromping down the road. It was her first real hike - hard to believe since it feels like she's been walking forever, not just a matter of months. And walk she did. She walked all the way down the trail to the muddy part, then got in the kid backpack for the slippy part. Liam is a monkey on the walk - bouncing from spot to spot and back again while I issue a steady stream of warnings and suggestions for ways to not cover himself from head to toe with mud and lose his boots to the big puddles.

On the beach, they both dove into the sand and enjoyed the sunshine while we had a few snacks. Liam chopped down a huge field of pushki (for non-Alaskans, a large-leafed plant that puts up a huge stalk with a flower on top, which often remains all winter, leaving six-foot-high dried "flowers" all over the place.) When the whining reached a certain pitch and the clouds moved in a bit, we packed up camp and headed to look at the waterfall, which was rushing with spring-melt fever. Then Liam and I tried to take a "shortcut" to avoid a slippery ice patch that I wiped out on on my way down. My theory about shortcuts never being shorter was substantiated when we hit the three inches of freshly defrosted mud covering frozen and very slick ground. Add a 60-degree pitch or so, and you've got a fun time, especially with 35 pounds of kid and snacks on your back. But we made it up, and Liam and I were fairly proud of that.

It was amazing how different I felt going back up the hill vs. going down. On the way down, I was stressing out about all these different things - paranoid thoughts about the million ways this trip could be dangerous and damn, why didn't I have my cell with me or something.... On the way up, I was relaxed and rejuvenated. It was the perfect way to cleanse the stress of the week(s) away. And now that the weather is improving, I am ready to get out more often.

Thea surprised me by walking most of the way back up the hill, happily yelling at her brother the whole time in her version of a conversation (I am insanely curious and terrified simultaneously to know what she will say when she does start talking.) She really is an outdoors girl - no one leaves the house without her running over and grabbing her boots in an effort to tag along.

The rest of the day was equally rewarding - each kid got one-on-one time, I made bread and a roast chicken and didn't burn either, and even put away the 4-foot-high pile of clothes on my side of the bed. It is amazing what a little fresh air, sunshine and exercise can do for the head. Bring on spring.

Photos soon, I promise.

Easter thoughts

It has been forever since I've written, and that's crazy, because so much is happening right now. Not that I can remember it, but I know there have been dozens of times lately where I have said, "Oh, I've got to write that down." And then off it goes, into the whirlwind of crazy days.

But today - I can remember today. Thea is sick - again. Snotty nose, coughing, etc. But she managed to sleep pretty well last night, waking at 6 a.m. I was up till 11:30 making hot cross buns and working on a web site, so that was a little on the early side, but no matter.

Unfortunately, our geezer-dog Breton, who is now 16, needed to make it out the door just a few minutes earlier than she did, so we had some super-special brown eggs to pick up on the floor first thing. But as soon as that was done, the kids were diving into their baskets. Thea got a new baby with long hair that she can carry it around with. Liam got an Indian and a lego car and a few bits and bobbles. And of course, there was the jelly bean hunt.

My parents went with jelly beans over Easter eggs probably because in Nova Scotia, like Homer, there is no way you are going to be hunting for eggs outside. Jelly beans are fun to hide inside, and a crafty Easter bunny can hide them in such a way so we are finding them for weeks after - in fact, it's not uncommon to find a jelly bean months later.

We also filled some eggs with cherrios for Thea, and she figured those out all on her own, and sat eating the profits of her labor in the living room adorned with her beautiful new Easter dress. Click. Click.

Liam was in full manic mode - typical kid faced with prospect of sugar and presents in one setting. Matt set to work balancing all that out with a big breakfast, which we ate, and then settled down to enjoy the beautiful, sunny morning. I looked at the clock. 8 a.m.

It's been a wild couple weeks. In fact, it seems like one of us has been sick since we got home from Hawaii - mostly Thea. But it is getting rather sunny and springy out, so that's good.

Last week was completely consumed by volcanoes. We've been dodging ash clouds for several weeks, but on April 4, Redoubt volcano exploded again and we woke to a huge, dark cloud coming over us. Volcanic ash is dangerous to electronics, not to mention your airways, and it's best to keep it out of you house, computers, mouth, etc. But that's a hard thing to do. So we jiggered the stove to draw air from inside the house rather than out, and closed up the cat door.

The ash cloud really dumped on us that time - and then almost immediately, it started blowing hard, so the ash was flying around all day. We huddled inside all day - except Matt, who went surfing in it. As the sun came out later in the day, the ash did what ash does - started melting the snow like crazy. On Sunday, people emerged from their cocoons and started trying to get to the grocery store, etc. But the ash was everywhere. We did a lot of dog-paw wiping, and floor mopping, but I can still feel it everywhere, and the ground is still coated with a gooey like ash-water mix.

But by Tuesday, we could stay inside no more, so Thea and Liam and I went for a walk down the road. Thea was delighted to get outside, and we were tromping in mud puddles when I turned around to see Thea stuffing a mushy dog turd in her mouth. Gaaaccckkk. I wiped it out of her mouth with my glove, then stuffed a little snow in her mouth and wiped that out. But still. Gaaaacck. Of course she was not happy, but I was surprised she kept complaining and didn't get over it after a bit. After all, we were outside, which is her favorite thing. When we got back in the house, I took off her boots to find two bloody socks - her boots had rubbed two holes on the side of her foot. Not exactly what you would call a stellar day in motherhood.

And no, I would say that dog poop does not agree with her. People asked.

volcanoes and other explosions

This week has been insane. First, on Monday morning, Redoubt Volcano finally blew her stack, after months of rumbling. But luckily, the ash was headed north, away from us. Then, the power went out - for nearly three hours, for the entire Kenai Peninsula. So of course everyone said it was the volcano interfering with the power plant. But the electric company swears it was not. So life continued as usual, after the power came back on. But not really. This was the week I had overscheduled myself into new heights. I've got four or five wordworks jobs, two library events and a scrabble tournament this week and I offered to do some freelance work for the Tribune. So we mumbled through Monday - council meetings and late-night writing sessions. Then Tuesday - more craziness with meetings and writing. Thea wasn't feeling very well, and had some exlosiveness (which apparently isn't a word) and the like.
And Tuesday night, Thea went to bed and woke up an hour or so later having thrown up in her bed. She was so sad, and it was really all over - especially in that mesh of hair she has. Mess, mess, mess. Got everything cleaned up, her back in bed and a couple hours later, the wails started again, and we did the whole thing over again.
Yesterday, she went to day care, and was fine there, but when we got back, she threw up two more times, and I started getting sick, too. Mine passed quickly, but not before I pulled the plug on one of the many events I was supposed to participate in.


And then there is this morning. Thea was still sick, so Matt and I opted to split the day so we could both work a bit. But around 8:30, the volcano blew again. And then it blew again, really blew. And this time, the ash was headed right for us.
Liam's preschool closed, and Matt came home. The library closed, so another event in my overpacked week was canceled. The boys went out and collected firewood so we could turn off our monitor stove. Thea and I nursed and nursed and nursed. Now, it is 1, and the ash cloud is over us as we speak. It is this huge, black cloud. I haven't really seen the ash coming down yet, but would be awfully surprised if we don't get something. Liam is so jangly. Thea is down for her second nap of the day. Matt's starting the wood stove. And I'm finally getting an afternoon with virtually nothing to do but take care of my kids and lay low. Which is exactly what the doctor ordered. As long as Thea turns the corner soon, I will consider this all a blessing in disguise.

sleep and snot and sauce

We have regressed.

I keep thinking the next night has to be better, but no, quite the opposite. In the past week, we have moved from one or two wakes back to the ever-popular every couple hours from 12:30-5:30 a.m. If I went to bed earlier, I could probably handle it, but as it is, I have been catapulting out of bed to go insert a binky or boob and make the crying stop. The result - more crying, and not just mine, either. Must ... get ... control ...

On that same note, Thea has also increased her exhibition of some less-than-charming traits. She has been testing the waters with increasing frequency. Last night at dinner, she asked to be all done (with sign) and so we put her down. She toddled over to the heater (one of the forbidden fruits) and started turning the temp up to 90. I told her uhhhhohhhh, and she toddled away - for a second. Then she eyed me, smiled a little elf-like smile and toddled right back. When her hand touched the heater, she was looking me right in the eye, grinning. I know this is absolutely the wrong thing to do, but I burst out laughing.

Truth be known, it was laugh or play a long game of pick up the little girl and remove her from the scene of the crime only to have her toddle right back seconds later. I have no leverage. There is nothing I can do right now that will sink in. I can't make her sit somewhere long enough for it to matter, and removing her is just a fun game. The dog bowl is her favorite edition of that game, closely followed by the toilet paper roll, the computer, the coffee cup and anything she can get her little hands on. Love and logic said to try putting a pack-n-play in the living room and putting her in there as a time out technique, and that's probably what needs to happen, because right now, I am losing this battle hands down.

Liam is sick - cough and snot and low-grade fever. He's been watching oodles of tv and hanging in there. We did get outside on Saturday, when temps rose to 40 and the sun shone without wind for a change. We toddled down the road, which was mostly ice. Thea fell a thousand times, but just got back up and kept on going. Liam had fun making the crusty snow go whump. We sat for a while in the snow bank as Liam and Thea ate crusty pieces of snow and I sunbathed AK style. Then took several lightening-fast runs down the road before coming in. It was as good as it gets in AK in March.

back home

I'm so glad I posted that before we left because Maui seems like that dream you had that is sort of real-feeling, but not really?
It has been flat-out crazy since we got back, at least on my end. The trip was not so great - Thea opted not to sleep for most of the night, so the only one of us who got any shut-eye to speak of was Liam, who seems to be able to sleep through anything.
We arrived in Anchorage around 5 a.m. and Matt went off to find the car, only the hotel shuttle forgot to come pick him up, so it was well over an hour before he even left. Then it took about another hour to get the car thawed and the two surf boards strapped to the top. I built a pen with suit cases and benches so I didn't have to chase Thea around for two hours.
At 7 a.m., the sky was getting light and we retrieved our cold-weather clothes and got on the road. Thea was asleep within two minutes, so we opted for a wonderful McD's breakfast instead of something more substantial and less dairy-influenced.
Thea and even Liam slept most of the way - I got a little sleep, and took the final shift into Homer. We drove pretty much straight through - and got home around noon to a clean-ish house and animals who were very happy to see us.
There's always a wonderful thing that happens when children are returned to their native environment. It's like Christmas - long-forgotten toys, fond food, books, and of course the pets. Both kids were very jovial. I headed into town to get some groceries and try to get my feet on the ground. It seemed sooo cold. But it was great to be home.
Then it was back to work for me, preschool for Liam, and after a temporary panic that there would be no daycare options, a space opened up and presto, she was back at Nikki's. Whew. The other day I went to pick her up early and she actually ran away from me. No independent steak there, right?
Thea started having stomach problems as soon as she got home - probably a mix of virus and the dairy I ate the final week I was in Maui plus the McDs. It got pretty pronounced for a couple days, and she's still having problems. I want to take her to Anchorage for testing, but I have to leave for a week to do that, and I can't find the time or money to do so.
A week after we got home, Matt was back at work, and went up to Soldotna for the week for training. In the middle of that, I got the stomach flu pretty bad, actually, just about the worst stomach bug I've ever had. But it was fleeting, luckily, and I wound up opting to go to work rather than try to stay home with two children bouncing off the walls. Funny world, eh? Now Liam is coming down with a cough, and Thea seems a tad off - maybe the stomach bug, too? It's a germy world, for sure.
It's amazing how quickly the vacation fades into the background, and the real world comes stomping back all over you. Matt will be gone again next week, I have a board meeting one night and no sitter, a Scrabble tournament on the 28 and 29 that I have no idea how to arrange, get sponsors for, etc, there's a whole week in March that there is no preschool because it is spring break, and then there is the annual fundraiser coming up in a little over a month ... and I've got a zillion freelance projects I should be working on.
The there is the house - so many things to do, so much stuff overflowing out of the corners of our 1,400 square feet. I can't stop myself sometimes and go into a cleaning frenzy trying to put it right, but in the end, the chaos outnumbers the clean so greatly that it makes my eye start twitching. For example, none of the suitcases have been put away yet because they have to go in the shed, and no one can get into the shed until we do a dump run, and that doesn't seem to be happening, so there is a suit case in the mud room that has been there since we unpacked two weeks ago and every time I got to feed the dogs I trip over it. MADNESS! And let's not even talk about the roof leak that is causing one side of the house to fall apart, literally. Really.
Still, it sure is good to be home.

Hawaii III, IV and V

What a blur, and tomorrow we all get on a plane and head for colder climates, so before we go, I thought I'd try to catch up a bit. Because even trying to think back three weeks ago is a bit of a stretch, and as soon as I get home, I'm sure it will all be that much more difficult.

We had a breather between batches of relatives, and enjoyed letting the cousins get to know each other better. Kirra was squiggling by week three of our trip - a sort of a military crawl technique. Now, she is pretty excited to see Thea and is almost crawling and for sure capable of covering some distance fast. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Week three was punctuated by illness. I dragged Liam to the beach one morning when it was a little windy and chided him for insisting on having his sweatshirt hood up, and being so grouchy. By afternoon, it was obvious that he was more than grouchy - he was sick. By evening, his fever was 102 and he fell asleep on the couch by 5 p.m. and didn't wake until 10 p.m. That night, he was sick once - I won't go into the details, but I do think it is amazing that one child can wipe out an entire room in a single shot. He was sick the next day, and his fever went up to 104, at which point I knocked it back down with meds. The next day was the same thing, although he started to improve by evening. And I believe that was the day that Grandma Jan and Grandpa Tim arrived, so Matt and Thea and Aunt Jenny went off to the airport to greet them, and Liam and I stayed home and watched Madagascar for the zillionth time.


But later, the grandparents party bravely entered the zone of sick to be properly welcomed to Hawaii by us all. And so began a series of dinners and beach days that lasted two weeks. Liam recovered, except for a cough that lingered for about a week, and amazingly, none of the rest of us got it. Also extraordinary - Grandma Jan didn't get a super-bad sunburn this year. Not surprisingly, Thea took to Grandpa Tim like a twinkly-eyed kid who had just met her match. And Liam spent time with them being properly doted on one-on-one. There was also quite a bit of pool-going as Jan and Tim's condo had a nice kiddy pool.

On week 4, Liam met a friend- Skyler. Skyler was playing down by the tidepools where all the good stuff happens, and he and Liam struck up a fast friendship for several days before Sky had to leave. His parents are from California, and we enjoyed their company quite a lot as well. It was such a relief for all of us to have the kids playing together so well and using up all that energy that is inflicted on the first available adult if not drained by kids.

Most of the remainder of the trip was absorbed by beaching - Thea truly loves the water, and did wonderfully in the waves. She was adored by so many passers-by - some even stopped and took her picture. I don't know what it is about that kid, but she's got something special. What Liam does with words, Thea does with a certain demeanor. But then again, I'm biased.


We did a few road trips - up to the volcano - which Liam LOVED and was mighty impressed by, and over to a waterfall. We also went to the aquarium, which both kids enjoyed quite a lot this time around - last time Liam was wee and didn't really get it, but this time it was good stuff.

Matt got some good waves mid-way through the trip before it all pooped out, and the last week has been punctuated by cloudy, cool weather, winds that blow pool chairs into the pool and that sort of thing. It's almost as if the island is helping us prepare for returning to the land of brr.

While Liam is looking forward to getting back to his school, pets, toys, room and routine, Thea has some tough days ahead of her. She is only a few feet from my bed right now, and has taken to waking up and demanding food four times a night. That, my friends, is going to stop the SECOND we are home. Extended breast feeding is bad enough, without extended nighttime crap. NOT OK. But when you are all crammed into one room, the only alternative would be to go crash on the couch while she cried it out, and that always seems like too much work.

We got some sad news today about this condo we've rented for three years now - the owners are moving into it because of tough economic times. So we assume it will not be available next year. We have looked at a couple other units in the building - including a three bedroom, and hopefully something will come together. I'd thought about even doing xmas here next year. But since I can't even figure out next week let alone next year, I'm thinking it's a little crazy to go trying to nail everything down. Still, as we leave this wonderful, warm place each year, it's almost as if we need that assurance that there will be a next time to make returning to the land of brr OK.