51 weeks

Incredibly, we made it 51 weeks without a call to come pick up Violet from daycare due to sickness. When you are in a room all day with 8 other kids who are crawling around on the floor and constantly licking anything and everything they can get their hands on, it's a miracle that they're not all sick all the time. Apparently, lots of the kids are as Violet's teacher says they make sick calls at least once a week. We lasted 51 weeks though, until yesterday. They called me at 3:45pm to say that V had a rash that was "spreading rapidly" and that they though it was Coxsackie (aka Hand Foot and Mouth Disease) that was going around. Luckily, I only had to leave work about an hour early and got an immediate doctor's appointment. The doctor confirmed that the blister on her hand was probably Coxsackie, but that there was nothing they could do about it because it is viral and just has to run it's course. It often is accompanied by fever and one of V's friends had a 105 fever and was really sick for about 3 days. Violet still hasn't had any fever as of tonight though, so I'm not even sure this really counts as being sick. I am so incredibly thankful that my girl seems to have such a strong immune system!

Growing Up

Sometimes it's hard to be the only grown up in this family. Sometimes there are events that call for grown up decisions. It's harder in many ways but admittedly easier in some to make big decisions solo. Last Thursday night, my car broke down... in front of my house, as we were coming home from our day. Smoke started pouring out and it smelled terrible. When I took it to the shop the next day they said not to drive it any more, so V and I headed out to daycare via the bus. Two broken down buses and 2 hours later I was almost home in time for my first conference call. One hour after that, the shop called to tell me that my car would cost a minimum of $2000to fix, perhaps more like $3-4k. ARRR! I had just poured $700 into it 2 weeks before and another $3k was probably more than it was worth. I really didn't want to get a new car yet as that one was still really nice to drive with it's sun roof and heated seats. I can be pretty change adverse and perhaps loyal to a fault and this car had been with me for the past 10 years. Finally, I decided I do really want something more reliable right now and the thought of Violet being stuck in a car with smoke pouring out was just really, really bad.

So after much angst and a couple of calls to my rock of Gibraltar parents who I can always count on for good advice, I decided to start looking for a new car. It was daunting to think about trying to find a car in basically one weekend without wheels to go look for one and with Violet in tow. I started feeling sorry for myself for about 2 seconds before I realized that I was incredibly lucky that I could even afford a new car and then my awesome friends kicked in. Friend one lent me a car for a week because he just happened to be going away that day, friend two agreed to spend a summer Saturday going to car dealerships with me and friend three came over with dinner and wine after a very stressful day of car shopping!

After much Internet research, I ended up finding a car I liked that had been traded in at a Mercedes dealership only 1 mile from my house. The sales guy told me that he had 6 children, but then he didn't help me install the car seat for the test drive...fishy. The dealership tactic seemed to be to keep us waiting for as long as possible to wear us down and keep us from looking at other cars. I was prepared though with an arsenal of toys, food, and diapers. At one point we were negotiating in an un-air conditioned waiting room where I had brought V to feed her her spinach yogurt away from the $300,000 Mercedes on the showroom floor. I was in shorts and they were in full suits with jackets. That's when they offered me $1500 for my broken Jetta site unseen and I agreed to the deal provided I could go drive a newer model for comparison.

Thank god my friend was with me to help me sort through some of the decisions and to stay with Violet in the car while she napped and I test drove more cars. After another 2 hours at a second dealership, we were all so tired that we had to call it quits for the day. After a sleepless night worrying if I was doing the right thing and buying the right car, Sunday, V and I returned to the Mercedes dealer to buy the first car that I'd driven. After another TWO AND A HALF hours of negotiating with V on my lap, eating Cheerios off the show room floor and getting a couple hand prints on the $300,000 Mercedes, I bought a used 2009 Prius. I was proud of myself for remaining cool and collected but not giving into any of their attempts to renege on our agreement from the previous day. I was proud of Violet for hanging in there with me, making me smile by constantly testing out her new 3-tooth giggles and to both of us for not crying a single tear the entire time!

Climb Every Mountain

When a friend suggested a hike last weekend, all I heard was fresh air, exercise, and "Come on! I'll carry her!" If I had thought through the logistics of a 2 hour drive, a 4.5 hour hike, followed by a 2 hr swimming expedition and another 2 hour drive home with an 11.5 month old I would have probably said NFW! But we went and it was great. Violet was a total trooper and lasted the entire day with not a single melt down. I, on the other hand, was pretty grumpy on the start of the hike, not really realizing what I had signed us up for. It was really hot and I and didn't realize that even if a friend was carrying V, I would still be carrying a heavy pack of all of our stuff. I was so out of shape and hadn't slept 8 hours in over a year. Could I even make it up the mountain? Would I be able to take care of V? But I put one foot in front of the other and gradually emerged from my fog of worry and doubt and once we were above the tree line and into the gorgeous vistas and cool, fresh breezes of NH, I relaxed and had a great time and so did V. She loved patting John's back to get him to go faster and reached out to touch all the textures of the different leaves we passed. At the top she tasted some of the loose rocks and ate pieces of her sandwich right off the granite like it was one big huge counter top. I loved that she was able to spend an entire day out in the fresh air. At one point we passed a couple who bounded by us carrying a cooler. They said they were used to doing this hike with their FIVE children and, wow, it was so much faster without them! That kind of put things in perspective. I was very appreciative of my friend John carrying V all that way. I worried plenty during the day that she would get sick of hiking and want to get out of the carrier, but it was great that I didn't have to worry about John falling with her on any of the more challenging steep spots as I definitely would have if I was carrying her. He is a true mountain goat and she was happy in the pack for the whole day only wanting to get out about 100 yards from the car... amazing.

Dreams do come true!

11 months!

Dear Violet,
Today you are 11 months old!  We are at your Aunt Shelby and Uncle Sean's house in Dallas, Texas. You are such a good traveller these days. This makes sense because you are constantly on the go  and love exploring the world. On the airplane you found it quite hilarious to crawl up the aisle and then get dragged back down to your seat. Luckily I don't think you caught any serious diseases from the airplane floor (yet). You even napped for an hour on the plane!  The very, very large man sitting next to us was really kind and let you play with his blackberry. You squeal with excitement these days when anyone lets you examine any electronic device.

When we first got here you would grip my arm for dear life whenever you saw the two large dogs that live here, but now you just stare at them and talk to them in rapt attention as they circle your high chair waiting for tortillas or guacamole to drop. Yesterday you spent your entire afternoon nap time learning how to stand up in your crib. I was resting on the bed next to you as one of my primary goals this week is to catch up on some sleep. I heard some rustling and then a very satisfied little giggle and saw your head poke right out of the top of your crib.  Aunt Shelby says it could be up to 5 months before you'll take your first steps. I think it might be sooner though.  I hope so because you're getting really heavy to carry around girlfriend!  I suspect you're more than 25lbs these days.  Everyone you meet says that they just want to eat you up.  This is somewhat alarming to your mom, however with your big brown eyes and winning smile complete with two teeth who can resist you?

It is such an absolute joy to spend this entire week with you and not have to share you with your daycare teachers.  I bet you may even miss them a little bit though. On Saturday before we left we went to a fancy first birthday party for one of your friends at daycare. When you spotted your teacher Naveed from across the room you nearly knocked your highchair over you were so excited to see her. They sure are helping to grow you into such a nice girl. I love you more than a million billion.

Love,
Mom