This spring I started using this book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, with Pyrope. Tomorrow we will finish lesson 60. While the directions for teaching the lessons are clear, I would not say that they have been "easy" for Pyrope to learn. He eventually gets what is being taught, but it has not been easy. For a while, it was both of our most dread portion of the day. It has got significantly better. Tears are no longer a daily occurrence with each lesson. And it has been a long time since I've had to put him in time out if he refused to participate.
However, the gains he has made have been incredible since he started. Everyone has noticed. He is legitimately reading now. When I started this, I thought there was no way that he would be reading at a "solid 2nd grade level" by the time he finished as the introduction said he would. Now, I'm thinking he will be. Or will be darn close to it.
It started a few weeks ago, but Pyrope started to put together that reading is a way to convey information to people. In the last couple of days, he has started to grasp the extent of it. And is in awe.
As he was going to bed, he looked at the window fan. Obsidian was with him, and I was in the bathroom, listening:
"Listen Obsidian. I will sound this out. ooooo-fffff. Off. Lllllll-ooooo-wwwwww. Low. Hhhhhh-ooooo. No, not right. Hhhhhh-iiiiii (short i sound). I try again Obsidian. Hhhhh-iiiiii. Hi." pause "Obsidian! These words tell you what the fan will do!!!! Let's try!!" Squeals of delight ensued when the fan did what the switch said. "Mommy! Come fast! Look! You can read what it will do!!!"
When he got his new scooter for his birthday, very soon after getting it he questioned Jet.
"Daddy, did you put this together?"
"Yes."
"Did it come with instructions to read?" said with wonder and awe in his voice.
At the zoo:
"Mommy! Look! Menus! Read them to me! They have too many words that are too long for me to sound out. I think the menus will tell me about the animals." (He meant signs. He never has been interested in them before, so I think "menu" was just the word he found that was most appropriate.)
At a restaurant:
"Daddy, why do they have so many words for each thing? There are more words than they are? Why?" (Looking at the description of each item on the menu)
Incidents like this are repeated over and over thoughout the day. Each time, a joy and awe is there when the message is discovered. There are written words, some of which he can figure out on his own, that are all around him. Telling him things.
While he is beginning to grasp the power of the written word, it is just the tip of the ice burg. I love reading. I have always hoped to pass that on to my children. Pyrope would sit and listen to me read, and generally be content if not happy. But he never really engaged. He wouldn't look at the pictures and tell me a story. He rarely was able to answer simple questions about the story. Rarely, if ever, was he able to come up with some prediction of what was going to happen next in a story. I was concerned but knew there was nothing I could do other than keep reading to him, and have him see me read for my pleasure (and information). I hope that he continues to discover just how powerful reading and writing can be.
Now I love watching my kids experiencing new things. To catch a glimpse of the magic that I no longer see. Or have no longer been seeing. I love watching kids (mine and in general) experience things like Christmas.
Watching Pyrope discover the power and magic of reading, it is far better. While it is taking me longer, sometimes significantly longer, to do everything right now (from turning on a fan, to draining the tub (did you know that above where the lever is for draining the tub a word is stamped in the metal? I didn't until I had to help sound it out.), to shopping, to walking around the zoo, I will gladly do it. He has started to read himself, Obsidian, or his toys books. Sometimes reading the words, other times by looking at the pictures.
To see Pyrope discover reading is awesome. This magic does not seem to grow old for me.
Showing posts with label milestones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milestones. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thankful Thursday
- The improvements we've seen in Obsidian. His energy is improving, it is much closer to other kids his age. It isn't there yet, but it is closer. And he jumped for the first time this week. He has desperately wanted to be able to jump for 9 months. He has tried daily. And this week he did it.
- For supportive co-workers. We were behind the 8 ball this weekend, and everyone worked together (as we should), and things worked out well. Or as well as possible.
- Finding a good gluten free bread. And the tasty grilled cheese sandwiches I made with it.
- For being covered in smooches. Sometimes for no reason that I can figure out. Maybe there is a reason, maybe not. I'll take them.
- Thick, warm, dry socks.
- Steamy hot showers.
- Going shopping alone.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Touch-points
This time of year, many people look back over the past year or decade and reflect what has happened. I have never been much for celebrating New Year's or making resolutions. There are touch-points I do have a tendency to reflect on my past and make resolutions for changes or to just do things in my future.
There are certain touch-points I have created for myself. Days that I have thought about what my exact circumstances would be when I reached them. Some are concrete dates and others are achievements. My 16th birthday, graduation from college, buying my first home, the day my youngest sibling was the age I was when he was born, my wedding day, the day I had my first child, the day my youngest child moves out of my house,... When I was diagnosed with diabetes, for whatever reason I created two touch-points in my head. The first was when I had lived with diabetes longer than I had lived without it and the other was when I had lived with diabetes for 50 years. Today is the day I have officially lived with diabetes longer than I have not (which isn't entirely true as I had obviously had diabetes for a while before I was diagnosed, but if you count when I've known that I have diabetes, today is the day).
Some of my reflections are just changed that I have seen with diabetes care itself
I've lost an uncle to "dead in the bed" syndrome due to type 1 diabetes. I've watched another uncle lose more and more physical health to complications of type 1. I've watched 2 first cousins be diagnosed. I've watched friends suffer the negative consequences. I've made friends, some lifelong, because of the common thread of type 1. I've listened to family, friends, acquaintences, doctors, co-workers, and others blame a person for their medical problems because they have type1. Humans are not made to be beta cells. The general lack of understanding of how much is involved in manging or rather living with typ 1 diabetes involves. That type 1 diabetes is a different disease than type 2.
It is tiring. Day afater day. Knowing there will be no day off. No vacation. Ever. The time it takes to "manage", the feeling of crap that happens with glucose swings. That happen daily, multiple times.
Yesterday and the day before, I spent at the wake and funeral of my aunt. She passed away unexpectedly. She was 54. She was 3 days short of her 33rd wedding annerversary. She has 2 grandchildren and another on the way. She is missed. One minute she was tired but walking to the dinner table, 30 minutes later was was gone. Life is precious, unpredictable, and short.
I wanted to get something to mark the day. Something specieal for myself. I have wanted a SLR camera since high school. So I have saved, worked extra, and watched for sales. And I got one. Something to mark the day, the accomplishement. I have survived. I have won some battles, I have lost some. So far, I'm winning the war. I'm still fighting which is one of the most important points. I now have my camera. Later today a friend and I will go out for a drink or two. And I will keep going.
There are certain touch-points I have created for myself. Days that I have thought about what my exact circumstances would be when I reached them. Some are concrete dates and others are achievements. My 16th birthday, graduation from college, buying my first home, the day my youngest sibling was the age I was when he was born, my wedding day, the day I had my first child, the day my youngest child moves out of my house,... When I was diagnosed with diabetes, for whatever reason I created two touch-points in my head. The first was when I had lived with diabetes longer than I had lived without it and the other was when I had lived with diabetes for 50 years. Today is the day I have officially lived with diabetes longer than I have not (which isn't entirely true as I had obviously had diabetes for a while before I was diagnosed, but if you count when I've known that I have diabetes, today is the day).
Some of my reflections are just changed that I have seen with diabetes care itself
- Glucose monitors are much improved. My old Lifescan One Touch II meter seems archaic. It was relatively huge. It took 45 seconds and a much larger amount of blood. It only came in one color, gray. It was high tech for the time, a feature that allowed you to download it to your computer just came out and had a fairly large memory of how many readings it stored. The cable was a 9 pt. pin cord. The program was cumbersome. Now I mainly use a One Touch UltraMini. It is small. It takes a small amount of blood. It takes 5 seconds. I have ones in pink, green, and blue. It doesn't have downloading capability but I don't really want it to. If I wanted a meter that could do that, I could easily have one. When I'm really looking at what my blood glucose is doing, I hook up my DexCom SevenPlus (which is several improvements from the DexCom STS, and the MiniMed CGM that only my doctor could see my reading after I brought it back) continuous monitor for however long that sensor is going to work. I get a new reading every 3 minutes (well, when it isn't having issues).
- I have gone from using as many other were at the time 2 injections a day of R and NPH. I have used a number of different insulins (Humalog, Novalog, Ultralente (which isn't even made anymore), Lantus, and now Apidra). I switched to multiplw daily injections then to a pump. I'm looking at getting my 5th model of pump and nearly 12 years of using pumps. Syringes have gotten shorter and thinner. The number of types of infusion sets has increased many fold.
- The DCCT has announced its results and then some follow up studies. Papers have been written on the DPT-1.
- ACE inhibitors have come on the scene. Hopefully kidneys will be saved.
I've lost an uncle to "dead in the bed" syndrome due to type 1 diabetes. I've watched another uncle lose more and more physical health to complications of type 1. I've watched 2 first cousins be diagnosed. I've watched friends suffer the negative consequences. I've made friends, some lifelong, because of the common thread of type 1. I've listened to family, friends, acquaintences, doctors, co-workers, and others blame a person for their medical problems because they have type1. Humans are not made to be beta cells. The general lack of understanding of how much is involved in manging or rather living with typ 1 diabetes involves. That type 1 diabetes is a different disease than type 2.
It is tiring. Day afater day. Knowing there will be no day off. No vacation. Ever. The time it takes to "manage", the feeling of crap that happens with glucose swings. That happen daily, multiple times.
Yesterday and the day before, I spent at the wake and funeral of my aunt. She passed away unexpectedly. She was 54. She was 3 days short of her 33rd wedding annerversary. She has 2 grandchildren and another on the way. She is missed. One minute she was tired but walking to the dinner table, 30 minutes later was was gone. Life is precious, unpredictable, and short.
I wanted to get something to mark the day. Something specieal for myself. I have wanted a SLR camera since high school. So I have saved, worked extra, and watched for sales. And I got one. Something to mark the day, the accomplishement. I have survived. I have won some battles, I have lost some. So far, I'm winning the war. I'm still fighting which is one of the most important points. I now have my camera. Later today a friend and I will go out for a drink or two. And I will keep going.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I just can't....
Obsidian had a bad day at swimming lessons. He had a cold and a kid pushed him (nothing out of your normal preschool push, but it scared Obsidian which is understandable as they were sitting at the edge of a pool and the kid was literally 2 ti mes his size). So Obsidian cried and in general was uncooperative. This got him kicked out of lessons. There are no other options for appropriate lessons for him. He has to either be with the babies (rarely is there a kid over 18 months and none of them swim at the level he does, and I have to be in the water with him. We go swimming together and frankly I do more with him than they do in the baby class so it is pointless. The next class up is the one he just got kicked out of). Swimming lessons are good for Obsidian. Really good. In the 6 lessons he had in the previous session, he made amazing progress. Good progress for any kid, but amazing when you consider him and his typical progress for anything physical. And it was carrying over to things he did on the land. (Don't get me going about how he could do well for one session then get kicked out the next because of one bad day, the first lesson he did well. Everyone said he did well.) I was told he won't be welcome back until he is closer in size to other kids that take the class. For Obsidian, this might not be until he is 5 or 6 (as he has grown recently, he is now the size of an average 13 month old, but seeing he is 28 months old, it will be a long time before he is the size of the other kids, most of the time the youngest kids in the class are around 4). I was, and am, frustrated. And tired. And just want to give up. I cried. I let myself have a bad day. Then I Face.booked someone I know about doing private swim lessons with Obsidian. I've known her since she was 5. I taught her how to ride a bike. I taught her swimming lessons. I baby sat her and her brother and sister. She has now been teaching swimming lessons for 10 years (which vaguely makes me feel old that she has taught lessons for so long). Her current work and school schedules are changing, but after that she will start with him. My preference would be that Obsidian would be with other kids when he is learning how to swim, but since that is not possible, having him in swimming lessons period is what needs to be done. So within 24 hours, I had an acceptable solution.
But, I'm tired. I don't want to deal with this. Now or ever. Yet I know, there will be many more problems that will arise for Obsidian. That I will have to fight for. And for Pyrope. That I will have to fight for. And I'm tired. And I don't want to. But I have to.
After I was diagnosed with diabetes, I had people tell "I could never handle it. I just couldn't give myself an injection. I would die." My response has always been. "You could if you needed to." After it became obvious that Pyrope is not developing typical and then when Obsidian had his more obvious issues the comments started with them. "I could never have a child with special needs. I just couldn't do it." You could. I didn't choose any of these situations. I wouldn't choose them for myself and particularly for my kids, but it is what it is.
A friend from childhood was one of the most adequate people that she "could never give herself a shot". After a series of miscarriages, she found out that she needed to take shots to give herself a chance to carry a baby to term. During her first successful pregnancy, her husband gave her the shots. The "I could never give myself a shot" continued, if not increased. The next pregnancy, her husband giving the shots was the plan. However, the day the first shot was needed, he froze. He couldn't do it. Several hours of talking, tears, and arguing later, he still wouldn't do it. My friend had a moment of light that if she didn't just give herself the shot, that her child would not live. And she gave herself the shot. Her husband never gave her another shot. She called me shortly after the incident and told me I was right. She could give herself a shot. She had to, so she did.
So as I spent Saturday wanting to quit, to not have a child with different/special issues from your typical kid, I thought about what that would entail. My children wouldn't be any different. They would still have their issues. I could just "give up" and not find a different way for Obsidian to have swimming lessons. I could just let Pyrope not get speech services or go to school in a typical kindergarten without needed supports to make him safe. However, they would not have the best chance to excel at life and school if I did this. I could choose to ignore my diabetes. But I wouldn't have the best health that is possible.
So I just can't quit. I want to. But I can't. At least not today.
But, I'm tired. I don't want to deal with this. Now or ever. Yet I know, there will be many more problems that will arise for Obsidian. That I will have to fight for. And for Pyrope. That I will have to fight for. And I'm tired. And I don't want to. But I have to.
After I was diagnosed with diabetes, I had people tell "I could never handle it. I just couldn't give myself an injection. I would die." My response has always been. "You could if you needed to." After it became obvious that Pyrope is not developing typical and then when Obsidian had his more obvious issues the comments started with them. "I could never have a child with special needs. I just couldn't do it." You could. I didn't choose any of these situations. I wouldn't choose them for myself and particularly for my kids, but it is what it is.
A friend from childhood was one of the most adequate people that she "could never give herself a shot". After a series of miscarriages, she found out that she needed to take shots to give herself a chance to carry a baby to term. During her first successful pregnancy, her husband gave her the shots. The "I could never give myself a shot" continued, if not increased. The next pregnancy, her husband giving the shots was the plan. However, the day the first shot was needed, he froze. He couldn't do it. Several hours of talking, tears, and arguing later, he still wouldn't do it. My friend had a moment of light that if she didn't just give herself the shot, that her child would not live. And she gave herself the shot. Her husband never gave her another shot. She called me shortly after the incident and told me I was right. She could give herself a shot. She had to, so she did.
So as I spent Saturday wanting to quit, to not have a child with different/special issues from your typical kid, I thought about what that would entail. My children wouldn't be any different. They would still have their issues. I could just "give up" and not find a different way for Obsidian to have swimming lessons. I could just let Pyrope not get speech services or go to school in a typical kindergarten without needed supports to make him safe. However, they would not have the best chance to excel at life and school if I did this. I could choose to ignore my diabetes. But I wouldn't have the best health that is possible.
So I just can't quit. I want to. But I can't. At least not today.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Sweet Sixteen
At just exactly about the time this will be published, 16 years ago I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. In many ways, I don't know where to start, or what to say. Sometimes, in some ways, it still seems surreal. Most of the time, I can gleefully imagine what my life might be like if I was cured, but diabetes is so currently woven so tightly in with my life it is just part of me.
Because of how sick I was when I was diagnosed, the memories surrounding that time are fuzzy or just plain missing. Which is very unusual for me. It is not that these are faded memories, I was so sick, even at the time I couldn't remember what had just occurred. There are two moments that I very clearly remember making conscious decisions that really have affected how I have lived my life since them. In some ways they are related to diabetes, but in others they are entirely independent and not really related. If my diabetes were to be cured tomorrow, both of these decisions would still have a drastic affect on my life.
The first was on the drive to the hospital. I clearly remember looking out the window and pondering what was happening. I thought I had 2 options with dealing with my diagnosis. The first was to be a huge pain and let everyone know how unhappy I was about it, be as big of a pain as I could, and try to avoid to do anything related to diabetes. The second was I could accept that I had diabetes. I didn't have to be happy about it, but I didn't have to make everyone around me as miserable as possible as well. I could learn all I could, and live the best way I knew how with the knowledge I had, trying to minimize the impact it had on me and everyone around me. I thought about the first option so more. While it sounded good to let everyone else know how miserable I was about it, I figured it would make me more miserable-- not less. Making others miserable would not really make me feel better. I would most likely miss out on a number of things I enjoy because I would be too unhappy to participate/enjoy them or my parents would let me go if I didn't have the knowledge to take care of myself. On the other hand, option 2 sounded like a lot of work. I really was not happy about the situation in general. Within a few minutes, I decided that option 2 was the path I was going to take, no matter how hard it would be at times. For the most part, I've stuck with this decision. Don't get me wrong, I whine about diabetes, sometimes more than others. But I don't try to make others miserable about it, and I try to be as educated as I can.
The second decision came my way by the life of a 5 month old baby boy. He and I were the only two "long term" patients on the pediatric floor of this hospital. Other kids would be in for a night, but that was about it. I was there for 6 days. I have no idea how long the baby was there for, he was there before I was admitted, and he was there after I went home. After my first 24 hours where I was seriously ill, I was bored. Really bored. Being the oldest of 5, and always in the position of caring for others, I naturally started playing with him if for no other reason to kill the time. He didn't cry, he didn't eat, he didn't do much of anything. No one came to visit him. (I had my first visitor less than an hour after I was admitted...) At first I just "flirted" with him, then I asked to hold him, then I asked to try to feed him the bottle that he was refusing from everyone. With some discussion between the nurses and residents, they decided that they probably should not let me try to feed him, but on the other hand he had been refusing to eat and unless someone could get him to eat he was going to have to be tube fed. Seeing he was responding to me by this point but no one else, I was given the bottle. And he ate. The next time it was bottle time, he once again refused from the nurse but immediately took it from me. The older nurse looked at the young resident and said "See, I told you what is wrong with him is he is dying from lack of love." I remembered thinking, "THAT is the bottom of the barrel. To be literally dying from lack of love. I know I will never be that low. There will always be someone worse off than me no matter what happens." And that idea has stayed with me. No matter how rough things are for me, in the back of my head, I think of that baby. I think of how old he is now. And I say a prayer for him. A prayer for others, particularly babies and the elderly, who feel so unloved they are literally dying. I say a prayer of thanksgiving that I have so many that love me and that I love. And no matter what, at that point my problems seem just a little smaller, and a little more manageable.
So I've done it. 16 year of me and diabetes. Time to go get a milkshake (my yearly celebration, someone made the mistake of telling me that I would never be able to have a milkshake again, so I've made it a point for having one every year to mark the day... and I've got quite talented at bolusing the right amount so it doesn't take my glucose levels all over the place).
Because of how sick I was when I was diagnosed, the memories surrounding that time are fuzzy or just plain missing. Which is very unusual for me. It is not that these are faded memories, I was so sick, even at the time I couldn't remember what had just occurred. There are two moments that I very clearly remember making conscious decisions that really have affected how I have lived my life since them. In some ways they are related to diabetes, but in others they are entirely independent and not really related. If my diabetes were to be cured tomorrow, both of these decisions would still have a drastic affect on my life.
The first was on the drive to the hospital. I clearly remember looking out the window and pondering what was happening. I thought I had 2 options with dealing with my diagnosis. The first was to be a huge pain and let everyone know how unhappy I was about it, be as big of a pain as I could, and try to avoid to do anything related to diabetes. The second was I could accept that I had diabetes. I didn't have to be happy about it, but I didn't have to make everyone around me as miserable as possible as well. I could learn all I could, and live the best way I knew how with the knowledge I had, trying to minimize the impact it had on me and everyone around me. I thought about the first option so more. While it sounded good to let everyone else know how miserable I was about it, I figured it would make me more miserable-- not less. Making others miserable would not really make me feel better. I would most likely miss out on a number of things I enjoy because I would be too unhappy to participate/enjoy them or my parents would let me go if I didn't have the knowledge to take care of myself. On the other hand, option 2 sounded like a lot of work. I really was not happy about the situation in general. Within a few minutes, I decided that option 2 was the path I was going to take, no matter how hard it would be at times. For the most part, I've stuck with this decision. Don't get me wrong, I whine about diabetes, sometimes more than others. But I don't try to make others miserable about it, and I try to be as educated as I can.
The second decision came my way by the life of a 5 month old baby boy. He and I were the only two "long term" patients on the pediatric floor of this hospital. Other kids would be in for a night, but that was about it. I was there for 6 days. I have no idea how long the baby was there for, he was there before I was admitted, and he was there after I went home. After my first 24 hours where I was seriously ill, I was bored. Really bored. Being the oldest of 5, and always in the position of caring for others, I naturally started playing with him if for no other reason to kill the time. He didn't cry, he didn't eat, he didn't do much of anything. No one came to visit him. (I had my first visitor less than an hour after I was admitted...) At first I just "flirted" with him, then I asked to hold him, then I asked to try to feed him the bottle that he was refusing from everyone. With some discussion between the nurses and residents, they decided that they probably should not let me try to feed him, but on the other hand he had been refusing to eat and unless someone could get him to eat he was going to have to be tube fed. Seeing he was responding to me by this point but no one else, I was given the bottle. And he ate. The next time it was bottle time, he once again refused from the nurse but immediately took it from me. The older nurse looked at the young resident and said "See, I told you what is wrong with him is he is dying from lack of love." I remembered thinking, "THAT is the bottom of the barrel. To be literally dying from lack of love. I know I will never be that low. There will always be someone worse off than me no matter what happens." And that idea has stayed with me. No matter how rough things are for me, in the back of my head, I think of that baby. I think of how old he is now. And I say a prayer for him. A prayer for others, particularly babies and the elderly, who feel so unloved they are literally dying. I say a prayer of thanksgiving that I have so many that love me and that I love. And no matter what, at that point my problems seem just a little smaller, and a little more manageable.
So I've done it. 16 year of me and diabetes. Time to go get a milkshake (my yearly celebration, someone made the mistake of telling me that I would never be able to have a milkshake again, so I've made it a point for having one every year to mark the day... and I've got quite talented at bolusing the right amount so it doesn't take my glucose levels all over the place).
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Brighter
Obsidian was "graduated" to physical therapy (PT) once a month at his last session instead of once a week. He has made great gains over the past 2 months he has been in PT again. The first time he was in PT, he made gains, but not nearly as rapidly as this time. The first time (almost exactly a year before), he was less than cooperative. He would scream and refuse to work, and never worked when I was in the room or knew I was looking. This time was an entirely different experience. At times he has to be coaxed to do things, but for the most part he is cooperative. He enjoys PT for the most part. In some ways, I think he was just ready to make significant gains, in other ways I think he was just more with the program. The only thing he really refused to do was to ride the smallest tricycle, the one that he rides there he has to sit on the crossbar or his feet can't reach the pedal. Obsidian has my gift of stubbornness, I just hope he learns to control it, not let it control him. It took me a long time to learn that, and I still have to work on it. The first time he stopped going to PT because our insurance would not cover it any more. I was not happy or comfortable with it being stopped. This time, I am comfortable and ready to have him cut back. I would even be a lot more okay with it being stopped if needed. He has reached most of the goals that were set, and is well on his way to reaching the others. Now, he is no longer deep in the "moderately" delayed gross motor, to more of "mild" gross motor delay.
As I was driving home from PT, the colors on all of the trees seemed brighter. I seemed lighter. I still have hope that Obsidian's gross motor delays and possibly even his growth will be come interesting chapters in his past, but something in his past that he has "outgrown". I am becoming even more hopeful that even if they are ongoing issues for his entire life, he will find a way to integrate them into his life so they do not have a significant negative impact. Small steps. For now, I'll take my more brightly colored trees.
As I was driving home from PT, the colors on all of the trees seemed brighter. I seemed lighter. I still have hope that Obsidian's gross motor delays and possibly even his growth will be come interesting chapters in his past, but something in his past that he has "outgrown". I am becoming even more hopeful that even if they are ongoing issues for his entire life, he will find a way to integrate them into his life so they do not have a significant negative impact. Small steps. For now, I'll take my more brightly colored trees.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Slowly
The reasons I set goals for myself each year, and why I need to review my progress towards them, is clear this month. They are goals because they are not something I'm doing now and I need to make an effort to change my behavior so I can reach them. And I need to review my progress towards them because I don't necessarily make the changes, or maybe the correct changes to meet my end goal, just because I set the goal. It is something I need to keep working on.
I didn't start running again. I dropped a ratchet wrench and broke my toe. Then less than a week later because of how I was favoring the foot with the broken toe, I sprained my ankle. This coming Monday I'm starting to run again.
Diabetes goals have cone somewhat the way of the running. My A1C the when I went to the doctor earlier in the month was the exact same it was in June. Blech. I'm going to do a home kit of the test on my anniversary later this month. I doubt it will be much lower, but I need to start testing more to start getting it lower.
So in this past month I lost 4 lbs. I would have liked to lose more weight, but if I look at it seriously, I'm content with this pace of weight loss. 1 lb a week will get me to my goal in 30 weeks, more or less. Looking at it that way, that isn't that long. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.
My book goal, and not reaching it for the month was a little bit of a shock. Reading is such a good release for me, I'm somewhat amazed that I've slipped that far away from it that I'm struggling to reach such a low for me goal of 4 books a month. I used to easily do that in under a week. I was also amazed at the effort it was taking me to expand to new kids books. My kids are enjoying the different books but it is so easy to just read the same ones over and over again. There are so many books that we even own that I just haven't been dipping into and reading to them. And they love getting a whole stack of different books when we go to the library. So this one I have been able to do easily.
So I'm getting to my goals. Slowly, with revisions of how I'm going to get there.
I didn't start running again. I dropped a ratchet wrench and broke my toe. Then less than a week later because of how I was favoring the foot with the broken toe, I sprained my ankle. This coming Monday I'm starting to run again.
Diabetes goals have cone somewhat the way of the running. My A1C the when I went to the doctor earlier in the month was the exact same it was in June. Blech. I'm going to do a home kit of the test on my anniversary later this month. I doubt it will be much lower, but I need to start testing more to start getting it lower.
So in this past month I lost 4 lbs. I would have liked to lose more weight, but if I look at it seriously, I'm content with this pace of weight loss. 1 lb a week will get me to my goal in 30 weeks, more or less. Looking at it that way, that isn't that long. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it.
My book goal, and not reaching it for the month was a little bit of a shock. Reading is such a good release for me, I'm somewhat amazed that I've slipped that far away from it that I'm struggling to reach such a low for me goal of 4 books a month. I used to easily do that in under a week. I was also amazed at the effort it was taking me to expand to new kids books. My kids are enjoying the different books but it is so easy to just read the same ones over and over again. There are so many books that we even own that I just haven't been dipping into and reading to them. And they love getting a whole stack of different books when we go to the library. So this one I have been able to do easily.
So I'm getting to my goals. Slowly, with revisions of how I'm going to get there.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Annual review and goals
Each year around my birthday, I make some goals for myself, and review my "bucket list" of what I have done, and anything I want to add to it.
The only thing I was able to check off this year on my bucket list was complete a triathlon. I did it in 1 hour and 58 minutes. Although I had no official goal other than completing it, I was hoping to be under 2 hours. I did, barely. There was only 1 person who finished after me. I was surprisingly not that sore afterward.
Also on my bucket list is to take a cake decorating class so I can decently finish my cakes. I'm a decent to good baker. I enjoy baking. However when I go to frost my cakes, they come out less than great. I have read some website and learned how to make and use fondant. My cakes are looking much better, but I still would really like to take a class. So progress was made, but I can't check this one off.
So looking ahead to this next year, what I would really like to work towards on my list is getting my SLR camera. I would somewhat like to get this for living more time with diabetes than not. Financially, it isn't so smart. I'm not much of a coupon clipper/user. I have been thinking of trying to do this more and anything I save by using coupons put in a fund for my camera. My true goal on my bucket list is to take a photography class, but in many ways I would like to have my camera before taking the class so I can use it while in the class. Maybe I could take the class next summer, I have more consistent baby sitters during the summer that I could get away for the class and do the homework.
Another item I have on my list is to keep a daily journal for a year. While at least this point I'm not planning on posting daily, and a blog is not exactly a journal, it is closer to one than anything else.
Moving on to my general goals for this coming year:
My diabetes was a lot easier to control while I was training for the triathalon. I told myself I was going to keep up on the running, but I haven't. I really need to do this. However, knowing me, I need to find another race and sign up for it. I need a tangible immediate goal. In high school I used to consistently run 5k's in the 22-23 minute range. The 3 mile race I ran in June I did in 28:11. So my goal is to run a 5k race at least once every 3 months, and be running it in the 26 minute range by next summer.
Get and keep my A1c in the 7's (Note: A1c is a 3 month measure of how well your diabetes is being controlled). I know the official position of the ADA is now UNDER 7, in light of my hypoglycemia unawareness, for me 7's is a better goal. When I get into the 6's, I have a LOT more lows, which are dangerous in themselves.
Along the same lines, I need to lose 30 lbs to get to my ideal body weight. I haven't consistently weighed that amount since my freshman year of college (I did briefly weigh that amount during my first 18 months I was married, when I'm stressed I either over eat or under eat, and I was definitely doing the under eating for some time). I know getting to that weight and maintaining it will help with both my exercise goal and my A1c goal. I'm not fond of low carb diets, but they are the ones that really work best for me on several levels. I do a modified South Beach Diet. The weight doesn't come off fast, but it does come off slowly and consistently, particularly if I am also regularly exercising.
Read 50 books. Reading is a way I relax as well as learn things. Since Obsidian has been born, I just haven't made the time to do this. And I miss it. Before Pyrope was born, I regularly read over 1,000 pages a week. This past year I bet I barely topped 3,000 pages for the year. This gets to be about 4-5 books a month. I should be able to do this with minimal effort.
Read the kids 100 books they have never read before. This would be 8-9 new books a month. We go to the library typically once a week, I can easily get 2 different books each time, even just reading them there. Pyrope in particular asks questions and wants details about so many different things, it would be good to help look at different subjects. I'm sure I will read many books multiple times, and that is good for them. I sometimes get into a rut though and never work to expand and explore different books. This is laziness on my part.
So that is my year in review and looking ahead to the next.
The only thing I was able to check off this year on my bucket list was complete a triathlon. I did it in 1 hour and 58 minutes. Although I had no official goal other than completing it, I was hoping to be under 2 hours. I did, barely. There was only 1 person who finished after me. I was surprisingly not that sore afterward.
Also on my bucket list is to take a cake decorating class so I can decently finish my cakes. I'm a decent to good baker. I enjoy baking. However when I go to frost my cakes, they come out less than great. I have read some website and learned how to make and use fondant. My cakes are looking much better, but I still would really like to take a class. So progress was made, but I can't check this one off.
So looking ahead to this next year, what I would really like to work towards on my list is getting my SLR camera. I would somewhat like to get this for living more time with diabetes than not. Financially, it isn't so smart. I'm not much of a coupon clipper/user. I have been thinking of trying to do this more and anything I save by using coupons put in a fund for my camera. My true goal on my bucket list is to take a photography class, but in many ways I would like to have my camera before taking the class so I can use it while in the class. Maybe I could take the class next summer, I have more consistent baby sitters during the summer that I could get away for the class and do the homework.
Another item I have on my list is to keep a daily journal for a year. While at least this point I'm not planning on posting daily, and a blog is not exactly a journal, it is closer to one than anything else.
Moving on to my general goals for this coming year:
My diabetes was a lot easier to control while I was training for the triathalon. I told myself I was going to keep up on the running, but I haven't. I really need to do this. However, knowing me, I need to find another race and sign up for it. I need a tangible immediate goal. In high school I used to consistently run 5k's in the 22-23 minute range. The 3 mile race I ran in June I did in 28:11. So my goal is to run a 5k race at least once every 3 months, and be running it in the 26 minute range by next summer.
Get and keep my A1c in the 7's (Note: A1c is a 3 month measure of how well your diabetes is being controlled). I know the official position of the ADA is now UNDER 7, in light of my hypoglycemia unawareness, for me 7's is a better goal. When I get into the 6's, I have a LOT more lows, which are dangerous in themselves.
Along the same lines, I need to lose 30 lbs to get to my ideal body weight. I haven't consistently weighed that amount since my freshman year of college (I did briefly weigh that amount during my first 18 months I was married, when I'm stressed I either over eat or under eat, and I was definitely doing the under eating for some time). I know getting to that weight and maintaining it will help with both my exercise goal and my A1c goal. I'm not fond of low carb diets, but they are the ones that really work best for me on several levels. I do a modified South Beach Diet. The weight doesn't come off fast, but it does come off slowly and consistently, particularly if I am also regularly exercising.
Read 50 books. Reading is a way I relax as well as learn things. Since Obsidian has been born, I just haven't made the time to do this. And I miss it. Before Pyrope was born, I regularly read over 1,000 pages a week. This past year I bet I barely topped 3,000 pages for the year. This gets to be about 4-5 books a month. I should be able to do this with minimal effort.
Read the kids 100 books they have never read before. This would be 8-9 new books a month. We go to the library typically once a week, I can easily get 2 different books each time, even just reading them there. Pyrope in particular asks questions and wants details about so many different things, it would be good to help look at different subjects. I'm sure I will read many books multiple times, and that is good for them. I sometimes get into a rut though and never work to expand and explore different books. This is laziness on my part.
So that is my year in review and looking ahead to the next.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The big 2-0
Obsidian finally hit the magical weight of 20 lbs*. It took him 6 months, literally, to gain this last pound. For a child who is 25.5 months old, 20 lbs is still not much. He is the weight of your average 8 month old, and height of your average 17 month old. The reality of it is, there is nothing special about 20 lbs in particular. Since Jet and I believe in rear facing car seats as long as possible because it is the safest way to travel, Obsidian being 20 lbs doesn't mean anything in particular. Even giving a larger dose of ibuprofen happens at 22 lbs. Nor am I convinced that Obsidian won't dip below 20 lbs again, most of the time when he gains some weight, he then loses a little. Also because of his 15q11.2 microdeletion, I worry about him suddenly becoming morbidly obese between the ages of 2-4. So while I want him to gain weight (and height), I don't want him gaining weight too quickly at this point. Then he will be looking at strict calorie restrictions and how to not develop an eating disorder because it will be the only way to prevent morbid obesity at a young age. That would be such a cruel twist of fate. I keep coming across doctors (from various disciplines) that want to try to get more calories in him. Since he eats a lot, and I already use many strategies to maximize the calories that he does eat, the suggestion of an appetite stimulant comes up. At this point I will give him whatever food he requests (within reason), but I just don't have a good feeling about giving him an appetite stimulant. This is the child who can eat 3 slices of pizza and a chocolate milk, and then be asking for more food 2 hours later.
***Note: 20 lbs is 9 kg
***Note: 20 lbs is 9 kg
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