groundspeed

B is for...

Breaking records.


I ran in my first official 5k yesterday morning. That was my number. Blue's school put together a big team of teachers and parents.

I started jogging mid-January. Well, walk-jogging.  I used the Nike app on my phone and just tried to jog a little longer every time I went. Eventually I managed a mile, then 2, then a 5k. But I'm a slow jogger. One could argue I'm more like a bouncy walker.  My fastest 5k time remained 40 minutes even for a long, long time.

Until this Saturday.

I came in at 37:56.

Then I was off to meet Kevin and the boys at Blue's Belt testing.

See - Blue has a white belt. That's the very, very beginning of the Tae Kwon Do journey.

He passed, so this Friday night we get to go to a belt ceremony. Then he's officially a yellow belt!

Walking to the van after the ceremony, I saw my favorite Bird.

(Sandhill Cranes)

Then we were off to Bookfest, the 3rd annual, of this local event where they give kids free books, have local authors selling their books, have book characters out and about, a tent where Mother Goose reads stories, another tent where kids read to local school administrators...

Here's Kaden reading to his principal and Blue (who picked the book).

Toby sat in this spot pulling books from these baskets for like, forever.

After bookfest we were supposed to be off to Baseball, but thanks to a downpour the night before the morning's games were cancelled. At least since Bookfest was at the St Lucie Met's stadium the boys got to watch the pitcher warm up.

So they got their baseball fix while Toby continued to page through book after book after book...

At 3pm Kevin and I then drove across the state to La Belle to meet my dad, Vannoy Banks, for dinner and then to see him at his lastest go with community theater, The Bottom Line. Meanwhile the kids were left to spend the night at my mom's, our favorite free Babysitter!

Happy Hunting, Zack

In December 2010 my mom got a dog and promptly brought him to my house because she didn't have a fence. Remember? It didn't take her long to get a fence and fall in love with that dog.

This dog.

Who had to be put down this week.

He had a piercing bark that set my teeth on edge. He'd chew things in my backyard whenever he came to play. And he often jumped putting his paws on counters or furniture. But.... he was so sweet and tolerant of anything my kids did to him. That's all that really matters, right?

When we drive up to Oma's house Toby always says, "Zack! Zack!" Tomorrow morning we will drive over there for the first time since Zack left us and Toby's going to call for Zack and... I'm crying just anticipating that moment. 

He had some doggy form of Crohn's and suddenly just couldn't, wouldn't eat or, if forced to, keep anything down. After surgery, medicine, two different vets weighing in, there just wasn't anything left to be done and Mom had to make the decision to set her hound loose on the foxes in heaven.

Damn stupid loveable dog.

Say a prayer for my Mom. What a rough few weeks.

Critters and More Critters

My critters had fun with zoo critters today. This having a zoo pass thing is great when the kids have a day off school.

We were greated by a peacock.

We got to watch a tortoise eat brunch (It was around 10:30am - what other meal could it have been?)

Toby gets just as excited about the tigers and otters and bears as he does watching the same birds he could see in any local pond. Beyond this pic is probably some boring 'ol duck and I think that's super cute.

I came thisclose to getting Blue eaten. A mama can try...

Toby got to ride a zebra.

Kaden battled it out with a fountain.

And Kaden's friend who slept over last night was well entertained.

We watched the Wings Over Water show. We had a stare down with Mardi, the albino alligator. We said hi to Oz, the koala bear with Toby's birthday (but two years older).

Very productive morning.

On the way home we stopped at Chik Fil A. I reminded Blue that he's been calling himself a vegetarian, but he said he wants to be a vegetarian who eats Chik Fil A. We all make our compromises I suppose. (Meanwhile, I ate fruit and fries.) I'd packed plenty of snacks for the zoo so we were able to hold off and not eat lunch till almost 2pm. The beauty of this timing was that the kids had the play area to themselves and we ended up staying almost an hour. After all that fun, I think Toby was asleep before we got out of the parking lot.

Original Pillow Pet

You wouldn't believe how long these two stayed just like this, this afternoon.

Receptive

Today after Toby's speech appointment his therapist talked to me about a receptive language test she did on Toby. He scored a 98 and apparently 90 to 115 is average.  He scored at 2 years 8 months. And go figure. Toby is 2 years 8 months. The caveat, and she will note this on his test, is that she had to keep his hands down. If allowed to point whenever and whereever and/or play with his hands then he wouldn't pay attention and wouldn't participate.  So, bottom line, when Toby isn't distracted, he's a pretty smart boy.

Yup. I knew that.

Disorganized mind.
I go back to this phrase all the time. The psychologist at the Miami Fragile X clinic used it to describeToby when he was 18 months and we visisted for an assesment. And his disorganized mind makes it difficult for him to sputter out the right combination of sounds at the right time so his therapist and I don't expect him to score as well tomorrow when she does the expressive language test.

Kevin and I refer to Toby as a juke box of sounds.  At any given time you never know what he'll be blabbering about. This morning at breakfast he was calling out colors. At any given moment he'll break into Old McDonald. He likes to say Yuck! in and out of context. Or point to something and label it.  He's great at labeling.  Speak to communicate needs, wants, ideas... not so much. Sometimes. Especially when he wants juice, a show, or help taking his socks off, but other than that, not so much.

But he can talk. And he is learning phrases. If I leave the room I will soon hear, "Mommy! Whereareyou?" (I really think he thinks "where are you" is one word.) To Gus, our dog, he is always saying, "Good boy! Good boy!" or "Heal!" These words he gets from me. And tonight I heard him say, "Good boy, Gussers." And that really surprised me. That he gets from my mom because she's the one who calls him Gussers so he doesn't hear it as much. Plus it was three words in a row said in context while he was patting the dog.

He's doing well.

He still has a disorganized mind. He still has no filter when he's excited/startled/quickly stimulated by something. In these scenarios, his response is to 1. throw whatever is in his hand or 2. if his hand is empty to hit whatever is closest. It's a problem. It's like he just needs something to take the edge off, bring him down one notch and then he'll be released from the Fragile X static.

Toby isn't taking anything. Not even circumin right now. We ran out and I wanted to see if I noticed any difference with him off it. It's been at least three weeks and I haven't noticed any difference, so... not rushing out to restock.

But I will be pursuing meds knowledge at this year's Fragile X conference. We've booked the hotel and paid our registration. Kevin and I will be there the whole time. Mom is coming down with the kids for the Friday luncheon and then Kevin is taking Kaden to the Marlins game/Fragile X night at the ballpark. The Mom/kids crew is just staying the one night.

SO excited. 

Because I'm receptive to the next step for Toby. 

****

And now for a photo series from tonight of Toby and "Gussers." Allowing Toby to crawl around in the garage has NEVER happened before but tonight I was buying time for an over-tired Toby while Kaden was in the shower. Toby followed me into the garage when I let Gus in to feed him, so I just let Toby stay and hang out with his beloved Gussers until the tub was free.

Toby showing Gus his feet. 

Seriously. He was scooting toward Gus saying, "Feet. Feet." Gus wasn't impressed.

After I told Toby to, "Give Gus a hug."

Then Gus turned around and gave Toby a kiss, so Toby followed up with a kiss as well.

Then Toby found a packing peanut and decided Gus should eat it.

He was persistent.

I'm not really sure what's going on in this next one. It looks like they're comparing paws.

"Good boy. Good boy, Gussers."

Giddy up!

I kept telling Toby to say good bye to Gus but he wouldn't come. Finally I turned the light off in the garage and he took me seriously.

I love that we were on the verge of TOTAL MELTDOWN and a few minutes with the dog restored the evening and held him through bath/bedtime routine.

Oh and during said bedtime routine I told Blue to brush his teeth and then wait for me in his room with books. And get this - he did. No toothpaste on the walls. No water catastrophes. The kid had brushed his teeth and was standing in front of his bookshelf, books in hand, when I got to him. 

Not always. Ok, not even usually, these boys go easy on me. I so appreciate when that happens.

Pee Wee the Penguin

Blue's school has sent us a house guest. It's happened before. This time around we have Pee Wee, a small penguin.  She's quiet. Unobtrusive. Happy to go along with our plans.

Unfortunately Blue hasn't been the best host. On Thursday when he brought her home he left her in the driveway.  I was quick to set up Kaden and Blue with a show so Toby and I could get cleaned up from our beach excursion and after the show Blue comes up to me and says he has to go get Pee Wee. Um... Where was Pee Wee? Aparently carrying in a lunch box and Pee Wee's bag (she had luggage) was too much for Blue and he'd just left her in the driveway.  ?!?!

He went to get Pee Wee.

Not ten minutes later I hear, "Look, Kaden! I can hit the ceiling with Pee Wee."

He have high ceilings. There is NO THROWING INSIDE THE HOUSE. It is a hard rule. No compromises. Kevin broke this rule once before we had kids and whatever it was he was throwing fell into our Christmas tree and broke an ornament. That was like nine years ago and I still bring it up if he tries to bend this rule.

Anyway, Blue totally knew better.

So Pee Wee spent her first night in seclusion, hanging out in the office. 

Boooorrrrring.

Friday things picked up a little because Pee Wee came with us to Blue's Trike-A-Thon.

One posed picture with Blue and then he was in Toby's care.

Today Pee Wee has been dragged to more sporting events. First, Kaden's Upward Basketball game.

And then were off to baseball.

Pee Wee was a good sport (ha ha, good sport), but just in case all these sporting events weren't his favorite, (I'm not really sure. He doesn't say much.) we redboxed Mr. Popper's Penguins tonight in Pee Wee's honor.

We got him through Monday. Then I have to send him back to school with his journal filled out about what he did while he was here. So... it's back to penguin entertaining for me.

Nobody Likes a Wet Dog

In highschool and undergrad I had equal love for poetry and prose. And then, like the rest of the world, I turned my back to poetry. 

Even so, when I taught at LeTourneau, a sort of basic intro to the genres class, I loved watching people who claimed to hate and not understand poetry come awake to it when we got to that section.

One of the poems I always taught was Dharma by Billy Collins.  

It's funny. It's accessible. It's about a dog.

Billy Collins was one of the presenting authors at this year's Key West Literary Seminar and he read another dog poem, a poem that came to mind this morning.

The skies opened up and I saw my dog not taking shelter under our covered patio but walking out in the grass, sniffing and licking at small pools of water, and I thought of the Collin's poem, "To a Stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years from Now."

My first thought was stupid dog, but my second went to poetry. And it's nice to think of poetry in the morning.

Taken from inside my house through the sliding glass door, because, unlike my dog, I had no desire to play in the rain this morning. 

So here's that poem:

To a Stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years from Now
Billy Collins 

Nobody here likes a wet dog.
No one wants anything to do with a dog
that is wet from being out in the rain
or retrieving a stick from a lake.
Look how she wanders around the crowded pub tonight
going from one person to another
hoping for a pat on the head, a rub behind the ears,
something that could be given with one hand
without even wrinkling the conversation.

But everyone pushes her away,
some with a knee, others with the sole of a boot.
Even the children, who don’t realize she is wet
until they go to pet her,
push her away,
then wipe their hands on their clothes.
And whenever she heads toward me,
I show her my palm, and she turns aside.

O stranger of the future!
O inconceivable being!
whatever the shape of your house,
however you scoot from place to place,
no matter how strange and colorless the clothes you
may wear,
I bet nobody there likes a wet dog either.
I bet everybody in your pub,
even the children, pushes her away. 

Zoo Day

When the hostessing duties are over and the presents are bought and wrapped, why not plan a zoo day over Christmas break?

So we did.

It was busy because Toby had his My Gym class this morning, and I promised my mom I'd have Gus groomed before he hangs at her house a few days so I had to drop him off, and then it was time to get lunch so we hit Chick Fil-A on the way down... But finally, around noon we got to the zoo. 

Kookaburra

Roar like a Tiger! (Did only Blue hear me?)

Pose with the tiger statue since the live ones are sleeping in a spot we could barely see.

Watching monkeys.

Wild Things Show...

Touching Banjo the baby alligator after the Wild Things show.


Anteaters are so cool. 

Ended our trip at the carousel.

Then off to pick up Gus, stop at the drycleaners for pants I need Christmas Eve, drop off my mom and the dog, and now last minute details... It's a good thing Big Apple Pizza is having a fundraiser for Kaden's school tonight - no need to feel guilty about just calling it a pizza night! 

Puppy Love

Except in this case, the puppy is now nine years old.

Our Gus had another birthday this past Monday.  He got a shout out on facebook but not here. (He's the most neglected of my boys.)

At least I bought him a new collar for a present.

Blue Heron in Suburbia

Just hanging out at a retention pond.

Florida has the best birds.