Tim Daggett Invitational - January 2016

Jordan just got back from his first gymnastics meet of the year.  Together with his team, he travelled to Springfield, MA for the Tim Daggett Invitational.  He competed again in level 5.  Jeff accompanied him abroad over the weekend of January 29th - 31st.Grandma H and Grandpa Michael joined them (and shot some of these great pictures too.)



Jordan was excited.  He's worked hard all summer through the fall and winter, after recovering from pneumonia in August.  He sprang back though, and has been working on perfecting all the events and bonus points.

Back home, Mina, Theo and I anxiously awaited results.  I refreshed the online meet scores at least twenty times, and was glued to my phone, texting Jeff for the details.

"How is he?  Is he nervous?  Does he seem nervous?  What did he eat for breakfast?  Remember not to give him a huge lunch before he competes!  Stick with a big protein breakfast in the morning, and keep him away from junky snacks!"

I was obviously more worried than Jordan.  He did amazingly well.  Out of six events, he medaled in four of them.  His scores were high enough to put him in the top ten gymnasts in his division.  Out of 47 boys, he ranked 9th.

It hasn't been forgotten that this meet came on the same week as the anniversary of Jordan's heart transplant (January 26 - 11 years ago.)

Our heart angel, Breanna, lives on and lives strong.  I hope she would be proud of what her guy is up to.

This is what a transplant patient can do.

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Breakdown:
Floor - 9.5 (11th)
Pommel - 10.2 (8th)
Rings - 10.8 (6th)
Vault - 9.5 (12th)
Parallel Bars -9.9 (11th)
High Bar - 8.9 (12th)
All Around - 58.8 (9th)

Theo - 15 months

Before we head into his doctor's office tomorrow for his 15 month check up and vaccinations, I thought I'd try and remember everything the little guy has been up to.

Theo is walking around quite well and tries to run now.  He can climb up onto things and climb down from the couch and bed. (He's also managed to throw himself over the crib railing, but that was my fault for not putting it all the way up. He landed on his butt though, which is quite properly chunky, so no harm done.  Bad mommy.)

He's trying to dress himself in little ways - like holding up his socks or shoes and trying to fit his foot into them.



He loves going outside.  The swingset and slide in the backyard get a lot of use, despite their relatively deteriorated state.  The baby wagon we got as a gift for the other two years ago is seeing new use again, as Jordan loves to give Theo wagon rides (and half the other little kids in the complex.)

He knows when it's time to drop off Mina and Jordan to school and starts heading up the stairs; and in the afternoon, I will say, "It's time to go pick up the big kids!"  He gets so excited.   If I ask him, "Where are your shoes?  Go get them, and we can go."  He will wander over to the shoe cubby and bring back a pair of his shoes.



It's reassuring to know he understands everything we say to him, because he isn't saying much yet.  He will shake his head, no, to indicate his displeasure with something (Time for nap?  Lots of head shaking no.)  But not a lot of words.  That's sort of odd, as I recall Jordan and Mina babbling on endlessly and Mina having full conversations with people at a very early age. 

Theo can say "up," "baba," "ga (meaning go,) "dada," "mama" and some sound that is like "dah" to mean downstairs, where the basement playroom is.

I know, you can't compare.  Of course we do though. 

That's what parents do - whether they are comparing their own kids with each other or one kid to a stranger's.  (I do that too.)  Theo goes to baby gym every week and loves it.  I on the other hand sometimes wonder why he isn't doing x, y or z.  I don't notice too many kids Theo's age talking either. 

This comparison issue is one more reason I refuse to join organized mommy play groups.  I am just over that stage in my life where new moms dissect their kid's milestones with each other ad nauseum.  Yes, your 15 month old knows his letters.. congrats.  Mine is still just babbling, and I refuse to stress about it yet.

(Sorry if you are a new first time mom.  I'm old and cranky, I admit it.  Please join mommy groups if you want to.  I did when I was younger and I am still friends with some of the women. But when you are my age, you just don't want to hear a young whippersnapper waxing eloquent on the joys of babywearing or breast feeding until the kids are driving or whatever new fad is making the rounds.  Older, tired moms like me just want to get through the day, keep their kids alive, fed, educated and independent enough to learn how to pour a glass of wine for their elders at dinner.  Yes, on that front, BTW. Go, Mina!  Parenting win. )

I will pause long enough to note that Theo is amazing.  Every time I take him to the store, inevitably someone will comment on what a happy baby he is.  I don't want to jinx it, but he seems like a pretty content little guy.  I was worried the stomach scare he had back in August would affect him, but he seems to have gotten over it.  Maybe third kids know they have to be cute in order to survive.

We've had to play around a bit with his diet, as too much milk was constipating him.  He eats pretty much everything though, or will at least try it.  When he doesn't like something (lately that seems to be most proteins) he will get this look on his face and push the food out of his mouth.

I've learned my lesson from Jordan though.  I am not sweating it.  He eats what I'm serving or he just goes to bed.  There will be choices, but unless the meal I'm making is too spicy, I don't make a lot of alternative dishes.  His current favorites are anything pasta, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, soups, cheese, yogurt, strawberries, raspberries, pear, grapes.  I was impressed he handled tofu last night that was cooked in an Asian sweet and sour soup.  But who knows, a week from now he may hate it.



The big kids really get a kick out of him too, especially when he's in performing mood.  At meal times, we try to talk to him and get him to point out his eyes, nose, mouth, belly.  He can wave and give high fives now.  He's also just learning how to "blow kisses."  His version is a little odd, but Jordan took a little video of it the other night.

 

He sleeps great, although he is an early riser.  He does one to two naps a day depending on what time he wakes up and whether there are things we have to do that day.  We are pretty much using sippy cups all the time now, as opposed to bottles, and he is trying to feed himself a lot (messy!) 

He loves to share.  That just kills me.  He will take a bite of something then hand it out to me or Jeff or the kids and say, "ygum?"  I can't tell if he means, "yum," as I am always saying, "yummy"" to him as I feed him.  The way he intones it as a question though makes me laugh.

Other random stuff - he's a tall one.  Another feature that's different than Jordan or Mina.  He's recently gotten into being read to, and will drag his favorite books over to me to read to him.  He's definitely more physical, in terms of trying to do things.  He's more adventurous, and thus less cautious about risks (throwing himself out the crib, leaping off the steps in the front of the house.)  He gets very attached, and will cry when someone he loves leaves him - thus making school drop off every morning so much fun.  He's got almost all his teeth!!  Including molars?  How is that possible@?  Unfortunately, he's prone to biting, which may be to alleviate the pain in his gums.  I'm working on getting that to stop, but he's resisting.  He still has a noticeable bilateral inversion of his feet.  Imagine a ballet dancer's feet turned outwards.  He doesn't seem bothered by it, and at his last check up his doctor said it would correct itself.  It hasn't yet though.

Not looking forward to the shots tomorrow but I'm glad to be able to go in and talk to his pediatrician here on the island.  She's wonderful, and I'm curious what she things about Theo's progress.

Paris thoughts.

Friday,  November 13, 2015.

"Pray for Paris" was all over my facebook newsfeed, which I checked late in the day.  You know that means something horrific has happened because that's the language of empathy people use in social media.  Sure enough, insanity was writ large across the tv, as I caught up with the day's events.

As I watched the 24 hour news cycle feeds, and scrolled through my twitter for updates, it occurred to  me that as all these events unfolded, I was just hanging out and relaxing over wine with a friend.  I fed Theo his dinner while we caught up on the past mid term break.  We talked about holidays, family, and upcoming plans.  The big kids kept themselves amused elsewhere.  I don't think either of us imagined what was happening elsewhere in the world.

I imagine everyone in Paris who headed out that evening had been of the same mindset - living their own lives quietly.

So, we begin a new cycle of zenophobia and Muslim bashing.  I'm so tired of it.  These radicalized cockroaches need to be annihilated.  The nihilistic ideology of politicized Islam has no place in the modern world and has to be wiped out with a better world view.  I feel distraught that refugees fleeing terrorized countries will now find the borders even more difficult to cross .. Perhaps rightfully so.  But it's a shame.  I can't think of a better message to send to the world than one of a free country embracing the desolate and weary, welcoming them to our shores and offering them hope.

It's a two way street though, and I say this as a first generation American, born to immigrant Muslim parents.

 If you come to the land of the free, you have a moral obligation to accept that our version of freedom means we all get to choose how we want to live.  There is no fundamental code, or Shariah or Biblical law that overides the rule of law as it exists in the sectarian world.  If you are accepted into the land of the free, you better do your part to become one of us.  If you don't like that people drink, dress scantily, marry only one person, or eat pork .. Get over it.  It has nothing to do with you.  Do what you want and let others do the same.

Live and let live, is a good start.  Stop judging.  Stop excluding. Work, vote, pay your taxes, send your kids to school, become part of your community in the larger sense, wave hi to your neigbor and invite them over for a 4th of July Barbecue or a fast breakimg dinner during Ramadan, wish everyone a Merry Christmas or Happy Hannukah or whatever you think might work on any given day, .. just recognize we are all humans, all of us, with our own spark of the divine.  Celebrate that light, in the land of the free .. and thank whatever God you want for the luck you had in getting here.  

Don't deprive others of the same right.  

If you honestly believes your religion justifies killing, start with yourself.  

Preferably in some excluded part of the woods or desert where your right to religious freedom doesn't intersect with my right to live.

November 5

Today is the day I set aside and remember the little girl, and her mother whose gift gave me my son back. Her heart beats in my son's body and has kept him strong and healthy for almost 11 years now. Today would have been Breanna's birthday. 

Her mother made the decision to donate her daughter's heart, in the midst of suffering no one but a mother could understand. 

I'll never forget her saying, that the reason she did it was because it was "the right thing to do."  She also didn't hesitate. She said yes. 

I have to pause sometimes and think about the enormity of that. 

It's impossible for me to imagine what our lives would have been like without our son, Jordan. 

I owe that gift to Breanna Maree and her heroic mother, Nikki. She gave me back my son, when all the doctors around us said it would be impossible.  

Breanna Maree Loomis

11/5/2004 - 1/25/2005

1/26/2005

Our heart angel

Forever. 

Rest in peace, beautiful girl.