August Update for Daniel

Friends!

What happened to August? It just kind of flew by without any updates at all. And while we have lots to tell, we just never got around to posting it. Hopefully we haven't lost the whole audience over this. There is an RSS feed off this page which would get you alerted when there are updates - might be easier than checking here on a daily basis.

Anyway - we're not a technology blog, we're a diary. So the highlights of August for Daniel first, then Rachel in a separate posting, because frankly after a month of silence, there's just so much to say that it's overwhelming.

Here at the end of August, Daniel started back at playschool. Here he is on the first day, ready to go back. He gets to keep one teacher (Ms. Pam) while also getting a new one (Ms. Julie). By the end of the first week, he'd earned stickers for memorization, so he's on the right track.

Speaking of stickers, in August Daniel earned his way to a new firetruck that he'd really wanted. To do so, he had to earn 5 stickers each in the categories of "Getting himself dressed", "Cleaning up the toys", "being nice to his sister" and "Following instructions". It took him about a week to do so, but he got there, and was pretty proud of his achievement, so we'll be bringing this activity back.

Ah yes - Houston. Easily the most exciting thing that happened this month. Around the middle of the month, Anida and the kids went down to Houston to visit Grandma Babe, the Aunts, the Cousins and the Pastas for 5 days while Eric stayed back home. The trip there was uneventful, and Daniel was very helpful in the airport and on the plane. Visiting the Pastas was nice, with a trip to a waterpark. Daniel got to attend a car race that his cousin Brayden raced in and played with his cousins Kayla and Chloe.


About 45 minutes into the flight back from Houston, Daniel had a fever spike, and with it another seizure. With the medication we've been carrying since the last time, Anida was able to get things under control, but his fever was high enough that the nurse onboard and the medical ground staff recommended that the plane land in Oklahoma City. And so they did - for just long enough to take Daniel (by then aware enough that he noted the firefighters there to help him off the plane) Anida and Rachel off the plane and over to the OU medical center. (which is not nearly as nice as the Denver one -> choose Denver for your emergency room visits if you're offered a chance).

They spent the night and most of the next day there, before getting on a flight home about 24 hours later. The employees of Frontier airlines couldn't have been friendlier, more concerned or accommodating - it was really quite amazing. Kudos to Frontier. Lesson learned from this is to also carry Tylenol suppositories to control fever during a seizure. Had we had those, the landing could have been averted.




























Once back in Denver, Grandpa and Farmor came over for a visit. Everyone was well enough that we continued with the original plan of going up to the mountains. We rented a cabin at Piney River Ranch outside of Vail (also where we got married) and spent 4 days relaxing with a little bit of rowing, pony-riding, hiking, moosewatching and general outdoorsiness going on. Was a great time.

Daniel is still amazingly quick with language, picking up little snippets of conversation and using them himself. (this is good AND bad). He's just a bright kid all around. His appetite almost always seems smaller than it ought to be, but he's still active and no kid ever starved themselves, so everyone tells us to relax.

We've seen some whining/sniveling/"No" behavior in the last month or so. Nothing unusual, just atypical for Daniel. It hasn't really lasted long, and as long as he gets a nap in the afternoon, he's a charmer most of the time. He doesn't always get along with his sister (inevitably he wants to play with the toy she has, or doesn't want to share the one he has), but he truly loves her - if she's crying for some reason, he'll go over to her, give her a hug and try to make her feel better.

And so, while August came and went without a posting, it's not like we're giving up on the blog. Hope you haven't either. Best wishes.

A.D.R.E.