The new rules of the road

Traveling to southern Illinois with Allie this past weekend was quite a challenge. When we made the trip in April Allie was still small enough that she slept through a lot of it and was OK staying in the car seat. This time though, she was aware of her surroundings and did NOT like being in the car for 7 hours. Niether did we!

We learned that there are different rules of the road when traveling with a baby. This time I'm going to write them down so I can look at this post next time we're preparing to travel. In no particular order:

- No matter what, we will always bring way more stuff than necessary. She's definitely going to need half her toy box, right? This time I made sure to pack less clothing (we brought nearly her whole wardrobe last time), but we still brought way more than necessary.

- We need to learn how to pack the car effectively. Every time we stopped, we had to take a suitcase out of the back seat in order to get Allie out! Its inevitable: We will eventually need to buy that minivan.

- Allie will be happy in the car seat until she throws all her toys out of the car seat. Sometimes that would happen quickly, other times she'd hold on to the toys longer.

- Even if we only stop a few times, the normally 7-hour trip will be 11 hours.

- Instead of throwing extra stuff in random grocery bags, just pack Allie her own suitcase. That didn't really do much for decreasing the clutter in the car, but it was at least a bit more organized.

- The longer the trip, the more overrated sleep becomes. At least sometimes that means more time will be spent sleeping in the car.

- Last but not least, flexibility, flexibility, flexibility! I used to have a hard time with being flexible in planning. If there's one thing Allie has taught me, its to be flexible!

We had a great trip, highlighted by a night at a minor league baseball game, a great afternoon with friends that included a long whiffle ball game, lots of great time with Grandma and Grandpa and a visit with my best friend. We were all happy to be home and sleep in our own beds, but we look forward to the next visit!

Our little girl is growing up

Allie, at 10 months old, you are becoming one amazing little person. You are always moving, always talking, always happy. I'm looking toward your first birthday with a mix of excitement and sadness. I'm sad you are growing up but excited to see the person you will become.

Getting to know you

It seems like I'm really getting to know my baby. At first I thought it was because I'm spending more time at home with her, but if anything I might be spending less time at home, at least this month.

Then I realized there's just more of her to get to know. She's really getting playful. She will play on her own for short amounts of time. But then she'll cry out to get our attention. She's so clever. If Doug has the lap top on his lap, she will peer through the fold from under the computer. She likes to stand on her head now. Is it possible she'll turn a summersault before she learns to walk?

And she's getting so big. I'm getting out clothes in 12 to 18 months and some that are bigger than that! She's always jabbering and she's adding new syllables every day. Sometimes she repeats after us when we talk. She's so tall and she's eating all sorts of grown up foods. She enjoys chunks of peaches and pears as well as cottage cheese and regular cheese too. She doesn't like going to bed and will cry herself to sleep, but then she'll sleep two to three hours or sometimes more. Then she wakes up and cries for us and smiles the minute we enter the room. Our little girl is growing up we're really loving getting to know her.

Not the week I expected

Monday started out well enough. I got up early with Allie to let Doug sleep in a little. We played in the living room and when Doug got up I made blueberry pancakes, and we gave Allie some blueberries. After that I was going to go for a run. I couldn't think of a better way to start my week off than running around the arboretum mid-morning, just like I used to. I also wanted to have a better run than my 5K race on Saturday.

Well, I was having a great run. It seemed like it was going really quickly. I had started with a slower pace and gotten faster with each mile. I wanted to run 5, but was hoping I'd be up for 5.5. I was coming back intot the arb finishing mile 4 and struggling. I was managing to run through my struggles, when I fell. In that part of the arb I would usually switch between the road and the gravel on the side of the road. I don't know if I was going back to the gravel or I just tripped. But I tripped off the side of the road and sprained my ankle.

It hurt right away. But I was able to walk on it, which was good because I had to walk a mile and a half back to the car. Even if I'd had my cell phone with me, I also had the car, so Doug couldn't have rescued me. I guess it was the adrenaline. I knew that once I got off it, I wouldn't be able to keep walking. I was right.

When I started walking again, I was determined to finish my run. But I wouldn't be able to and the whole walk back I was just ticked off that I couldn't finish my run.

I took a spectacular spill. I'm surprised I didn't skin my face. I have skinned palms, elbows and a knee that hurt more than the ankle sometimes.

So I spent the first few days on the couch with my leg elevated and on ice and ibuprofin. Its better now. We were supposed to leave this morning for southern Illinois, but we decided to wait a day. I'm glad we can still go. It would have been disappointing to cancel.

This morning the clinic called and told me a radiologist had read my xray and there actually was a small fracture, but he or she wasn't sure if it was from this injury or an old one. Its feeling much better so I'm just functioning as normal. I won't run again until I see the doctor next week. It seems like every time I really get going, I have some sort of snag. But it could have been worse.

Surprise tooth

Last night, Doug and I noticed a new spot of white in Allie's mouth and thought it was a new tooth getting ready to cut. Well it turns out its a new tooth that not only had cut through, it was already a pretty decent size. That one sure worked fast because neither of us noticed it earlier in the day! Another surprise about this tooth is that it wasn't the one we thought would cut next. Allie has two bottom teeth and now two top teeth. But the top teeth aren't the middle two, they're the right, and then the one on the other side of the middle. But that one that's skipped is coming through soon because we do see the white of that one getting ready to make an appearance.

Just like her other top tooth, this new one was a surprise. I'm glad to note that teething hasn't been a problem for Allie at all. A few times we've had to give her some baby ibuprofin to help her feel better.

Allie's new ride

Like so many other things, Allie has just about outgrown the infant car seat. She's growing so fast. We've put it off for awhile. But this weekend, we got Allie her new convertible car seat. We tried it out this afternoon when we went grocery shopping and its looking like she likes it so far. 

This snazzy seat looks a lot more comfortable than the old one. And Allie will use this one until she weighs 65 pounds. She'll still sit rear facing for awhile, but she's higher now so she can see out the back window! She hasn't had any complaints about this seat. I think she quickly realized the comfort level and that we can get her in and out of this one quicker.  
 

Saturday when we came home from Babies 'R' Us was the last time she rode in her infant seat. She caught a few final zzzzzz's here and now the carrier is stored in the garage.  

Allie was a lot smaller the first time she rode in this car seat, Nov. 1, 2009 when our new family came home from the hospital.

Vacation!

The first day of vacation started early. We woke up at 5:15 for me to run the Madison Mini Marathon 5k, and for Daddy and Allie to watch. It wasn't a pretty race, but its done. A full recap is available here.

After working seven months, I am finally on vacation. Its my first paid vacation in two years. The week is filling up with activities, but there will be plenty of relaxation and sleeping in too.

Our big event this week will be our trip down to Southern Illinois to see Grandma and Grandpa Durso and also some good friends. It will be a fun visit because Allie has learned a lot of new tricks since Grandma and Grandpa last saw her.

We won't be leaving on that trip until Wednesday. Before that we want to have a family trip to the pool and we also plan on buying Allie her big girl car seat. I also have a few projects I'd like to get done. For a long time I've wanted to organize all the recipes I use the most into our own family cookbook. I'm hopeful I can get that started and maybe even finished this week. It would also be nice to update Allie's baby book and get the house fully babyproofed. I guess time will tell if those goals are too ambitious.

No matter what I get done or what I don't get done, it will be awfully nice have 5 paid days off from work.

Announcing my new, old blog

Today I am happy to announce that I have re-launched my running blog! I have so many running-related things I want to write about, but on this blog I'd rather concentrate on Allie and our family. So even though I condensed to one blog last year because it would be easier (and because I wasn't running), now I am going back to two.

There's a simple truth that really has guided me the last few months without my realizing it: I've had so many life changes in the last two years, but one thing has stayed the same. That one thing is running.

Click here check it out. Come back often to both blogs to see what we're up to!

Touchdown!

I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised by how quickly Allie learned "touchdown," considering Doug's been working constantly for the past few weeks to teach her. I don't know who's more excited...

My foray into food blogging

OK, I am so not a food blogger, but I wanted to share tonight's dinner.

I made beef stroganoff and sweet potatoes. I've never actually made sweet potatoes before and I wasn't sure how to cook them. Turns out you can boil them just like regular potatoes. It was really hard to cut them though!

Anyway, the reason I'm proud of this meal is because I've branched out and made something I've never made before, that is better for us than regular potatoes (aren't they?) and because Allie had almost the same dinner as us.

I took some sweet potatoes out, mashed them up, and stuck them in the freezer to cool them quick for Allie to eat. She loved them.

We've been trying the non-pureed versions of food Allie likes. So far she's had peaches and the sweet potatoes. Both have been successful. Other new foods high on Allie's list are cottage cheese, regular cheese, blueberries and scrambled eggs. I've also heard that she's had some bread and a muffin at daycare. I'm having a lot of fun introducing these new foods to her! A few weeks ago I was intimidated by expanding Allies' food horizons, but its actually a lot of fun. We have yet to really have success with meats, but I've heard those can be a challenge.

Here's our finished product. It makes me wish I had the time and/or motivation to cook like this more often. Its not even like it was a hard meal!

The light bulb turned on

This week its like the light bulb turned on in Allie's head. She's growing up, but the change I'm seeing in her lately isn't in her body, its in her mind. She's so much more aware. When Doug or I walk into the room, she smiles at us. It seems she sees us as "mama" and "dada" now as she's looked at both of us a few times and actually said the corresponding name. On Sunday morning when I got up, Allie and Doug were already downstairs. When she saw me, she immediately smiled and crawled over to see me. It melted my heart.

She's becoming more playful and so much fun. We jokingly say that she's like the dog, and doesn't it look that way from this picture? It looks like Allie is going to go fetch too! She's becoming a handful and we have to be vigilant about keeping her out of places she doesn't belong.

Allie is always jabbering, laughing and smiling. She is never in a bad mood, except when we do something she doesn't like! Along with her new awareness comes temper tantrums. They happen a lot when we put her on the changing table.

Putting Allie to bed has become a chore some nights, though it seems if we wait a bit past when she gives her sleep signs, she's so exhausted that she'll just go to sleep. Doug put her to bed on Sunday night when I was gone and told of this horrible screaming she did for over an hour. I didn't believe him until I heard it myself when I put Allie in the crib so I could run a bath. Yikes!

So we've got the good and the bad coming out, but mostly the good. As Doug and I have said many times as the months have progressed, she's not just a lump anymore!

Big girl pajamas

I found out this week that 12 months isn't an infant size, its a toddler! We have a toddler now! And our toddler wore her first big girl pajamas tonight.

So THAT'S where we left the baby

When Allie crawled behind the loveseat last night, Doug's first reaction was he didn't know how to get her out. Mine? Get the camera!

Playing hooky

On Monday my good friend Jen and her daughter came to visit. They stayed until Wednesday morning and while there were times of complete chaos, it was a lot of fun. It was also way too short.

I took Tuesday off work and we all went to the zoo. It was really hot, but still a really great time. Allie and I can't wait to do it again, but maybe it could be a little cooler next time.

Are you ready for some football?

The Dursos are!

I'm not too interested in preseason games, but Doug is. He's been counting down to today's Hall of Fame game for weeks. And he's working to get Allie excited too. We're already working on getting her to do "touchdown!" She actually did it right as I was taking her up to bed tonight.

Furlough Friday

As a state employee, I get 8 unpaid days off per year as part of the effort to cut the state budget. While the "unpaid" part stinks, the day off does not. Today Allie spent part of the day in daycare so I could get a few things done by myself, and then I picked her up and we had a mommy and Allie fun time. We decided to go to Olbrich Botanical Gardens.

Doug and I had our wedding reception there nearly three years ago, and I hadn't been back since! So after running an errand near that part of town, I decided we'd head over there. Above, Allie was fascinated by the (unpictured) fountain.

And she really enjoyed seeing this duck, who came up to explore us!

They have a really neat Thai garden with a pavilion and reflecting pools. Its a neat place that is electronically protected with lasers at night, according to a sign at the entrance. From Olbrich's Web site:

"The pavilion was a gift to the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the Thai Government and the Thai Chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association. UW-Madison has one of the largest Thai student populations of any U.S. college or university."

Interesting. Allie didn't seem to care for the pavilion, but she liked the pool. Then she got hungry, and then after eating, both mommy and Allie were hot and tired. So we went to join daddy for drinks:

She's getting pretty good at drinking from a cup!

She's quite the eater

I've constantly felt like we've been behind ever since Allie started on solid foods. We get one thing down and then its time for something else. First it was cereal and then we got the veggies and fruits. Then it was time to get some finger foods, then dairy and now meats! She's become a fan of the finger foods and we just started meat with a turkey dinner yesterday.

Since you're only supposed to introduce one new food at a time, there's still plenty of new foods in line.

Now Allie can start eating a lot of what we eat. The only requirements are that it should be small enough and soft enough and/or dissolve in her mouth. And of course, not with extra sugar and salt, etc. I've tried thinking of our meals in terms of what Allie could have from them and its quite the foreign concept.

I have a hard enough time sometimes planning a menu for those of us in the house who don't have to have food pureed, so to incorporate Allie's meals will be a challenge. We're up for it though. In a couple months she'll switch from formula to cow's milk. The groceries each week will be cheaper as we get her more of our food, which is a great incentive to get to work. Too bad I have no idea what to start with.

Not so little anymore

At 9 months old, here is the proof that Allie is standing! She will stand on her own, start to fall and get back up without pulling herself! She was standing a lot today. I'm sure she'll walk early and while I'm excited, I'm dreading it a little too.

Our little girl isn't so little anymore. Today at her 9-month check-up, she weighed 21 pounds, 13 ounces, exactly 13 pounds over her birth weight and almost 3 and a half pounds over her weight three months ago. She's 28 inches tall. We were also happy to find out that she is not anemic. I thought she wasn't drinking enough formula, so I thought this was a possibility. Turns out, her formula intake is just fine and so is her iron level. Allie is perfect.

July in review: Back to earth

Consistency is key! This month I ran 33.2 miles. Thats .6 more miles than my previous distance record, so now I have a new record! I did this with one run of 4 miles and many more of 2 and 3. I started with just 1 mile at a time at the end of June. I've definitely learned the consistency is key and I've also figured out how to gain that consistency. I run early in the morning before work and I really like it.

July: 33.2 miles, 7:31:06
March: 32.6 miles, 7:35:19
Its interesting to me that I ran more, but in less time. In March I was training for the half marathon, and running inconsistently and more miles at each run. It sheds some light on why I had shin splint problems!

After my shin splints I decided to train to run without walking breaks. Its a challenge but I keep surpassing my goals. Its not as hard as I thought it would be. Sure, I could head out right now and probably run 6 miles with some run/walk intervals, but thats what has lead to problems with my shins, achilles tendons and feet.

My weekly workouts are usually a spin class Monday at 5:30 a.m., runs Wednesday and Friday running whenever I can get out the door after 5 a.m., and then a "long" run Sunday afternoonish. That schedule went a little haywire this last week and I did a little too much. So as a result, I'm pulled back down to earth with a little shin pain. I cheated and ran two days in a row and I also realized that I'd skipped proper stretching after runs, both things that led to the shin pain. I'm still undecided about running today.

I'm looking into some races and also some training plans. I need the structure of a training plan to keep that shin pain at bay. I'm also working to find a good day and time to add a fifth workout to my week.

As we enter August, I'm happy that my sore back has been getting a lot better. I've been seeing the chiropractor for two months now and finally in the last few weeks its been paying off. He's been adjusting other spots in the middle of my spine in addition to my SI joint. In addition, I have core exercises that I've been working on for a couple weeks. I'm really starting to notice my core and my posture more. I know the root of my problem is that I don't have any core strength left.

Doug and I are both doing better on eating well and working out. We're more used to our crazy schedule and actually cooking dinner and taking lunch. I lost 3 pounds in July. Its not much, but its a start. I'm trying to make meals with more variety and also to make meals that we can divide and freeze for another time. I've done that with a few dishes and it works really well.

As I wrote Friday, Allie just keeps growing. She has her 9-month check up tomorrow. We always love finding out her stats! She's started wearing some 12-month clothes. Its bittersweet as she grows. I'm excited for the things we can do with her as she gets older, but I want her to stay small forever! We're slowly babyproofing the house. We've moved a lot of stuff out of the living room, but that just exposes more things we don't want Allie to get.

Life is good here in the Durso house. It was really tough going for so long, it feels weird that things are good. I know that could change at any time, but for now I'll just be content!

Goals for August:
-Keep that consistency in running! Find a training plan so I don't hurt myself.
-Increase my long run to 5 miles. I think the best way to do this will be to add half a mile to my long run every other week.
-Add a fifth workout to the week. The most logical times are Thursday evening or Saturdays. I want that fifth workout to be cross training of some sort. Its awhile before I'll try adding a fourth run to the week.
-Find more variety for our dinners and also more multi-use meals.
-Finish babyproofing so that we don't have to worry so much about chasing Allie!