I mentioned the Chinese DVD's which we use with our kids. You could start kids as young as 1 on these DVD's I think.
Journeys to the East, The River Dragon King (games and activities at www.mandarinadvantage.com
Early Start Mandarin Chinese with Bao Bei the Panda (several volumes, all good)
Let's Go Guange
We also watch Ni Hao, Kai Lan and have her movie about traveling to China.
We started Chinese because we were scheduled to move to Singapore. That move was canceled, but we are keeping up with the Chinese. Basically, if you want your kids to learn a second language, there are great dvd's for just about all of them. A recent article in the New York Times highlighted new studies about people who speak two languages fluently. Among other benefits, these dual language speakers developed an increased ability to think creatively and problem-solve.
Another great resource we found for Alex has been a website called www.abilitations.com. This site has all kinds of tools for kids with myriad disabilities. We found an awesome weight for Alex's left hand which is basically a glove full of beans that attaches to either the back or front of his left hand, simply and easily. It means that whatever he does with lefty, he has added weight which will help build his arm and shoulder muscles. Also, the very fact that something is touching that hand seems to wake it up and remind it to move more throughout the day. Alex wears this thing for a good chunk of the day and doesn't complain too much.
And finally, on happiness...we were tipped off that this book might change our lives. It certainly has given us reason to examine how we live and our daily interactions and make some changes, that's for sure. I recommend it to anyone. The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Continued Progress
Alex was finally able to point with his left hand this morning, which means that his pointer finger is recovering from the seizures. It has been nearly 7 weeks since his seizures and still we are making our recovery. Alex is still exhausted in the afternoons, so we take our afternoon easy. I am a firm believer in setting up the kids for success, so we make the most of our mornings with Mommy School, our athletics and any errands that might require good behavior, and save the afternoons for quiet activities, long baths and cartoons.
Mommy School has been an incredible journey for all of us. Alex is thriving. Izzy is less than thrilled. Entertaining and educating two so different children has been a challenge. Alex has gone from being able to write only his name to writing all the big and small letters in the alphabet. Since he was already reading well, he is now able to write. We keep a daily journal, and it has inspired him to write full sentences. We have also started copy work, where he copies sentences from books or which I write on a dry erase.
After tapping maple trees at Grandma's, we created a How-To book about tapping maple trees, which we published via Apple on our computer. We also have hand created a book about our upcoming trip out west. We have studied Utah and Colorado and made pictures and text about the important things we wanted to study--the kinds of snakes and dangerous spiders, our rendition of the dinosaurs who roamed that area, etc. This we will bind with string and take with us.
One of the most incredible advances over the last 7 weeks has been the kids' Chinese language. We discovered several excellent DVD's which they love to watch, and both of them are speaking the words they are learning. I watch and study with the kids to keep up with them, although I can't remember even a fraction of what they remember.
Their math skills have also taken off. Alex does a page of addition, subtraction and multiplication every day, and Izzy is practicing counting, simple addition and writing her numbers.
Mommy School has been awesome. It has also been challenging. Alex has left his stage of pinching and now has full blown temper tantrums when he can't do things he wants to do. It is made all the harder because Izzy tries to help him, which just makes him madder. She is so physically capable and he sees her ease with everything. Learning to deal with these frustrations is difficult for all of us. We use a number of techniques to help Alex calm down and get back to his task. The best one is to stop everything and get some exercise. We have him run around our kitchen island or we all go out for a short run. We also gave him a soft frog to hug against his face when he is mad. We have tried counting to ten, folding his hands, etc. We realize a lot of 4-year olds go through this stage, and although Alex's situation is made harder due to his disabilities, we try to treat him with understanding but firmness. He needs to learn to deal with frustrations now, because it will only get harder as he gets older.
Most of all, we try to be happy every day. Teaching my kids how to find happiness is probably one of the most important things I can give them to set them up for a lifetime of happiness and success. We celebrate progress, we appreciate challenges, we run trails and along the beach and connect to nature, we think of ways to bring happiness to others, and we spend time with the people we love.
Mommy School has been an incredible journey for all of us. Alex is thriving. Izzy is less than thrilled. Entertaining and educating two so different children has been a challenge. Alex has gone from being able to write only his name to writing all the big and small letters in the alphabet. Since he was already reading well, he is now able to write. We keep a daily journal, and it has inspired him to write full sentences. We have also started copy work, where he copies sentences from books or which I write on a dry erase.
After tapping maple trees at Grandma's, we created a How-To book about tapping maple trees, which we published via Apple on our computer. We also have hand created a book about our upcoming trip out west. We have studied Utah and Colorado and made pictures and text about the important things we wanted to study--the kinds of snakes and dangerous spiders, our rendition of the dinosaurs who roamed that area, etc. This we will bind with string and take with us.
One of the most incredible advances over the last 7 weeks has been the kids' Chinese language. We discovered several excellent DVD's which they love to watch, and both of them are speaking the words they are learning. I watch and study with the kids to keep up with them, although I can't remember even a fraction of what they remember.
Their math skills have also taken off. Alex does a page of addition, subtraction and multiplication every day, and Izzy is practicing counting, simple addition and writing her numbers.
Mommy School has been awesome. It has also been challenging. Alex has left his stage of pinching and now has full blown temper tantrums when he can't do things he wants to do. It is made all the harder because Izzy tries to help him, which just makes him madder. She is so physically capable and he sees her ease with everything. Learning to deal with these frustrations is difficult for all of us. We use a number of techniques to help Alex calm down and get back to his task. The best one is to stop everything and get some exercise. We have him run around our kitchen island or we all go out for a short run. We also gave him a soft frog to hug against his face when he is mad. We have tried counting to ten, folding his hands, etc. We realize a lot of 4-year olds go through this stage, and although Alex's situation is made harder due to his disabilities, we try to treat him with understanding but firmness. He needs to learn to deal with frustrations now, because it will only get harder as he gets older.
Most of all, we try to be happy every day. Teaching my kids how to find happiness is probably one of the most important things I can give them to set them up for a lifetime of happiness and success. We celebrate progress, we appreciate challenges, we run trails and along the beach and connect to nature, we think of ways to bring happiness to others, and we spend time with the people we love.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The Road to Recovery
Alex is on the mend. Strangely, the seizures, or perhaps the medicines he took while in the hospital, have relaxed his left leg and allowed him to run with a smoother gait. I don't think I'm dreaming this, because Erik noticed it independently of me. We don't know if it will last, but it is allowing him to build some muscle strength in his lefty leg. His left hand is weaker than it was before the seizures, or maybe it's also just very relaxed. CP by definition is where the muscles are constantly engaged, and can't relax. So, with some relaxation, Alex's CP has decreased.
Rather than cast his right arm this spring (which is inconvenient, because we still have ski season and lots of swimming we like to do, and we are keep into our hand writing exercises in Mommy School), we using a glove for an hour at time, several times a day. I don't necessarily try to do therapy during that hour, just let Alex go through the normal activities of his day. The minute we glove rightly, lefty comes to life. He is definitely making a left brain to right brain switch, kind of like when you go from thinking in your native language to thinking in a foreign language--your brain does a shift. Alex is finally at an age where he understands he must wear the glove, and an hour is just short enough that he tolerates it. Anything longer would not work. Half hours work better when he's tired.
He is slowly regaining his strength and building stamina after the trauma of his seizures. And so am I. Adrenaline must actually do cell damage because my muscles continue to ache, and I have been knocked back about 2 months in my training. I don't think this is all mental. So, as Alex must do, so must I...be patient and slowly rebuild, physically and mentally. The weather is improving and on warm days we head to the trails, our favorite place to run. We also went back to the pool yesterday for our first swim session. Baby steps. That's what I always tell the kids, and now it applies to all of us. Baby steps, small incremental progress toward a larger goal.
Rather than cast his right arm this spring (which is inconvenient, because we still have ski season and lots of swimming we like to do, and we are keep into our hand writing exercises in Mommy School), we using a glove for an hour at time, several times a day. I don't necessarily try to do therapy during that hour, just let Alex go through the normal activities of his day. The minute we glove rightly, lefty comes to life. He is definitely making a left brain to right brain switch, kind of like when you go from thinking in your native language to thinking in a foreign language--your brain does a shift. Alex is finally at an age where he understands he must wear the glove, and an hour is just short enough that he tolerates it. Anything longer would not work. Half hours work better when he's tired.
He is slowly regaining his strength and building stamina after the trauma of his seizures. And so am I. Adrenaline must actually do cell damage because my muscles continue to ache, and I have been knocked back about 2 months in my training. I don't think this is all mental. So, as Alex must do, so must I...be patient and slowly rebuild, physically and mentally. The weather is improving and on warm days we head to the trails, our favorite place to run. We also went back to the pool yesterday for our first swim session. Baby steps. That's what I always tell the kids, and now it applies to all of us. Baby steps, small incremental progress toward a larger goal.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Inspiration
So, this is an ad, but it is inspiring. I often ask myself the question it poses, which is, "How strong am I?" Just strong enough? Or strong without measure...
http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_7I7iasuIdw%26feature%3Dpyv&feature=pyv&v=_7I7iasuIdw&gl=US
http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D_7I7iasuIdw%26feature%3Dpyv&feature=pyv&v=_7I7iasuIdw&gl=US
Monday, February 13, 2012
Seizures
Premature babies run a higher risk than term babies for all kinds of medical issues, from autism to ADHD. Last week, we discovered that Alex's prematurity, or perhaps the brain damage that resulted from that prematurity, has put him at risk for seizures. I suppose we should have assumed he was risk, but as he has been a relatively healthy boy for 4 years, we had never even considered the possibility.
Since Alex started going to preschool in June, he has been sick. Like all children who start school, the first year is a doozy with illnesses. I think this winter is worse than ever-I blame the unusually warm weather. Alex catches everything and recovers very slowly. His immune system is not as strong as his sister's and when he is sick, he won't eat, loses weight, and in general gets completely worn down. Apparently, the cumulative effect on his little body was to create the perfect opportunity for a seizure.
I won't go into the horror of finding Alex in his bed, post-seizure, looking as though he were taking his last breaths of life, or the terror of not knowing what had happened, so quietly, in the early hours of the morning when I was downstairs enjoying a cup of coffee. He seized for over 90 minutes, and we spent a lovely overnight in the Yale ICU. Five days have passed, and I still can't run. I was training about 12-15 hours/week for my upcoming ultra season, which begins in Utah on April 21. But when I try to take a step, everything hurts, especially my psyche. There is no pain like the pain you feel for your children.
It took Alex a long time to recover too. Fortunately, he remembers nothing of the event. It took him days to be able to sit up on his own, walk, talk...he's better today.
And poor Izzy, who witnessed her brother seizing, watched the medics take him away on a stretcher, then observed him plugged into machines and sucking on oxygen, and then had to stay alone at her Grandma's overnight, which she had previously made me promise I would not do to her--not because she doesn't love her Grandma, but because she gets so homesick to be anywhere without Alex. When we were all reunited, Izzy was shocked at the state Alex was in, and asked us repeatedly when he was going to be better.
When you are the family of a preemie, you wrap your arms around each other and face each new obstacle as it comes. Preemies don't just get better and move on. We can't live our every day in fear, but I'm sure there is an underlying sadness in Erik and my psyche that wasn't there when we got married. A friend of Erik's, whose wife and daughter have faced some serious health issues, commented to me the other day, "I know why you run so far. Like you, I need to see the sunrise every day."
Since Alex started going to preschool in June, he has been sick. Like all children who start school, the first year is a doozy with illnesses. I think this winter is worse than ever-I blame the unusually warm weather. Alex catches everything and recovers very slowly. His immune system is not as strong as his sister's and when he is sick, he won't eat, loses weight, and in general gets completely worn down. Apparently, the cumulative effect on his little body was to create the perfect opportunity for a seizure.
I won't go into the horror of finding Alex in his bed, post-seizure, looking as though he were taking his last breaths of life, or the terror of not knowing what had happened, so quietly, in the early hours of the morning when I was downstairs enjoying a cup of coffee. He seized for over 90 minutes, and we spent a lovely overnight in the Yale ICU. Five days have passed, and I still can't run. I was training about 12-15 hours/week for my upcoming ultra season, which begins in Utah on April 21. But when I try to take a step, everything hurts, especially my psyche. There is no pain like the pain you feel for your children.
It took Alex a long time to recover too. Fortunately, he remembers nothing of the event. It took him days to be able to sit up on his own, walk, talk...he's better today.
And poor Izzy, who witnessed her brother seizing, watched the medics take him away on a stretcher, then observed him plugged into machines and sucking on oxygen, and then had to stay alone at her Grandma's overnight, which she had previously made me promise I would not do to her--not because she doesn't love her Grandma, but because she gets so homesick to be anywhere without Alex. When we were all reunited, Izzy was shocked at the state Alex was in, and asked us repeatedly when he was going to be better.
When you are the family of a preemie, you wrap your arms around each other and face each new obstacle as it comes. Preemies don't just get better and move on. We can't live our every day in fear, but I'm sure there is an underlying sadness in Erik and my psyche that wasn't there when we got married. A friend of Erik's, whose wife and daughter have faced some serious health issues, commented to me the other day, "I know why you run so far. Like you, I need to see the sunrise every day."
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
40 on 40
This week, Erik turned 40. After much discussion about how to celebrate this achievement, Erik decided he wanted to run 40 miles. So on Saturday, we ran. Our course took us through the back roads and hills of Litchfield County, CT, which is notoriously hilly, and in January, it's cold. In fact, it was blizzarding.
For the first 20 miles, which covered about 1200 of elevation gain, we met less than a dozen cars, not a single snowplow and it was the morning was magical. We shuffled our way through inches of fresh snow, which made everyone stay inside, except us, spending a romantic day together doing what we love, running. By the second 20 miles, a flatter double loop around the Farmington River, every snowplow in the county was out, and what had been fluffy snow, with a decent grip and soft landing on the feet, because a slushy, slipper mess. Our shoes were soaked, blisters formed, and our quads aches as we slipped backward with every step. Amazingly, we kept it together emotionally, and enjoyed each other's company right up to the last minutes of the 10 hour day. I guess we were both in need of a long, quiet run. I was sore on Sunday, but ready to get back out there for another long workout, which was a good sign in terms of my ultra training. I think Erik took Sunday off, but he seemed in much better shape than I have seen him after any long run before.
Normally, I dislike the cold. I have recently been reading about Badwater, where temps reach over 120 degrees, and it is tempting me to train harder to be invited to this race someday. I remember running in Iraq in August, when evening temps went above 120 degrees. Back then I worried about kidney damage, but had no way of monitoring that, really. I just ran, and tried to monitor whether I was feeling faint. I never did. When training and racing in Louisville, KY last year, in a record hot summer, I never felt like I was overheating. I love running in hot, hot temps. But, I have learned to dress for the weather, so last weekend, running for 10 hours in 15 degree weather, I dressed well, covered all skin, and carried all of my food and water, and actually, it wasn't that bad. Freezing camelpak tubes required frequent drinking, and that probably aided in my hydration. I have also recently discovered that wearing your hair in braids at your ears helps keep them warm. Still next year, our 41 on 41 will probably take place someplace warm.
For the first 20 miles, which covered about 1200 of elevation gain, we met less than a dozen cars, not a single snowplow and it was the morning was magical. We shuffled our way through inches of fresh snow, which made everyone stay inside, except us, spending a romantic day together doing what we love, running. By the second 20 miles, a flatter double loop around the Farmington River, every snowplow in the county was out, and what had been fluffy snow, with a decent grip and soft landing on the feet, because a slushy, slipper mess. Our shoes were soaked, blisters formed, and our quads aches as we slipped backward with every step. Amazingly, we kept it together emotionally, and enjoyed each other's company right up to the last minutes of the 10 hour day. I guess we were both in need of a long, quiet run. I was sore on Sunday, but ready to get back out there for another long workout, which was a good sign in terms of my ultra training. I think Erik took Sunday off, but he seemed in much better shape than I have seen him after any long run before.
Normally, I dislike the cold. I have recently been reading about Badwater, where temps reach over 120 degrees, and it is tempting me to train harder to be invited to this race someday. I remember running in Iraq in August, when evening temps went above 120 degrees. Back then I worried about kidney damage, but had no way of monitoring that, really. I just ran, and tried to monitor whether I was feeling faint. I never did. When training and racing in Louisville, KY last year, in a record hot summer, I never felt like I was overheating. I love running in hot, hot temps. But, I have learned to dress for the weather, so last weekend, running for 10 hours in 15 degree weather, I dressed well, covered all skin, and carried all of my food and water, and actually, it wasn't that bad. Freezing camelpak tubes required frequent drinking, and that probably aided in my hydration. I have also recently discovered that wearing your hair in braids at your ears helps keep them warm. Still next year, our 41 on 41 will probably take place someplace warm.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
2012: The Year of Adventure
Every January our family chooses a moto for the year. 2012 is our year of adventure! Whether planning more trips to the Y to swim, or heading out west for spring ultra training, we are making more of an effort than ever to enjoy travel and adventure together as a family.
Travel is an education. We started traveling at a young age with our children and they still talk about what they have learned from trips we have taken as a family. I am amazed at how the kids grow when they have hands-on, real world, new life experiences. Not only do they learn about regional animals, cultures and cuisines, geography and languages, they have become more curious about the world around them. Since much of our travel so far has been based around my ultra training and racing, they also have fallen in love with trail running (where most of the training and racing takes place). This year, we head to Utah and Colorado, which will include two major ultras, a 50K and a 50 miler. Alex is already talking about how he can't wait to do some awesome trail running as a family.
Running is one of the best therapies we have done with Alex. He has strengthened his left leg, improved his balance, worked out his frustrations, and has fallen in love with the feeling of movement through space. And always, Izzy is by his side. Trail running is tougher for both kids, because the terrain is more uneven. I may try to have Alex wear light gloves this year, so that when he falls, he will have some protection on his hands, which often take the brunt of the fall. Many athletes in the X-Terra races wear half gloves to protect their hands--that's where I got the idea. We'll give it a try.
Travel is an education. We started traveling at a young age with our children and they still talk about what they have learned from trips we have taken as a family. I am amazed at how the kids grow when they have hands-on, real world, new life experiences. Not only do they learn about regional animals, cultures and cuisines, geography and languages, they have become more curious about the world around them. Since much of our travel so far has been based around my ultra training and racing, they also have fallen in love with trail running (where most of the training and racing takes place). This year, we head to Utah and Colorado, which will include two major ultras, a 50K and a 50 miler. Alex is already talking about how he can't wait to do some awesome trail running as a family.
Running is one of the best therapies we have done with Alex. He has strengthened his left leg, improved his balance, worked out his frustrations, and has fallen in love with the feeling of movement through space. And always, Izzy is by his side. Trail running is tougher for both kids, because the terrain is more uneven. I may try to have Alex wear light gloves this year, so that when he falls, he will have some protection on his hands, which often take the brunt of the fall. Many athletes in the X-Terra races wear half gloves to protect their hands--that's where I got the idea. We'll give it a try.
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