Great weekend

On Friday night we hosted a party to watch the debates. It was super casual and about five families attended. What was so nice was the 13 year old girls across the street baby sat a group of five kids and two babies (her mom was home too), so they were out of our hands for a good 1 1/2 hours. The kids came back over after the debates and it was chaos for the next hour. We had a lot of fun with our grown up friends talking politics and drinking wine.

On Saturday, I went to yoga and then we went to Gabe's friend Ry's 3rd birthday party. For the next month and a half we have at least one birthday a weekend. Its amazing how all of Gabe's friends are within a month of his birthday.

On Sunday, we went to the pool and Gabe began swimming underwater for the first time. He was so proud of himself. Kevin is great about showing him things and then Gabe will mimic. I have to say that Gabe is a super cautious kid, you can't push him to do anything, and that is why classes have not worked. Leading by example seems to be the best approach with swimming, and probably everything else that has to do with raising kids. On Sunday afternoon, after Gabe's nap, his friend Rulian came over for a playground visit, mini-soccer game, and some dinner. It was good to catch up with Rulian's dad, Rafter too!

San Francisco!

Cable car ride

Exploratorium
I love this picture!

Gabe the rock star.

Last weekend, the Mathis family headed up to San Francisco for business and pleasure. On Friday, I had a work meeting so Kevin and Gabe played at a nearby public market (lots of food and kids rides and a ball room) and the hotel pool. The rest of the trip we toured San Francisco. Leslie met us for the day and showed us all the sites: a cable car ride, North Beach for lunch, a hike up Coit Tower, tons of bus rides (for Gabe), the occasional playground, and finally the Marina District where we walked around the Exploratorium and went to the beach. Above are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip. The last one is really weird. A group of about 10 Asians wanted their picture taken with a blond haired mom and her daughter, and then they saw Gabe and wanted a picture with him. Must bring luck? Leslie and I ran up after the picture and said, "We want our picture taken too!" I guess you had to be there.

Quality time

It has been a great week so far. On Monday, Gabe went to preschool. Let's just say he wasn't as happy to be there as he was on Friday. Kevin dropped him off and said it was painful. His teacher Katrin said that he was fine the rest of the day, just cried when his dad left. She reassured us that it would get better each time that he came. I hope it is a quick transition because I have to drop him off on Friday and when that kid cries for me, it's like someone is ripping my heart out through my stomach. These are not normal cries either. They are packed with tearing words like, "Mommy, can you hear me? Mommy, please answer me. Please don't leave me here mommy." It takes every ounce of will power that I have not to rush in there, pick him up and say, "we're done." I have been assured that every kid in his class has done the same thing at first and that in a month, he will be crying when he has to go home. A whole month? Kevin and I love the school and feel like it is a good combination of organized play with learning. The teachers are so loving and I've heard that they will even come to your house and babysit so that Gabe can get used to them a little faster. While Gabe was in school, I got to work a full five hours and it felt great. Kevin and I agreed that I spend close to 160 hours a week with Gabe - so 10 hours a way from me isn't going to scar him for life. Can you tell I'm still trying to convince myself of this? The cool thing is, I get SO much done while he is at school that when we are together, it is full on Gabe and mom quality time. I don't have to sneak away to the computer because I have some work...its all about Gabe. So Tuesday and Wednesday have been chocked full of fun times together.

On Tuesday, we spent the morning at the zoo with friends. Here is Gabe on the skyride. Which we had to ride twice. He is really into the monkeys (as usual), the lizards, and the Galápagos tortoises (on your mark, get set, go!).


Today, we went to playschool and the theme was textures. We did rubs of fish and dinosaurs with different stickers and materials. He loved this craft. We are off to buy some stensils tomorrow. The lady who hosted was so creative. She made triangle shaped crayons using ice cube trays and melted old crayon nubs. They were colorful and the perfect shape for the kids. Here is a picture of the kids' artwork. Gabe's is the bottom left (says the proud mama bear). Afterwards, we stayed at the playground for a long, long time. Gabe was worn out when we got home and took a three hour nap (ok, we took a three hour nap). And later tonight I will pay for it during a date with my little friend, insomnia.

Finally, here are a few pictures taken from the last two weekends. A week ago, we went to a friends birthday party at the train museum park. The theme was "Thomas" - duh. We went on mutiple train rides. Then last weekend we went to a friends birthday brunch. Gabe was busy as usual, transporting goods from one end of the house to the other (sorry Elaine)...in Mickey Mouse ears.

A family that swims together...

Kevin, Gabe and I went to the pool today. Gabe is doing great on the kick board - check out his balance. He is also swimming to daddy short distances (a mixture of on top of and under the water) and loves jumping off the side. After the pool, we went out for sushi and then napped. Tonight we'll do dinner and a movie. It was a fun, hot day.

Gabe's 1st day of preschool

Oh my gosh. How flippin cute is Gabe with his lunch box - all ready for school?? Can you believe that this kid is not even three? He looks so grown up.

Today is Gabe's first big day at preschool. I was so worried that he would have problems with me leaving but he didn't. I stayed for about 30 minutes while he played, told him that I was going, he gave me a kiss and I said bye. He looked at me as I was walking out the door and then continued playing with the newly discovered trains. I know it won't always be this easy (especially once he realizes that I'm not coming right back) but he'll be fine. The teachers were very attentive and even though they were speaking German, he seemed to understand how to put his lunch in his cubby and going to the potty. We're off to a good start. Now I don't know what to do with myself!

I guess Sam and I are off for a private date and then I'll get some work done. Wow, three consecuative hours to concentrate on my work - unheard of.

A girl’s best friend…

Can change throughout her life. Maybe it’s your husband, or your mom or sister. Maybe you have a girl best friend that you grew up with or met in college, or maybe it’s a guy. And if you’re lucky enough (or crazy enough), maybe you have the gift of also having a canine for your best friend. My doggie best friend is a gal named Sam – also known as Sammy Sam Sam (best said in a baby voice like “thammy, tham, tham”), or Sam-a-lama-ding-dong, the Saminator, and of course, Samonila.

Recently, my best girl friend Carey, told me some sad news about her female German Shepherd, Cydney (Cyd and Sam are also best friends). Cydney has a condition called Degenerative Myelopathy (DM). It primarily affects the GS breed and is very similar to Multiple Sclerosis in humans – although typically affecting the back legs only. After Carey sent me information on the symptoms, I realized that my Sammy has it too – only to a lesser extent than Cydney. In the morning, when Sam first gets up, she walks like a newborn colt on her back legs. They seem unstable, almost like they aren’t doing what her brain is telling them to do. When lying down, her legs get crossed and she has a difficult (if not impossible) time getting them uncrossed to stand. She uses her front legs to do most of the work going up stairs and to help her get to a standing position from lying down. It’s hard to watch and I can’t help but think about the inevitable. But that is the difficult part about loving a dog - defining that inevitability. With humans, we have personal choices or living wills. We can stay hooked up to a machine for years if we or a loved one wants us to. For pets, this is much less acceptable. So we are forced to decide when their “quality of life” is no longer sufficient to keep them alive. And it is the choices that we make during this remaining time with our aging or ailing friends that separates many pet owners.

Carey is at one end of the spectrum. Since she and her husband can’t afford the visits to the doggie neurologist, water therapy, specific diet and supplements required to keep her healthy for as long as possible, she has started making and selling jewelry. She sells the jewelry to coworkers (she’s an occupational therapist), to her friends, and has even created a web site devoted to selling jewelry for Cyd’s enhanced quality of life. Carey bought Cyd an above ground swimming pool (and her two girls love it too), so she could give her daily water therapy. She decided that if and when Cydney’s back legs go, she will get her a doggie wheelchair and together, she and I will pimp it out to the fullest. And for this, I truly love my friend. I forget who I was telling this story to, but the response was, “I just don’t get why people spend so much time, money and energy on prolonging a pet’s life for such a short amount of time, and plus the dog can’t be happy in a wheelchair.” This is a different part of the spectrum. And this is where I disagree. Dogs know no self-pity. They do not feel embarrassed in a wheelchair, or missing a leg or two legs, they just adapt and move forward. They are the definition of resilience. Also, if you consider the length of a large dog’s life – 14 years if you’re lucky – adding 6 months through preventative diet and exercise, extends their life by 3.5%. That’s about 3 years to us humans (based on U.S. average of 82 years). I can’t remember if the respondent was a personal pet owner or a family pet owner. But I think there is sometimes a difference.

You see, Sam is my dog. I got her when she was 8 weeks old, and she’s 12 ½ - still sassy by GS standards. I raised her all by myself. I calmed her puppy yelps and house-trained her in 21 days, just like the book said I would. I rode my bike to class, rode home and let her out, rode back to class, rode home again and let her out, and then rode to work. I missed weekend trips with my friends, because I had a pup to take care of. She was my first commitment, my first baby. Sam has been with me through 2 breakups, 5 roommates (not including Kevin and Gabe), a thesis dissertation (not a pretty time), a marriage, and the birth of our child. She brought me and Carey together as best friends – through our love of German Shepherds. She rode across country with me - head out the window (hers not mine), marked her territory in 11 states, and ate and threw up wheat in Kansas. She started a new home with me and Kevin on the opposite side of the country from the only home we had ever known. She’s known me longer than my husband. She loves me like no other. She is mine and I am hers. And at this very moment, she is my own personal foot warmer.

I am not saying that I love my dog more than you family pet owners love your pets. I am just saying that Sam and I have shared things, personal parts of my life that no one else has. She has been present and helped define chapters of my life. And that makes our bond strong and my commitment level high.

And for the reasons listed above, and more, I will do whatever it takes – long, slow walks, special garlic, ginger, and veggie enhanced diets, extra trips to the vet, swim therapy, get a second job - and spend whatever it takes to keep my doggie best friend alive and well, for as long as possible.

So let's go on a walk Sam. What's that, girl? You want to go to Starbucks? Oh, all right. If you insist.

Gabe is sick again

Poor Gabe has another fever. It was just last month that he had a cold and mystery fever at the end of the cold. Now the fever is paired with a sore throat. I took him to the doctor today to get a strep culture. His tonsils were quite swollen. I hate it when my baby doesn't feel well. He starts preschool on Friday so I am hoping it is a passing thing and all will be better by the end of the week.

Today we went to Costco and I broke down and bought him an "illness gift." He didn't even ask for it. I just felt so sorry for him - all lethargic in the shopping cart - that I had to buy him a new truck. He played with it all day so it was totally worth it.

I taught my class tonight and really like my students this semester. A lot of different professions being represented so I get to learn from them too.

Wish us luck on the fast healing.