Yesterday Angela had surgery on her leg. To avoid a detailed description, her veins need help. Christina stayed with a sitter while Angela and I went to the UofM. Everything went well. We are hoping this takes care of the pain.

Christina has been a daddy's girl for the last few weeks. When we came home it was hugs and kisses for me and right to mommy.

Christina is doing wonderful in school. She is much more social and enjoys being around other kids. It is amazing how children act and react around Christina. Many parents and other adults need a good slap up-side the head.

We had an appointment for Christina with Dr. Taniguchi on Oct. 23. The appointment went well, the drive we still need to work on. Phenol blocks and Botox are scheduled for December. An eye appointment is scheduled on Nov. 20 with Dr. Engle and the dentist in Dec.

I am doing better than I have been. Angela and my relationship hit a rough spot. We are back on track and both of us are working on staying that way.

It is time for coffee.

Snow Biz 2010 is on January 30th. For more info or to get involved call 715-832-1782.

The photo shoot for Christina went well. As soon as I made it to Zacho's, Christina saw me and she was a daddy's girl. I did not have the opportunity to meet everyone there and thank them. Things happened very fast and I was trying to get a grasp on everything. Next thing I know the pictures are done.

Angela made everyone smile as she imitated a chicken to get Christina to smile. She turned several shades of red. If Christina smiled and had her head up, it was worth it.

I will post pictures when I get my hands on some.

I can give everyone the quick update on what has been going on.

Christina is a featured child for UCP. Yeah Christina!!! We will be going to as many UCP activities as we can. Today is a photo shoot for Snow Biz. I am unsure of the date and will post about all the events I can with details, when, where, etc.

Christina has been sick the last few days. Runny nose and feeling kinda blah. Overall her mood has been good. School is going very well and she is making a lot of progress.

Support your local UCP. For us the site is www.ucpwcw.org. Or, you can go to www.ucp.org for the national site.

Today we went to the United Cerebral Palsy Picnic. The picnic was held at the Lake Altoona pavilion. We had a lot of fun.

Christina was a daddy's girl today. We'll get into that later. Christina and I walked, picked out the color of nail polish for Angela, threw balls, and joined the group with music. Christina was on my shoulders as the kids and a few of us adults danced in a circle together. We also sang lead by one of the UCP kids. We also took part in the cake walk. Christina really enjoyed bouncing around as we went in a circle. She was not fond of stopping when they called a number. We came home with quite a few treats.

Dinner was delicious and Christina ate well. At first she had issues when Angela sat down by us, then she decided it was mommy time and Angela had to feed her.

As dinner wound down and the raffle started, Christina's lack of nap caught up with her and she started to get whiny. We left shortly after that.

I'd like to say thank you to United Cerebral Palsy of Western Wisconsin(UCP).

For the reference about Christina being a daddy's girl. I went to Corey's bachelor party yesterday. I left around 08:30, stopped home to shower when she was napping and then came home at 03:00 this morning. Christina seemed to have missed me and made it known she wanted daddy today.

Another thanks goes to Angela, she went out last night also and did not get much sleep either. Angela got up this morning with Christina and let me sleep. Thank you honey!!!

Christina and I went to the Date With Dad scavenger hunt hosted by the Eau Claire Area School District Head Start/Early Learning Programs, the Family Resource Center, and Western Dairyland Head Start.

It was fun. Christina had a great time while we hunted for nature items in the park. She also thought it was hilarious to take my name tag off and throw it on the ground. We found all sorts of stuff, like a flower, mushroom, spider web, and a squirrel.

We also touched the water in the creek. Christina did very well reaching for the water by herself.

The next outing is at the apple orchard.

Christina and I had some disagreements today. She would not eat breakfast for me nor lunch. We went for a short walk.

For nap time I opted to hold her and sit in the chair. It has been along time since we sat together to relax Christina is asleep on my lap now, I'm tired, and I can't sleep.

Daddy and Christina cuddle time, I can go without sleep for that.

Yesterday Angela and I met with Barb from UCP. Barb stops by every week or two to go over things we encounter while parenting Christina. Barb asked if Christina would be a spokes person for UCP. Her pretty smile will be on various brochures and on the telethon.

Christina and I also went to the park yesterday. We wore each other out. Lots of walking. Then we had an ice cream sandwich for a snack when we came home.

This morning the little squirt was up at 04:30. I think she had a bad dream.

Off to work I go.

Where to start with updates...

Christina had her first day of school on 09/08/2009, it went well. She was great up until she had to sit in her kid cart towards the end. Not surprising she did not like it, she does not like it at home anymore either.

Tomorrow brings Christina's second day. She is going Mondays and Tuesdays for now. By end of year, up to four days.

Angela and Christina saw Karleen at the park today. They had a nice visit.

Angela found some small cups with handles and a straw that is just the right size for Christina. Christina is able to hold on to them by herself and bring the straw to her mouth and drink. We are very proud of her.

As I type, I can hear Christina in her room still talking and crying. She does not want to sleep tonight. Angela is already in bed and I think it is close to time for me too. It has been a long weekend.

Christina has been very talkative lately too. We sing, say the alphabet, count, say words, and make funny noises together. She enjoys being more vocal, I think she likes to hear herself talk.

There are more things to tell everyone and I can't think. It is time to call it a night.

Soon I will have the page done to be able to see all of the pictures we have of Christina.

Christina had her first haircut today. She sat very well with no tears. Her curls really show now.

Evan and Cole came over today also. We had fun. Evan and I baked cookies. Christina and I played hide and seek with them. Christina had a lot of fun. She did not want to stop. Christina even was quiet when we were hiding. And, she counted with me.

It was a full house and a lot of fun.

Derek

Well, it has been very busy and stressful here. I'll start with the update for Angela so the update on Christina makes more sense.

After several tests and trips to the U of M, Angela finally had surgery on her leg. The docs needed to do more work than anticipated once inside. Needless to say, Angela is in pain. She is following orders and staying off her leg and keeping it up. Late Monday afternoon her ankle bulged and and became very painful. We went to the ER and called her surgeon at U of M. It is bleeding inside and swelled around the area. Lots of pain and not much to do except put more pressure on it. Angela is healing and wishing it would go faster. Being in this position is frustrating for Angela.

Christina has developed more of an attitude since about a week before Angela's surgery. She wants mommy, and only mommy. We think she is very aware of Angela's feelings and wants to console mommy.

With Angela not able to play with Christina like she used to, Angela gets more frustrated. Christina gets more cuddly with mommy. If Christina hears or sees Angela she starts whining. Christina has had a lot of time outs and stern reprimands. When Angela is not around Christina is wonderful for most of the time.

My update, well, I'm healthy. I am ready for a vacation. When everything settles down, I will go camping. It bothers me that Christina and I bump heads with her attitude. Down the road I am sure it will be beneficial, but right now it adds to the concerns at hand.

Oh yeah, Angela may need to have the same surgery again on the other veins in the same leg if they fail now that the others are gone. That would be a few months down the road though.

Cheers,
Derek