Christina's eye appointment went well. No new news, which means no bad news. They dialated her eyes and of course no one likes that.

The car ride went well there and Christina cried on the way home. Angela had a tough time in the car with her sore leg. I felt bad for both of them.

Christina is still down for a nap and it is time to get dinner started.

Well Christina feels better. Angela is worse and I am getting sick.

Christina was up at 5:15 this morning. Time to wake mommy and get ready for work.

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.

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!!!

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