Founders Inn & Spa

For Christmas this year I reserved a night at the Founders Inn down by Va beach as an end if the year celebratory romantic get away. We have been looking forward to it because the end of the year has been pretty crazy and busy, needless to say we cod use a little time away together. However, as the day came upon us we both lamented on how much fun we thought Cy would have at the beach and the pool and the hotel. So, we decided to bring him with us:) I am we'll aware that parents need time away to just be husband and wife but we really just love being with our little dude:) so, off to the beach we went...

3 Years, 8 Months

Cy had a well check yesterday. I had to schedule the appointment a little earlier than his 4 year check because I have new paperwork that needed to be filled out for his new school, Chesterbrook Academy. His check up went great, he's in great shape. They used the blood pressure cuff for the first time on this trip and he thought that was great. They also did his eye check with the alphabet and I wasn't totally happy with the results of that one (although the Dr. said it was fine) so I am going to schedule him an appointment with the VA Vision Group when we get back in August. Dr. Jill hasn't seen Cy since we first moved to Richmond because there are a number of Pediatricians in this office and I don't really have a preference as to which Cy sees, so, they usually fit him in where ever. It was nice to see Dr. Jill though, I like her a lot. She was super impressed with Cyrus. When she walked in, she asked him his name and he immediately said, "Cyrus Cooke - C Y R U S C OO K E". She looked at me and the chart and said, how old is he again. Cracked me up. She started asking him a bunch of questions like his numbers, the alphabet, shapes, colors, etc... and then told me she was going to skip the 3 year old questions and go to the 4 year old questions. "when is your birthday, what city do you live in, etc.." and then she said she wanted to go on to the 5 year old questions, "What is your birth date, what do you call a person you don't know, etc". She told me that kids are all different, some 3 year olds talk a good bit and some don't talk at all but that she was blown away by how much Cyrus knows and how quickly he actually processes things. I told her he has always been a talker and asks what and why one million times a day. It always feels good to hear things like that about your child. I am proud of him.

Potty Talk

Ok - disclaimer, this is a post about potty talk so skip it if it grosses you out, or you are not a mama (because, it will probably gross you out).

Here's the thing, a few weeks ago Cy had to go to the bathroom pretty badly. He had to poop and pee at the same time and couldn't decide which to do first. So, he sat down to poop (told you, gross) and in turn ended up peeing all over his legs and floor. He doesn't have the whole tuck concept down yet. Needless to say, my neat freak of a child freaked out and basically scared himself to death. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, he essentially stopped pooping consistently at this point. He would definitely do it but not as frequently, same with peeing. So, this all came to a head Memorial Day weekend when he was backed up, and I mean BACKED up. I think what happened was that he totally stopped pooping, like resisted the urge to go for a few days and then couldn't when he needed to. Cy was miserable. Every time we tried to get him to sit down and go he literally screamed and cried. It was nuts. I was nervous about sending him to Bush Gardens with my parents on Sunday after Saturday night being so miserable. He went to be crying and woke up crying. Poor little buddy. I was hoping that my parents might be able to convince him to go but that was to no avail either. So, when they got back from Bush Gardens he was still fussy/crying because he was so uncomfortable. Brad and I made the decision to give him a rectal stool softener/laxative to get things moving whether he wanted to or not. It happens pretty quickly so we put it in (yuck) and set him down on the pot and he screamed bloody murder. However, like clock work it happened quickly and painlessly and he was immediately like a whole new child. He was SUPER relieved and I could tell immediately that he felt better. He has gone pretty consistently since then but only when I am around and I have to sit in there with him. Before all this, he wouldn't let us in the bathroom with him as he needed his "privacy". It's so weird how/what happened but I'm glad we're back on a regular schedule again.

You're welcome for this gross post with WAY too much information into the potty life of my son;)

Meat Free Summer

The Cooke family is going to have a meat free summer this year. We are going to be on the road and camping for most of the summer so I thought it would be an easyish thing to incorporate. I was a vegetarian for 10 years and fell off the wagon about 10 years ago and think its time to get back on. There is just so much empirical evidence coming to light that links the meat industry to cancer in humans...including fish as evidenced here: Farm Raised Tilapia. The more I read and the more I learn about the meat industry and the way the animals are treated from the second they enter the farm until they are slaughtered is disconcerting. Of course, I am interested in the ethical treatment of animals. I certainly don't want anything to suffer, but i am also very interested in what affect this meat is having on the human race, namingly my family. The World Cancer Foundation just came out stating that from this moment on, noone should eat any form of processed meat (the article here: Meat Carcinogens) because of the high levels of sodium nitrates which is a known carcinogen in humans. No to mention the amount of antibiotics pumped into cows and pigs while they are on the farm to keep them from getting sick. This obviously just aids in bacterial resistance to antibiotics because they are exposed to it so readily. These are the same antibiotics that humans use to treat bacterial infections. It makes no sense to use the same medicines on humans that we use on cattle to stave off bacterial infections. This is found mostly in processed red meats and pork products which we don't eat anyway but the poultry industry is just as disgusting and lackadaisical about their production as red meat and poultry. That leaves seafood, right? No, farm raised fish are also pumped full of antibiotics and hormones and grown so quickly that they are essentially devoid of nutrients. The argument is that if you get your meat from a local farm and you can observe their practices, you are better off. Or, if you go totally organic you are better off. The local farm, maybe but that is a giant pain in the butt in my opinion. Organic, who knows. There are so many levels of Organic per the FDA that I'm not buying into the overall health of this movement yet. So, the best bet in my opinion, for my family is to just eliminate meat from our diet all together. This can be scary too as my chances of contracting salmonella from sprouts is actually higher than getting it from a hamburger but I'll take my chances (except we don't eat sprouts...ever because of this). Cyrus and I will be fine with this, I've actually been doing it for a few weeks and really don't notice the lack of meat as I don't really enjoy it all that much anyway (except for fried chicken or chicken wings - I'm a sucker). Cy doesn't like meat, or milk, he never has. I can't get him to eat a piece of chicken if his life depended on it. He does love salmon and will eat that so I will continue to give that to him if it is wild caught and fresh. He loves veggie burgers and chic nuggets from Boca. He will also eat griddle "fried" tofu dipped in ketchup like chicken nuggets. Brad is going to be the tough one as this will be a different kind of mentality for him. He doesn't eat red meat because he is deathly allergic but he LOVES bacon and sausage and eats chicken/fish pretty regularly. I'm just going to have to keep it interesting for him this summer.

This Damn Foot!

This foot is STILL giving me problems. I decided to go to the Patient First to get an X-ray tonight. I knew after my 10-miler this morning that something was not healing right. Every single step was painful and it hasn't been like that since I started running on it again after I banged it in Costco. I'm sure that the 20 miles up/down Wintergreen and 10 this morning didn't help. To top it off, my quads/glutes are so sore from the wintergreen run and my toe is killing me. It was tough to get out of bed this morning!

I have been putting off the x-ray because I have the high deductible insurance plan and everything is basically out of pocket until I hit my deductible of $2500. I just didn't want to spend the money for them to tell me that I just stubbed it or something, so I put it off for about 2 weeks. But, today I knew.

So, I went to Patient First after dinner tonight and was pleasantly surprised that there was hardly anyone in there. That didn't stop the wait though. I was rushed through the entry part, brought back, got my xrays, and escorted to my room (they tried to get me to get in the wheel chair...seriously?!) where I waited and waited. Finally 1.5 hours later, the doctor came in (thank heavens I brought a book).

She asked me what happened, I lamented the story and said that it just doesn't seem to be getting better. I told her about my training regimen and she just sat there and blinked at me. Then, somewhat incredulously, she says, "your foot is broken". Damn. So, she asked me what kind of pain meds I was on and I told her none (blink, blink). She asked how tall I was for the crutches and I told her I didn't need any crutches (again, blink blink). She fitted me for a boot/shoe which I told her that I didn't need or want. She insisted and after putting it on I told her that it didn't feel any more secure than my Danskos and that I would just wear those. She again suggested the boot so I asked her how much it costs. She told me not to worry about it that insurance would cover it. I told her about my high deductible plan so she looked it up....$140. Now, it was my turn to blink at her. And we wonder why the health care/insurance industry is so screwed up. I guarantee this boot cost less than $5 to make. Ridiculous. So, again I said thanks but no thanks.

They wrapped up my toe and told me to make an appt. with an orthopedic specialist to deal with prognosis and healing. My plan is to find a sports med person that will understand that i am running this race in August and help me set forth a plan to heal and train consecutively.

Memorial Day Canoe Trip

Two of my senior boys, Ben Noftsinger and Paul Timmons, wanted to spend the day on the river with Brad and I. I told them a long time ago that we would do it not thinking it would actually happen but they really wanted to so I said ok. I roped Brad (and Cy) into coming with me (since i can't actually drive the trailer with the canoes on it yet) and our friend Charlie wanted to come too. We had a nice day on the river. The weather was cloudy which was not what I was hoping for but it was fun to spend the day on the river with those guys as it will probably be the last time that I will get to hang out with them as they graduate next week. It was a nice way to end the year with them.

Memorial Day Cook - In?

Mom and Dad came over on Sunday night for a Memorial Day cook out that ended up being a cook in because it was raining. They had taken Cy to Bush Gardens for the day while we went to Wintergreen for our run/mtn bike adventures. Cy had a blast!! I am sorry we didn't get to see him riding his rides but I know my parents love to be able to take him to do those things. We are lucky to have them, and Brad's parents, here to help!

My parents came over with Cy when we got home and we got busy putting our picnic together. We grilled up corn on the cob, turkey burgers, veggie burgers, and turkey dogs. I made roasted butternut squash, black beans & baked beans, we had watermelon, and chips. We followed this delicious meal with some homemade cupcakes (thank you mama) and ended the evening with a cocktail on the porch while Cy played outside. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday!