Yesterday was a really fun day. We went to the Mitchell Park Domes with a friend of ours, Caroline, and her 7 year old daughter, Angelles. Leilani loved running around the paths and touching all of the plants and trees. And she especially loved looking at the small waterfall in the "Tropical" dome. And even though Angelles is seven and much older than Leilani, I still think Leilani likes playing with her. Even if it's not really on her level.
Afterwards, everyone wanted to have lunch at McDonald's. Not exactly the best choice for starting a diet. But I went with the flow and just ate light.
I kept track of the calories I consumed yesterday and tallied about 1250. Not too bad! I just have to keep it going and when the weather warms up a bit (like back up into the 20's) I may start jogging in the morning. In the few months after Leilani was born, Mike and I would make a point to go out and be active... walking and biking. And within 7 weeks of giving birth, I had lost all of the baby weight and then some. (It probably helped that I was nursing during those first weeks too.) But we stopped going for walks and bike rides in the Winter when the weather got cold and in the Spring we never picked it up again. I now wish we would have. Maybe I would have been able to maintain that weight. So now it's like I'm starting from scratch.
I'm weighing myself everyday now, too. When I weighed myself the other day and found out I was 190, I did so at night and with jeans on. So the weight on the scale was a little skewed. I'm now weighing myself in the morning and, ahem, I do it almost "nakey." And I've already lost 3.5 pounds!!! He he.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Wake-Up Call
A dear friend of mine has been nothing short of inspirational in her dedication to weight loss. After reading about her recent milestone, I was curious about how much I weigh in at. I dusted off my scale (which I haven't used in months) and got on. It was a wake-up call.
I weigh 190 pounds. That's more than I weighed when I was 9 months pregnant. By a lot.
In the last 12 months, I've gained over 30 pounds. That's a lot in a year, right? Just thinking about it makes me depressed. I even tried on my maternity jeans today and they didn't fit. I couldn't get them on. Sad.
So I'm going to lose 50 pounds. And I'm serious about it. My parents are coming to visit at the beginning of August, and I plan on being at a better weight.
I weigh 190 pounds. That's more than I weighed when I was 9 months pregnant. By a lot.
In the last 12 months, I've gained over 30 pounds. That's a lot in a year, right? Just thinking about it makes me depressed. I even tried on my maternity jeans today and they didn't fit. I couldn't get them on. Sad.
So I'm going to lose 50 pounds. And I'm serious about it. My parents are coming to visit at the beginning of August, and I plan on being at a better weight.
Speech Therapy Week 2
Leilani had her second session of speech therapy yesterday. Again, she was very happy and friendly with the doctor. But didn't make many sounds. There were a couple of squeaks here and there, but nothing else. In fact, half way through the appointment the doctor asked if she was always this quiet. She normally isn't; she can get very vocal at home, but it's all babble an nonsense. I'd like it if Leilani could start doing that during the next session so the doctor can see and hear it, because so far, Leilani's only made a couple of squeaks in front of her.
I didn't know this before but, speech therapy is just a stranger playing with your kid for half an hour. That's it. At least that's what it is at Children's Hospital. The speech therapist that we see just plays with toys with Leilani on the floor of her office. Sure, she enunciates the name and action of every toy they play with, but that's really it. This is the kind of stuff we do with Leilani at home all the time. Is this typically how it's done? Because if we ever need to start paying out-of-pocket for this therapy, we're going to stop taking her if this is all it is.
I'm interested to see if things get more "therapy-ish" at the next appointment.
I didn't know this before but, speech therapy is just a stranger playing with your kid for half an hour. That's it. At least that's what it is at Children's Hospital. The speech therapist that we see just plays with toys with Leilani on the floor of her office. Sure, she enunciates the name and action of every toy they play with, but that's really it. This is the kind of stuff we do with Leilani at home all the time. Is this typically how it's done? Because if we ever need to start paying out-of-pocket for this therapy, we're going to stop taking her if this is all it is.
I'm interested to see if things get more "therapy-ish" at the next appointment.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Speech Therapy
Today was Leilani's first speech therapy session. Things went about as well as expected-- Leilani was super friendly and outgoing with the doctor but didn't make a peep until it was almost over. And of course, the peep wasn't a word, just a sound. However, she did have a good time. She liked the doctor and all the toys she got to play with. She was very cooperative and on her absolute best behavior. Mike and I were very proud of her.
Leilani is really smart for her age (17 1/2 months). Everyone who meets her mentions something to that effect. She can problem-solve like a two year old, climb, run, invent games, stack, mimic, scribble, and even drive a freaking mini ATV. But she just doesn't talk. Her only words so far have been "na" (for animals), "no" which she's just starting to say and sounds very similar to her "na", and the occasional "mama" (and I don't think she actually means me).
She also doesn't seem to understand me or Mike most of the time either. Some times it seems like she might understand us, but mostly it's like talking to a wall. Needless to say, communicating gets very frustrating around here.
One thing that has been really bugging me lately has been the fact that we recognized this as a problem six months ago and we are only now getting help. When Leilani was 11 months old, we were continually told that she'll start talking at any moment. That it was "just around the corner." I wish we could have done something about this earlier. Unfortunately, no one listened and here we are, Leilani's almost a year and a half old and not saying anything. It clearly isn't just a case of Leilani starting to talk a little late. She has real speech issues. I'm very happy that we're finally getting somewhere.
Leilani is really smart for her age (17 1/2 months). Everyone who meets her mentions something to that effect. She can problem-solve like a two year old, climb, run, invent games, stack, mimic, scribble, and even drive a freaking mini ATV. But she just doesn't talk. Her only words so far have been "na" (for animals), "no" which she's just starting to say and sounds very similar to her "na", and the occasional "mama" (and I don't think she actually means me).
She also doesn't seem to understand me or Mike most of the time either. Some times it seems like she might understand us, but mostly it's like talking to a wall. Needless to say, communicating gets very frustrating around here.
One thing that has been really bugging me lately has been the fact that we recognized this as a problem six months ago and we are only now getting help. When Leilani was 11 months old, we were continually told that she'll start talking at any moment. That it was "just around the corner." I wish we could have done something about this earlier. Unfortunately, no one listened and here we are, Leilani's almost a year and a half old and not saying anything. It clearly isn't just a case of Leilani starting to talk a little late. She has real speech issues. I'm very happy that we're finally getting somewhere.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
11 Days Of Doing Nothing & Ono Kine Grindz
It's been 11 whole days since my last blog post. The reason is simple: I've done nothing interesting in the last week or so. The days of sitting on the sofa and doing nothing have just melted together to form a great big blob of nothingness.
The only highlights of the new year have been discovering a new restaurant, Ono Kine Grindz, packing up Christmas, and... I can't even think of a third thing.
I'm not complaining, the luxury to sit around at home and do nothing isn't something everyone gets to enjoy. So I'm lucky in that regard. But all good things must come to an end. Sometime around the end of this month, or possibly early February, I start my three week Phlebotomy internship and afterwards I will hopefully be working full time. So the two year vacation will be coming to an end very soon. So there are some big things on the horizon.
Anyways, about Ono Kine Grindz: It's a tiny little whole-in-the-wall place on North Avenue in Wauwatosa that is half restaurant and half store. The restaurant, if you can even really call it that, is just a walk-up counter serving a hand full of plate lunch items-- Kalua Pork, Huli-Huli Chicken, Kobe Beef, and "Winner" Chili. (Winner refers to the hot dog in the chili.) They also have Manapua, Spam Musubi, and Pork Hash. They have a large dining table that seats about 8 people in the back. The other half of the business is an awesome array of Hawaiian and Asian grocery products that you can't find anywhere else in the area. Looking through all their items was surreal. Things I haven't seen since I lived in Hawaii over eleven years ago. The only things they were missing were POG and shrimp chips. But no one's perfect.
The business is run by Guy and Kawika, both of whom have lived in Hawaii. They are super friendly and do a wonderful job with the place. It has a very warm and inviting atmosphere due to an obvious passion for what they do. Unfortunately, little places like this spring up all the time, then fail. I really hope that Guy and Kawika are successful and continue to do business for a very long time.
The only highlights of the new year have been discovering a new restaurant, Ono Kine Grindz, packing up Christmas, and... I can't even think of a third thing.
I'm not complaining, the luxury to sit around at home and do nothing isn't something everyone gets to enjoy. So I'm lucky in that regard. But all good things must come to an end. Sometime around the end of this month, or possibly early February, I start my three week Phlebotomy internship and afterwards I will hopefully be working full time. So the two year vacation will be coming to an end very soon. So there are some big things on the horizon.
Anyways, about Ono Kine Grindz: It's a tiny little whole-in-the-wall place on North Avenue in Wauwatosa that is half restaurant and half store. The restaurant, if you can even really call it that, is just a walk-up counter serving a hand full of plate lunch items-- Kalua Pork, Huli-Huli Chicken, Kobe Beef, and "Winner" Chili. (Winner refers to the hot dog in the chili.) They also have Manapua, Spam Musubi, and Pork Hash. They have a large dining table that seats about 8 people in the back. The other half of the business is an awesome array of Hawaiian and Asian grocery products that you can't find anywhere else in the area. Looking through all their items was surreal. Things I haven't seen since I lived in Hawaii over eleven years ago. The only things they were missing were POG and shrimp chips. But no one's perfect.
The business is run by Guy and Kawika, both of whom have lived in Hawaii. They are super friendly and do a wonderful job with the place. It has a very warm and inviting atmosphere due to an obvious passion for what they do. Unfortunately, little places like this spring up all the time, then fail. I really hope that Guy and Kawika are successful and continue to do business for a very long time.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
I Might Be On To Something
Years ago, and as previously mentioned in this blog, I tried to get information on my birth mother. I was met with a brick wall, otherwise known as a Disclosure Veto. However, I may have found another route to the information I'm seeking.
A couple of days ago I was reading up on adoption in Canada when I came across the Adoption Disclosure Register. It's a system that matches up adoptees and birth parents through information submitted. It's kind of like Match.com for adoptions.
There are two ways of going about this:
1. Active search. An adoptee can submit their information (as much as they know) and the registrar will attempt to contact the birth parent. If the birth parent allows, their information will be shared with the adoptee. This is a long process and the queue is even longer.
2. Passive search. Both adoptees and birth parents can always add their information to the registry and if there is a computer match of the information, the parties will be notified. This depends on the birth parent submitting their information to the registry at some point in time. The odds of this working are much slimmer, but it can happen.
As of now, I'm going to attempt a passive search. I'm filling out the application today and mailing it off to Toronto next week. I know the chances of this working are slim, but it's really my last option because of the disclosure veto.
I always think about when I originally looked into my adoption info. Since a disclosure veto can be revoked by the birth parent at any time, I'm always forced to think about crazy "what if" scenarios. Like: What if my birth mother revoked the veto, by coincidence, the day after I had requested information years ago? Since the Canadian government doesn't inform an adoptee if it does get revoked, there would be no way of me knowing unless I regularly reapplied for my adoption papers. That would get pricey at around $60 CAD each time. So this registry stuff is really my best option. All I can do is cross my fingers that my birth mother (or father... because they can do this too) decides that they want to get in contact with me.
A couple of days ago I was reading up on adoption in Canada when I came across the Adoption Disclosure Register. It's a system that matches up adoptees and birth parents through information submitted. It's kind of like Match.com for adoptions.
There are two ways of going about this:
1. Active search. An adoptee can submit their information (as much as they know) and the registrar will attempt to contact the birth parent. If the birth parent allows, their information will be shared with the adoptee. This is a long process and the queue is even longer.
2. Passive search. Both adoptees and birth parents can always add their information to the registry and if there is a computer match of the information, the parties will be notified. This depends on the birth parent submitting their information to the registry at some point in time. The odds of this working are much slimmer, but it can happen.
As of now, I'm going to attempt a passive search. I'm filling out the application today and mailing it off to Toronto next week. I know the chances of this working are slim, but it's really my last option because of the disclosure veto.
I always think about when I originally looked into my adoption info. Since a disclosure veto can be revoked by the birth parent at any time, I'm always forced to think about crazy "what if" scenarios. Like: What if my birth mother revoked the veto, by coincidence, the day after I had requested information years ago? Since the Canadian government doesn't inform an adoptee if it does get revoked, there would be no way of me knowing unless I regularly reapplied for my adoption papers. That would get pricey at around $60 CAD each time. So this registry stuff is really my best option. All I can do is cross my fingers that my birth mother (or father... because they can do this too) decides that they want to get in contact with me.
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