A Drummer at Last!!!

At long last! I am so relieved that Tyoma is banging on pots and pans instead of arranging them into abstract patterns (well, only arranging them!) Also, his speech has picked up a good deal. He's starting to make simple three word sentences, not always every day, but often enough to be encouraging. Yay!

I wonder if the new diet is making a difference?

GSCF Diet

Well, I decided to try "the diet" aka the gluten free, casein free diet.  I don't know it it will make a difference, but it's worth a try.  Tyoma has never really drank milk and is fussy over yogurt so that part is no big deal. Getting rid of wheat, though, that will be a challenge.

I called Dr. Dobbins who siad to avoid too restrictive a diet (don't worry about gluten if he's not having serious digestive problems) and shared her experience that diets don't always work for AS.  She did hook us up with resources for nutrtion and suggested a calcium supplement with vitamin D.

I wrote to Kindercare asking them not to give milk, but they spazzed out and requested a doctor's note.  I asked if they would withold milk as a "preference" instead.  All I had to do was write a note and bring in rice milk:

SUBJECT: Rice Milk/water for Artyom (Tyoma) Degtiarev

Dear KinderCare Staff,

Our family is modifying our son’s diet to facilitate his speech therapy. Please help us limit his exposure to dairy by replacing his milk with either rice milk (which we will provide) or water. We understand that you will not be eliminating dairy for him and that he will still eat yogurt, cheese and other dairy products according to your menu. By helping us with this voluntary intervention, you will be promoting Tyoma’s successful attainment of developmental goals. Thank you for you consideration and time.

Sincerely,

Russian Kettlebells

E has been talking about Russian Kettlebells for the past few weeks, actually since before Christmas in NM.  The 'bells are iron slugs with handles on them and you swing them to get into shape. 

TF's been agonizing over the purchase of a bell, specifically how heavy to buy it.  He wanted to get the 35 pound bell since it is closer to the type soviet athletes used to train with, but he was afraid that it might be too heavy.  The debate circled around for a few days and then he purchased the heavy one.

The exercises for this thing are crazy.  Basically you get fit by swinging the weight vigorously back and forth.  It's a wrecker-ball in motion. E really needs to be mindful of where he's swining his weight since Tyoma is silent around the house and I have horrid visions of a hospital visit and untimely funeral (for hubby if he hurts T).

Tired

Blah. I did not sleep well last night. Too much excitement. I’ll compensate for the tiredness with a bucket of green tea. My diet is slowly working. I’m back to a size ten, but my jeans are still pretty snug. If I wear them on the airplane my legs might drop off. If I wear my twelves I’ll be hauling my trousers up every ten minutes. Next time I buy jeans, I’m getting the stretchy kind.

Dinner!

Tennisfiend grilled tomatoes and eggplant! It looked so lovely we felt bad for eating it all up!
 
  Went to gym today and then Sam's Club. Bought a ton of meat and cheese since I'm starting Atkin's tomorrow. Yum. Also bought a giganto-bag of almonds. Let's count the days before I'm sick of Laughing Cow and porkchops.

Gym Day

It finally happened! I went to the gym. It's been about four months since I've had any exercise that you pay for. I feel pretty good.

I dread the gym on the weekends--it's peacock city. The patrons are pretty blonde girls with ponytails and slick grunting studs with fades. It makes me feel old and fat. Well, actually, I am a bit old and fat, but who wants to be reminded by ten foot mirrors and giggling youths?

Today was splendid, rounder, more mid-thirtyish people were abundant. I also felt pretty with my new highlights and a slightly trimmer figure (by two pounds!). My workout? Good. I followed Tennisfiend's advice to move slowly through my exercises instead of rushing through them in order to get out of the gym ASAP. I'll be back again Wednesday.

Clippers

Went to trim Misty today, only to discover that the clippers had shrunk. I cut her hair only a few weeks ago and everything worked fine, and today the plastic blades wouldn't stay on the trimmer.

Go figure. They looked tampered with. Tennisfiend repaired them by using plastic ties. I am feeling better about going to the gym now, more relaxed and less self-conscious. Where do I get such volatile self-esteem? Dieting does no good. I used to skip lunch and drop five pounds! Maybe the depression meds are packing on the pounds like they did before?

Clothing Crisis

You know that size you reach when your big girl pants are too loose, but you can’t comfortably fit into all those cute shorts you bought when you were skinny (skinny, being a relative term)?

Well, I’m there. A year before I got pg in 2005, I gave up sweets and refined foods. Over the summer I dropped over twenty pounds—I was again high school skinny. To celebrate, I bought lots of adorable outfits to last me, eh, well, a lifetime. Or until I put on over ten pounds.

Then I got pregnant and indulged in more cute outfits (thanks Mom and Dad!). After the birth, I successfully managed to loose all but ten pounds of my weight by November. In January, I went on Lexapro for PPD. Hello weight gain!

Except for periodic sweets binges the month Fontessa was here (brrr), I’ve eaten very sensibly. Nonetheless, I put on an additional fifteen pounds with the Lexapro. The only things I could wear were my baggy maternity pants and shorts, since I had optimistically tossed out my old comfy bottoms.

That is until I found a dusty rubber maid box in the attic! Yay! Hidden in it were several pairs of in-between shorts. Hurrah! What a godsend! My butt feels freeeee!