Sweet Season

 

 

Despite the lung butter, this holiday season turned out to be quite fun. Watching G get into the Christmas spirit really took me back to the innocence of it. Granted, events leading up to Christmas were gut-wrenching beyond words. Realizing how much I take the coming-and-goings of every day events for granted, I am pledging to be more aware, appreciative and patient with simple daily activities.

 

G is at a place now where his dialogue, questions and observations are more than just a rapid fire 'why,why,why' loop. Real questions, perspective and logic that sometimes astound and frighten me. In fact all of his friends are no longer needy babies but little people with grandiose expectations and limitless energy. Below are some highlights of how we've made a cold, wet, sick month rad.

 

A rare treat of a day to hang with one of his best buddies without bikes

 



This year we've introduced building projects. Job #1 was a pizza place.



What would Christmas be without a gingerbread train?

Or a week of eating it as it grew stale and rock hard?

 



family hikes have been a

favorite

Skiing is an option but well down the list from bike riding

 

 

Croup-aforma

Looking at the calendar awhile back, I made a goal of my own private, Thanksgiving -long holiday weekend-get back into shape training camp. The good Dr. H and I had been making progress on the hip/leg mess before I got sidetracked with home re-models and moving and such. Finally, by early November, after not having done any rehab excercises or riding since June, we seemed to be back on track and I was walking without a limp or much pain for the first time since before the Cadillac Attack in 2006.

From my DIY training camp, I experienced the two steps forward-one step back curse in that my long weekend left me with better legs than I started with but also a head full of mucus, sore throat, fever and a cough as thick as a southern summer. This of course after getting a flu shot.

The cough is hanging on and now G has it too. His is worse as he whistles when he breathes in his sleep, waking up A who consoles him.  Amid his feeling under the weather he is lamenting not getting to ride his bike as he drips, coughs and wheezes.

Yesterday the sun was shining. While resting on the couch, watching Dora The Explorer, he looked out the window and said, "Aw man; It's nice out and I really want to ride. Dad, I feel better can we go ride?  I won't go crazy, just a ride around the block? It's just my voice that's bad, we don't need to talk while we ride."

Explaining to him that sometimes we have to rest in order to get strong again, or that sometimes the best plans or intentions get derailed by the unexpected didn't really get through to him. Finally, I told him that he had germs; little tiny bad guys in his chest and nose and that he needed to rest so his body could build enough little good guys to fight the bad guys away.

I think he got it as today, when A took him to the doctor and the doctor asked if his throat was sore, G pointed to his chest and said, "my heart and neck are sore because the bad guys, that usually live in my butt, are coming out my mouth."

Perpetual Motion

Six weeks straight we've been visiting the Lumberyard. Sometimes twice a week. 3-4 hours at a time. When it was time to leave during our first visit, G ran away from me and hid under a half-pipe. Since then, it's not gotten much easier to leave but his skills have grown expedentially. He's not carelessly brave but he's not timid either. He works it out, watches older kids then dives in.

There's only two places in the re-purposed bowling alley that he has yet to master: A steep descent of a fly-over bridge that he just slides down, and the bigger, more technical, Blue ramps and pipes where kids do flips and aerobatic tricks that require one to be older than 4 and have pedals on their bike. He'll drop in on these ramps, but needs a push to get up the other side. A few more pounds and a chain driven bike not made out of wood and he'll be doing flips off "the wall" before he sleeps through the night with a dry pull-up.

Despite how much fun we are having, what keeps me bringing him back are the 8 or so other 3-5 year olds showing up regularly. The first time I took him on a weeknight without his buddy Max, he wouldn't ride. Taking A to watch was what broke him through to showing up without his best riding buddy. Yet today, he was high-fiving kids of all ages and knew them by name. As another dad said, "What else can you do with your 4-year old where you both work through challenges and build skills?"

                                                   The faster the start...the bigger the air!

                                   A rare look at his focused face. I usually just follow the blur.

                                                                 Rock gardening

                                    Thumbs up before dropping down the steep log descent

                                     Run it up then slide it down and do it again on the next ramp!